It’s been about a year since it was sold again. What’s up now at Coco Palms.
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488 thoughts on “Infamous Coco Palms Kauai | Why It Just Won’t End”
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It’s been about a year since it was sold again. What’s up now at Coco Palms.
Get Breaking Hawaii Travel News
Comments are closed.
We were married at Coco Palms in 1979 in that tiny little straw church. (I was told Rita Hayworth made the movie “Sadie Thompson” there) The lady and gentleman who worked there sang the Wedding Song for us. We were there for a week and received daily invitations to the resort cocktail party. It was a heavenly week.(nightly lighting and shells – local shows – sitting in the lounge overlooking the canal where they made Blue Hawaii and just roaming around the grounds) So special! When my husband died (after Iniki) I returned to reminisce at that wonderful place and the peace and happiness I felt when we married there. Of course I shed tears, but the way Coco Palms looked in 1979 then will always be the way I see it in my heart. I so wish it could be rebuilt – just like it was; a pleasant retreat to relax and enjoy life instead of all the big monstrous resorts.
Married at the Coco Palms in 1985. LOVED IT! Always wanted to come back for our anniversary. It will never happen.
SO VERY SAD, have been looking forward to staying there. I was fortunate enough to have visited the Coco Palms back in the early seventies. I so HOPE that something can bring it all back to life!!
Stayed at the Coco palms in 85 on my honeymoon, returned in 87, and then lastly in 1990.
My mother and father in law Betty & Dick knew Larry and Gloria well, as they frequented the hotel for years.They introduced me to Larry, Gloria, and family. When we stayed there, we were not just guests, but treated like family. It was truly a magical place with dignity and honor surrounded by the beautiful Hawian people. Memories that I treasure: The nightly tourch lighting ceremony which was so reverent you could have heard a pin drop in the coconut grove while performed. Watching the roast pig spin on the spit each afternoon before dinner. The huge counch shells that formed the sinks in some of the bathrooms confirmed you were in Hawaii. The elaborately painted tiles in the showers were absolutely beautiful! Relaxing at the pool eating a freshly cooked “Terro Burger” while Larry bestowed a short visit and song. Being plucked out of the crowd by Larry while watching his show and asked to demonstrate my skill in a hula dancing or performing with the poi-balls. Fishing with Larry and brining more mud back to the hotel than fish. And lastly, his story-telling capabilities-especially the one about the tidal-wave in the 50-60’s when he described how the phone rang on the wall, that it never had rang before,during one of his performances and after answering it, he turned to the audience, and said “excuse me ladies and gentleman, a tidal wave is coming”! The story had me in stiches rolling on the floor! Mark M.
I was married in the Fern Groto and honeymooned at Coco Palms 7/1/1988, an incredible spiritual place. Why can’t Coco Palms be cleared and built back exactly as it was, not more opulent, bigger or better. Can’t we preserve some history? And that’s all I have to say about that, Forest Gump. Hotel developers around the world, thanks for listening.
Nancy H., I can’t agree with you more! It was always a lovely place, and Kauai certainly doesn’t need any more mammoth, overpriced “luxury” resorts! I lived on Kauai for 15 years, and Coco Palms was always a favorite place to enjoy an open-air lunch or just walk the grounds. It was beautiful and deserved a better fate than what’s happened over the last 26 years.
I stayed at Coco Palms as a child in 1968. The most memorable thing to me of that trip was when we had dinner at the restaurant there, and our waitress walked out in the middle of her shift, so our dinner was hours late! I kept a diary of that trip and I wish I still had that now.
I’m a ukelele player now, and was watching Blue Hawaii to transpose some songs, and gosh, the Coco Palms sure was gorgeous. I kind of wish I’d been older on that trip so I could have appreciated it more.
I understand each of the various positions. As a haole who lived on the islands for several years, and returns every year I truly miss the Coco Palms. Real Hawaiian spirit, locals for the floor shows, Mrs G welcoming you, and Big John. It was a different world and the way people thought Hawaii should be. Unfortunately I don’t think economics will ever allow us to return to those days, very, very sad. I would love to see the grounds restored as a park.
I stayed at the Coco Palms during a high school graduation trip in 1979. It was the most memorable part of the trip for me. Everything about it; the palm grove, tiki torches, outdoor showers, clam shell sinks, and back in 1979, the set for Fantasy Island. It all made for an amazing stay. I’m sad that its revival has failed, but it’s been so long for me that I have no opinion for whether it should be rebuilt. It sounds like the locals believe it should be taken down and not restored, and the land repurposed… and I guess I’d have to defer to their opinions since they live there. But the Coco Palms will live on fondly in my memories!
