The Hale Koa Hotel, which means House of the Warrior in Hawaiian, is an Armed Forces Recreation Center (AFRC) resort hotel located on Waikiki Beach and owned by the United States Department of Defense. It sits on the southeast corner of Fort DeRussy on the western end of Waikiki in Honolulu. The hotel has more than one million guests every year, all of whom are required the United States Uniformed Services Privilege and Identification Card to lodge at this hotel. Though owned by the DOD, the hotel is entirely self-sustaining, and does not receive any government funding.
Hale Koa Hotel | |
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General information | |
Location | Waikiki, Honolulu, Hawaii |
Coordinates | 21°16′54″N 157°50′05″W / 21.28167°N 157.83472°W |
Opening | October 25, 1975 |
Management | United States Department of Defense |
Technical details | |
Floor count | 14 |
Other information | |
Number of rooms | 817 |
Number of restaurants | 2 |
Website | |
http://halekoa.com |
History
The hotel opened on October 25, 1975, with a traditional Hawaiian ceremony. A major expansion came in 1991. The hotel added a new pool, a beverage bar, and a luau garden. Later, the Maile tower was built across the lobby from the Ilima tower, bringing the total number of rooms to 817. Also constructed was an adults-only pool, a fitness center, a parking garage, and Bibas, a new café located on a porch underneath the Maile tower.
Dining
There are several dining facilities on the hotel's beachfront property:
- Bibas
- Koko Café
- Happy's Snack Bar
- Koa Oasis
- Warrior's Lounge
- Pool Snack Bar
- Barefoot Bar
- Sunday Champagne Brunch in the Banyan Tree Room
- Beach Cart
- Coffee Cart
Eligible guests
Because Hale Koa Hotel is an AFRC resort, it is not open to the general public. Reservations may only be made by
- Current Active-duty members of the U.S Armed Forces.
- Current Reserve and National Guard members.
- Retired from active duty, Reserves, and National Guard with or without pay (gray area).
- Honorably discharged veterans with 100 percent service-connected disability certified by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
- Recipients of the Medal of Honor.
- Current and retired Department of Defense (DoD) and Coast Guard (CG) civilian employees.
The Survivors' Family Program extends to Family Members and sponsored guests accompanying authorized users. Eligible users are defined as Family members who have suffered a loss of a sponsor in the event of an Active Duty death regardless of the cause (combat, accident, suicide, illness, etc.) and also may be uniformed personnel.
Famous Guests
Glenn Medeiros is the host and performs at the hotel's twice weekly luau. He often performs "Nothing's Gonna Change My Love For You."