Christened the Moana Hotel when it opened in 1901, this beaux-arts plantation-style inn was once the haunt of Hollywood movie stars, aristocrats and business tycoons. The historic hotel embraces a seaside courtyard with large banyan trees and a wraparound veranda, where island musicians and hula dancers perform in the evenings.
Upstairs from the lobby you’ll find displays of memorabilia from the early days: everything from scripts of the famed Hawaii Calls radio show broadcast live from the courtyard here between 1935 and 1975 to woolen bathing suits, historical period photographs and a short video of Waikiki back in the days when the Moana was the only hotel on the oceanfront horizon. Tours are open to anyone – meet on the second above the lobby.