This does not make me sad. Kauai needs to stop building so much. Although iconic, I don’t believe that Coco Palms needs to be rebuilt.
I have to say, as much as I love the idea of bringing it back, tourists don’t vacation and relax the way they did years ago and would they really get it? There’s traffic that moves 5 mph from 3-6 each weekday day (I’m sitting in it right now), and more and more impact on the land each year. If it’s every redeveloped, I hope that with a resort additional facilities and responsibility to the people and the island.
Here you go kauai now you got the land to put up low income housing or a senior center or maybe a second hospital .so all this hype on coco palm was all bs. The mighty Hyatt couldn’t pull a rabbit out so kauai county use your head n use it for the people were it should have gone all along.
excellent idea!
For sure!
I have been waiting and waiting for the re-opening and I am now so very sad. I was there in 1986 and again in 2008 to see the ruins. I brought back some items (a menu, lamp shade, etc.) from the site to keep with my memories from 1986. I also bought the book, The Story of Coco Palms. I will cherish them for life. I was so hoping to return. I’ve traveled the world and Coco Palms has always been my favorite. There are more people than you may think that love Coco Palms. I was even hoping maybe Elvis’ family would have stepped in. Guess they don’t care either. I’ll bet Elvis would have stepped up. So very, very sad.
Really appreciate the update. Visited Kauai three years ago, and took the little walking tour through the CoCo Palms. The history of CoCo Palms is amazing, but it’s history, can’t bring it back. Kind of knew the rebuilding wasn’t in the cards, hope someday something beautiful will take it’s place, whatever it might be. Thank you, please continue to keep us all posted on any news.
We honeymooned there in June 1972 and were looking forward to returning in 2022 for our 50th. Doesn’t look good.
Like the 12 Ft Satellite Dish, the Palms days are over. I always wondered if a decent swell went across the Hwy how a rebuilt facility could handle it? No Beach…..too close the water with the current elevation….a recipe for Disaster if a large wave came across the Kuhio! I am certain not even Mark Z would try to develop it based on the proximity to the water
(no beach), low elevation and the cost to do it.
It will be Hawaiian Airlines for a least a year or two until SouthWest builds a track record! It’s a bit too far from the Mainland for any issues!
You guys are doing a great job with your info and site as always….Mahalo
Hi Richard.
Thank you!
Aloha.
Why the ‘developers’ EVER thought they could pull this much needed reconstruction off is a complete mystery. Anyone who has ever worked with any part of the Hawaii county government, in this case Kauai, knows full well – they will tell you one thing and then do something entirely different. Permits? Really? Good luck with that. You would have a better chance of hosting the Super Bowl in Kauai than you would of ever getting Coco Palms rebuilt!
No beach, no golf course, no views. Busy hiway, huge expensive footprint, lots of competition.
It just does not look profitable in today’s market.
I think Elvis has left the building.
We stayed there in 1975 and have been by to visit several years ago. It is a shame that they are having BIG problems with redevelopment!!!!
No amount of rehab would ever bring it back to its original state nor would it be the same without Mrs. Guslander at the helm.
I stayed there back in late 70s when Mrs. Guslander was alive and managing the property. She was the main reason Coco Palms was Coco Palms. She showed her guests the reverence the property and Hawaiian people deserved. The calling to the people that had passed by turning off all electricity and lighting the torches and the Hawaiian men paddled their canoes down the streams singing traditional music made me feel like I was truly a part of a tradition. Bless her soul. She was a great lady.
The Coco Palms was beautiful. I stayed there twice. I would love to see it rebuilt. Maybe more than one developer would take it on and rebuild it. I know people would stay there. The restaurant was open air. The birds would come in and sit on the chairs. The water where Elvis made his movie went right next to the restaurant. At night it was all lite up and Hawaiian dancers would float down past the restaurant and there was a stage where they had the Hawaiian show. The property was huge. You walked way back on the property where there was a little zoo with monkeys and different animals. It was great there. I wish it could be rebuilt to what it was. I would go back. My second husband had never been. When we decided to go we learned it had been distroyed. Love to see it rebuilt.❤
This eyesore should have been torn down many years ago. It’s a disgrace to the beautiful island of Kauai. What it used to be is so far in the past that it doesn’t matter anymore.
