Keeping fingers crossed for Coco Palms

July 27th, 2007

Many know Coco Palms Resort on Kauai as the idyllic setting at the end of the movie Blue Hawaii starring Elvis Presley. Few know that the area is actually steeped in rich cultural history. The ancient home of Kauai’s royalty since the 13th century, the area surrounding the Coco Palms Resort was home of Kauai’s last reigning queen, Queen Deborah Kapule. In the 1950’s Grace Guslander was made manager of the Coco Palms Hotel and was credited with giving the hotel a grandiose, larger than life Polynesian feel. She was a smart businesswoman with a sense of what made the visitors and locals happy. She celebrated Queen Kapule’s birthday every year and started the torch lighting ceremony that became a trademark of the hotel. On September 11, 1992 Hurricane Iniki did a number on the hotel and it has been closed ever since. The one thing that always remained was the chapel donated by MGM Studios from the movie “Miss Sadie Thompson” has been used for at least 1-2 weddings per week by couples wanting to recreate the Blue Hawaii experience. Original Coco Palms entertainer Larry Rivera has been granting this wish for many couples over the years and so can you.

Talks of resurrecting the hotel have always swirled around but had come up empty in the past. I even contacted Lisa Marie Presley and president of Elvis Presley Enterprises, Jack Soden about our willingness to help in whatever capacity to restore this hotel and with the Elvis connection, should EPE be interested in backing the project. I got a nice letter back from Mr. Soden explaining it had been suggested in the past but just wasn’t feasible for them. Eh, the worst he could say was no, right? My biggest concern was preserving the bungalow Elvis used in Blue Hawaii. Our thought was it could be turned into a museum or memorial to the King and not be demolished when it had such pop culture history attached.

Enter Richard Weiser…the savior for all of those who wish to see this majestic hotel returned to its former glory. I know, I know we live in modern times, which means a big fru fru hotel with the Coco Palms name. Think again. Weiser wanted to retain as much of the original theme as possible. The lobby will be restored to look almost exactly the same and the restaurant and nightclub areas beside ancient Hawaiian fishponds will be retained. Old walkways with lava rock walls will be kept wherever possible. Oh and Elvis’ bungalow 56? Great minds think alike…they’re going to save it and make it a museum to look just as it did in Blue Hawaii days. Unfortunately due to 15 years exposed to the elements and flood zoning issues, the hotel rooms will need to be leveled and rebuilt. Whats going in their place are 104 hotel rooms and 200 condominium units. You’ve got over a million bucks hanging around to get in the condos right? Me either. But you can stay there when it opens so just pretend you’re ultra-rich.

That brings up another subject…when it will actually reopen. There has been much back and forth about the spa/fitness area in the plans. The Kauai Planning Commission ruled the fitness center is not an appropriate use for the land, which is zoned for open use. The commissioners decided Coco Palms developers should find other locations or redesign the facility on their 18+acre parcel. One of the owners said this decision would have an “adverse affect on the future of Coco Palms.” We can only keep our fingers crossed that the reopening of Coco Palms is sooner than later. Plus we have plans many years down the road to renew our vows in the Hollywood/Elvis inspired fashion. I sure hope it’s reopened way before that! Until then, I’ll pop in my copy of Blue Hawaii and sing the Hawaiian Wedding Song in anticipation.