Village People
The Hilton Hawaiian Village is celebrating 50 years as a Hilton resort. Here, Hilton area manager Jerry Gibson (in orange) is joined by employees who have a combined 217 years of service
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Today, Hilton Hawaiian Village is the largest resort in Hawaii encompassing 3,500 rooms in seven towers.
Future plans call for two more towers in the next decade, according to Jerry Gibson, Hilton’s area vice president for Hawaii and managing director of Hilton Hawaiian Village.
“We have built a proud legacy in the last 50 years,” Gibson says. “We’ve come a long way, but there’s a lot to look forward to in the next 50 years. When Conrad and Barron Hilton planted the Hilton flag at this resort 50 years ago, they didn’t envision that it would grow into one of the most prominent and recognized resorts in the world.”
He adds, “While we as a destination continue to attract many first-time visitors, the Hilton Hawaiian Village has many loyal guests who keep returning year after year to see how we have grown and evolved. My vision is to make our resort an exciting place to visit with nonstop entertainment and dining options.”
Aloha for Celebrities
Perhaps no other resort is so synonymous with high-profile guests as Hilton Hawaiian Village. A historical wall of fame in Tapa Tower depicts the international and show biz who’s-who who have been guests over the years: Shirley Temple, Elizabeth Taylor, Elvis, Michael Jackson, Tony Bennett, Britney Spears, Ray Charles, the cast of Hawaiian Eye and Hawaii Five-O TV series, U.S. Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Ronald Reagan, Gerald Ford. International leaders from Korea, China, Taiwan, South America, England, and Polynesia.
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Then, there were the resident stars like Alfred Apaka, “the golden voice of Hawaii”; Haunani Kahalewai, “Hawaii’s first lady of song”; Don Ho, Jim Nabors, John Norris and New Orleans Jazz, Charo, Carole Kai, John Hirokawa, Jimmy Borges, Alex McAngus, choreographer and Hilton’s first entertainment director Jo Flanders; and current Tapa Bar attraction, Jerry Santos and Olomana.
The list goes on. Each found a “home” at Hilton Hawaiian Village, and where, as entertainment impresario Cha Thompson puts it, “Our focus is to bring joy to others and to share our culture.
“Hilton knows how to make celebrities and their guests feel special,” she says.
Borges recalls with amusement “getting kicked in the shins by a very young, elegantly dressed Paris Hilton as she pranced around the dance floor while I was singing in Paradise Lounge.”
Memories are made of this.
Aloha for Culture
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Through all of its redevelopment and refinement over the years, there has been an effort to deliver the promise of “Hawaiian” in its name. Even while a new generation of travelers is enticed by international caliber service and amenities, Hilton is mindful of becoming too homogenized with modernization.
Walk through the resort today and one encounters the essence of Hawaii at every turn.
There are tributes to artistic icons such as Iolani Luahine and Alfred Apaka as well as haunting reminders of Hawaii’s cultural ambassadors such as Don Ho, Hilo Hattie and Duke Kahanamoku.
Ho once told a reporter, “If icon means you’ve been around a long time, then I guess I qualify. I never think of myself as ‘somebody.’”
One can even “taste” the essence of Hawaii in tropical drinks invented by a legendary Hilton bartender.
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Retiree Harry Yee, now age 91, began mixing drinks in 1952 and served as Hilton’s head bartender for 30 years. He invented the “Blue Hawaii” in 1957 because no one knew what to do with the blue liqueur.
We also have Yee to thank for those orchids and tiny parasols that adorn our tropical drinks, many of which he originated.
Aloha for Community
If Hilton has been highly visible in our community, it also has been generous.
From corporate mandate to local marketing acumen, it has long recognized the value of alignment with public opinion leaders and charitable causes.
It has the grandest float in the Aloha Festivals parade each year; hails its representatives who are chosen Lodging Employee of the Year time and time again; and vigilantly comes to the aid of causes such as the American Red Cross in times of disaster.
When a high-profile public official shows up at a banquet in its ballroom, a banquet manager instinctively oversees service for that individual throughout the night.
Just a little touch of Hilton.
Enough gloating and leis of aloha. You get the idea. It’s just that we often take for granted these longstanding island institutions, such as Hilton Hawaiian Village. It’s always been around, and we expect that it will be around for a long time, with or without our direct involvement. But that’s short-changing our respect for sustainability.
Hilton Hawaiian Village, an innovative and forward-thinking enterprise in our tourism industry, deserves applause for 50 years of aloha.
As pioneer Henry J. Kaiser put it, “When your work speaks for itself, don’t interrupt.”
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