Maybe Mr. Zuckerberg will show his neighbors some love. He could finance the clean up, a gorgeous Hawaiian park, a small amphitheater and some retail of shops and restaurants.
Coco Palms was a dump before Iniki did us a favor. The owners were milking its reputation to clueless punters. Hope it gets bulldozed into oblivion sooner than later. The County negigligently failed to condem the place decades ago and it’s time it finally done..
MISTERM, We don’t all have your negative view of Coco Palms before Iniki hit. Some of us liked it back then and still miss it.
One thing that comes quickly to mind about the Coco Palms resort is the fact that while there was some money on the table to start initial work, the money to make the project come to life was always on the side, waiting to see if the community would come around in support. That never seemed to happen in a way by which investors could be comfortable with. From the Native Hawaiian protests to the counties sitting on permits, I think the investors that could have invested decided that the risk was just too much for what seems like a marginally successful plan. That money is going to places where there is more guaranteed profit and a lot less headache in making the project come to life. Sorry to say doing business in Hawaii at this level is not as easy as it was in the days the Coco Palms was first built. And I think that anyone who is trying to use the goodwill of the past to show value of the place today needs to know that all that goodwill is not enough to overcome what now seems to be institutional opposition to re-development of the property.
This does not make me sad. Kauai needs to stop building so much. Although iconic, I don’t believe that Coco Palms needs to be rebuilt. Let it die and move on.
I disagree. Yes they should stop building so much, but they should rebuild the Coco Palms. It was wonderful and it could be again.
The Hyatt brand is not the correct way to go with this project. They need a developer that understands Hawaii that goes along a more aloha type of branding with a throwback tiki bar vibe in homage of the era that Coco Palms represents. I thought Kauai Shores did a good job with the old Kauai Sands hotel. A mid-level affordability with a modern upgrade to the old style. I think it would be so welcoming to immerse yourself in the old style of the 60s 70s aloha era.
It’s time to piss or get off the pot .lets face it the Elvis left the building . It’s time for the county to take over .should have would have n could have ,they should have put cocopalms on tv as a soap opera , tear it down it’s an eye sore let’s get out of the past n put the property to good use for all to use
My husband and I spent our honeymoon in October of 1978 in Coco Palms. The fond memories of the place are still vivid in my mind. We were planning to return for our 40th Anniversary but much to our dismay our Coco Palms resort remained in ruins. Over the years our loove for Coco Palms has convinced our children, grandchildren, and other family members to visit Kauai so many times. Saddly,they have been unable to experience the magic of Coco Palms! So disappointed.
Enough is enough it’s about time to change the topic the place should have torn down along time ago .by the way the kings dead longer let the county take over and use the land properly they don’t need another over priced white elephant use it for the ones that live there make it a senior center hospital or a water park at least there will be no more eye sore make it for all to use and enjoy.
disagree some people like their history!! and dont believe in bulldozing is the answer
We were married there in 1985 and would like to return. We keep waiting. Hundreds, if not thousands of couples were married there. We won’t live forever!
I hope the project comes to fruition. Tomorrow my husband and I will be married 30 years. We honeymooners in the Fish wing of the Coco Palms. It was already dark the night we arrived, and when we woke up it was to another world. I dream of going back there. I hope we can since my husband is no longer in the best of health. I remember walking across a strip of road to the beach. I love Kauai!
Mahal!
we were there in august 2018 looking through the place with larry rivera there has not been any activity to clear the place to prepare for reconstruction it looks worse then they portray where they said there had been a couple of fires it appears there have been numerous fires with being a firefighter for 20 years there was the odor of fire as in recent, the open structures exposing the concrete to the salt air, rain, the bent girders the place was a mess, the pools the overgrowth it would take a miracle to bring this place back to what it looked like in 1974 when it was at it’s prime when we stayed there, this is a shame on the local, state governments the courts, the native hawaiians should also share this shame as they appear not to put forth any plans they just keep on saying they want a cultural center with no plans to build one.
We stayed in the Frog Room in 1985 on our honeymoon. The room looked out over all the beautiful coconut palms and there were hundreds of little doves living there. The bathroom sink was a giant calm shell and the shower was huge and deep with beautiful tile. I used to take a bath in the shower. It was extremely relaxing. There was a huge tribe of kitties living on the grounds and they would chase the restaurant waitresses around in mobs crying for food. (Poor things) I kept thinking they needed to be fixed, but I don’t think it occurred to anyone. What a shame, the hurricane took it all
away. The Coco Palms was a hotel from a more genteel era that had somehow survived into the modern age. I’m glad I
got to see it, before the hurricane.
My husband, myself and our daughter who was only 10 at the time stayed there in 86 while vacationing….I remember the Clam shaped Sink but that is all I can remember as far as what the room looked like…. I do remember the beautiful single cottages being scattered throughout all the very tall coconut trees…..and that gorgeous river view that entwined around where we ate breakfast and dinner and how it was tradition every morning and evening that a canoe with native hiwaiians would put on a show…blowing on the conqshells to welcome the sunrise and again at night to say goodnight….it was like a dream another world another time……gone….My husband and I came back to Kauai in 2015 for our 39th anniversary and as we drove past the old remains of what once was such wonderful and memorable place I was so deeply saddened to see it just abandoned by the wayside…..It literally changed the way I always felt about Kauai….it was just so much a part of my memories that I felt like I was visiting a different Island all together….. I feel so grateful that we were able to be were able to see it and be a part of it before it destroyed….
April 18, 1985, our 15th wedding anniversary trip that was my huaband’s surprise gift to me. We’ve always had such fond memories of the lagoon and the coconuts falling and the clam shell sinks. The nightly torch lighting was so ceremonial. We participated in the Hawaiian wedding ceremony in the Fern Grotto. In 1997, we returned to Kauai. We are making plans for a 49th wedding anniversay dinner to surprise our son’s family and daughter’s family that they will be our guests to Honolulu to celebrate our 50th wedding annisersary on 2020. All eleven of us. What a dream of of ours if we could all have gone back for the Coco Palms experience.
Are the tours still happening there?? We tried to go a couple of years ago and showed up at the correct time only to find they decided not to show that day… bummer.
Hi Julie.
Tours are still happening 5 days a week according to their website. Hi to your family.
Aloha.
Got married at the fern grotto on April 6, 1982 and spent the week at the Coco Palm, remember they brought us a fresh pineapple to our room the first night and invite to a special party the next night.. Had stayed there five years earlier and loved it so much I knew we had to stay there after our wedding. You have to rebuild and we will be back. I keep the key to our room and still have it. It was an awesome key.
Carolyn. Colchester, VT
Thanks for the update! My wife and I spent a week at the Coco Palms and had a great time. It is such a great loss to see the grandeur of this marvelous landmark lost for so long. Kauai should recognize the historic value of the facility and do as much as possible to facilitate is restoration, including beach access, acceptable waivers for flood-control based on historic flood records for this property, expediting permits, and doing whatever it can to kick the restoration contractors in the b** to get to work and do the work correctly and to standards, if not higher.
I was about eight years old when I stayed at the Coco Palms with my parents in the 1960’s. I remember bringing Japanese candy back to our room and eating them out on the lanai. I was mesmerized by the tropical setting and all the beautiful plants Being able to walk around freely, I felt I was in my own little paradise! One of the groundskeepers showed incredible aloha spirit and climbed a coconut tree for me and brought down a coconut! He taught us how to open the coconut so we could try it fresh. I was very impressed! As the sun set the tiki torches went on and I heard the conch shell blowing. I loved all of it! I have been back to Hawaii many times since then and love the culture, the beautiful nature and the warm hearted people. My trip staying at Coco Palms was a magical first step!
Thank you all for the wonderful stories especially the Fantasy Island story. I think the public should have a stance in how construction proceeds. If the county could hear these stories and take into consideration what the public wants, I’m sure there is profitability in this project. I truly hope they take the old Hawaiiana/Tiki styling into consideration and don’t go the route of another Grand Hyatt style resort. The outdoor lava shower sounds sublime! For all of you wondering what the original resort looked like watch the 1978 werewolf movie called ‘Deathmoon’.
I too have been coming to Kauai every year for over a decade and every time I pass by the CoCo Palms I have pangs of longing for that bygone era. Mahalo for the story Beat Of Hawaii and please do keep us informed. Hope to see all of you wonderful people there someday soon!
so hope the hotel will be rebuilt. If you build it “they will come”…certainly me! I got married in the fern grotto in 1979 to my late husband whose family were good friends with the Gus and Grace. Our wedding dinner was at the resort, and we stayed in the Queens cottage and yes, we came up the lagoon ala Elvis Presley, in our hawaiian traditional wedding attire on the outrigger. My heart would simply melt to bring my pictures and see the new improved CoCo Palms rebuilt!
I would say not likely!
I think the issue that needs to be addressed by the developers is whether a property like this, with the focus they want to give it, really a large market in today’s Kauai tourism industry. In other words, the version of ‘Hawaiiana’ that the Coco Palms had and will display, will it be effective to bring in the tourists and fill the rooms. 300 rooms is a mighty big number to fill and if the money they are trying to get is all in loans, you can bet they will need it 100% filled and at high prices.
We were married at the little Coco Palms chapel in 1985. After the ceremony with Rev. Kalama & two witnesses staying there, we toured the little zoo in the back. The zookeeper was Uncle Charlie Pereira whom we met some years later in the parking lot with his severance check in hand. He, with typical Kauaian aloha, took us on a tour of the grounds. In retirement he hand made throw nets I believe. At the Ono restaurant in Kapaa a server said she had one of the shell basins from a Coco Palms cottage. Such memories. Have been visiting Kauai for over 40 years & will be probably be there for the last time next month, but I have my son & daughter-in-law hooked on Kauai so they will continue the family tradition.
What a beautiful comment Mary E! Kauai is such a gorgeous place!
My girlfriend at the time and I stayed at the Coco Palms in 1983, in one of the bungalows in the back. Clam shell sink, lava rock outdoor shower, across the lagoon from the main building, palm trees out back. It was something special. The howling gibbons in the Palm Grove were a special treat. The hospitality from the staff helped make it truly a remarkable experience. I’ve been back to Kauai every year for the past seven, and each time I pass the Coco Palms and see the destruction (still) from Hurricane Iniki in 1992, from the vandalism, and from the fire in 2014, it saddens me. I wish Kauai County would take some action and approve all the outstanding building permits and let the builders restore this landmark establishment.
My husband and I honeymooned at Coco Palms in July of 1989, upon the recommendation of my grandparents who celebrated their 25th anniversary there in 1976. This place has always held a special place in our memories. We never got to go back and relive our time there, as the hurricane that destroyed it happened only 3 years later. We’ve been anxiously waiting for the re-birth of Coco Palms. So many things I remember, such as the torch lighting ceremony each night and the blowing of the conch shell, the entertainment at dinner, the delicious breakfast buffet at the restaurant along the lagoon, and the thing that impressed us the most, from day one all the staff had memorized our name! This was our first experience of traveling abroad, as we were only 18 and 21 (we married young), so to be addressed by name was pretty special.
Forty-five years ago my girlfriend and I spent 3 glorious weeks at Coco Palms. Little did we know when we booked the holiday what a spell would be cast over us. Our memories now are as clear as if it were just last week. Grace, Big John, Charlie and a wonderful server named Barb, who put a fresh gardenia in our room every day, are remembered with a fondness like that of long-time friends. We miss you Coco Palms.
Had come to Oahu in April, 1986–on a trip I’d scheduled before my unanticipated layoff. Thought it might be my last trip to the islands, so opted for an overnight package to Kauai. So glad I did. Coco Palms gave us a complimentary upgrade for no apparent reason other than the Spirit of Aloha, and it was lovely. Our sink was a giant clam shell!! Did the Fern Grotto excursion, had a drink served in a pinapple in the lounge, etc. Didn’t fully appreciate this iconic hotel until I learned its history. Feel extremely fortunate to have stayed at the Coco Palms!!
In the late seventies, my husband and I stayed in a suite at the Coco Palms (which was a stretch for us) and we brought his mother who had a room down the hall… wonderful memories beautiful place I would love to see this Resurrected it had charm and definitely Hawaiian theme at its best! Maybe the Developers and the city and Hawaiian people can get together and work this out look forward to the future of the Coco Palms 😊
My mom took my sister I there for vacation about 40 years ago! It was beautiful and we met so many movie stars! They were filming Fantasy Island, so we met Ricardo Montelban, Samantha Egar, Tattoo and more stars that were there visiting them. I need to find the pictures we took, I still have them, polaroids! 😂
We stayed at Coco Palms for our 25th anniversary in 1984 – magical experience! The beauty of our room, the palm grove, the torch-lighting ceremony. the music and dancing all enhanced the specialness of Coco Palms. Have wonderful photos and videos of this special place. The reconstruction would bring happy memories to so many people.