It's a pretty famous hotel.  Bill's father has talked about it all Bill's life.   Whenever he tells about visiting Honolulu during World War II, he always mentions the Royal Hawaiian Hotel.  It's quite a place, and very elegant lodging.

With the success of the early efforts by Matson Navigation Company to provide steamer travel to America's wealthiest families en route to Hawaii, Captain William Matson proposed the development of a hotel in Honolulu for his passengers. This was in hope of profiting from what Matson believed could be the most lucrative endeavor his company could enter into. Matson purchased the Moana mansion, fronting the Ainahau royal estate. Christening it the Moana Hotel, it opened in 1901 as the first hotel in Waikiki. With its overwhelming success, Matson planned and built The Royal Hawaiian which opened in 1927.

The Royal Hawaiian cost $4 million and took one and a half years to build. The six-story structure had 400 rooms that were of Spanish and Moorish styles popular during the 1920s. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel was influenced by Hollywood legend Rudolph Valentino and his Arabian movies. Cupolas were created to resemble Spanish mission-style bell towers. The pink color was taken from a popular American obsession of the era.

Let's go to Bill's room.  Fancy door, don't you think?

And here's the view out Bill's window.

The lobby opens right out onto a grassy yard and then the beach.

That mountain is Diamond Head.

Lotsa tourists are enjoying the view.

Doug prefers to sun by the pool.

He's right under a big hotel tower, an annex to the Royal Hawaiian.

It's big and impressive, but it doesn't have the charm of the old building.

Who's wearing dirty sneakers at the pool?

The tourists are taking hula lessons. 

Here's a more animated view of the hula lessons plus some shots of other activities around the hotel.

Bill has gone for a walk.

And look who he ran into.  It's Frank Owens!  Frank and Bill worked together for years in NASA Education.  Now they're both retired.  Looks like they have similar ideas regarding where to take a vacation.

And look what else Bill has spotted on his walk.  It's good old L&L Barbecue!

Bill finally broke down and ordered his L&L noodles with Spam.  Not bad, actually.

Bill figures that if he's going to wander around town, he'd better look like a local.  It appears he's gone shopping.

When we checked in, the hotel gave us tickets for free non-alcoholic drinks at the Mai Tai Bar, and we've finally gotten around to cashing them in.  Bonnie prepares to indulge.

The Royal Hawaiian has a very nice garden.

It's all very elegant.

And impressive.

Here's a little pond.

With a stream.

And look at all those lanterns hanging from the branches.  I'll bet that looks great at night.

Bill sat in a rocking chair on the hotel's front porch and admired the tropical plants.

An old map of Hawaii decorated the wall just inside the front entrance.

Here's the Mai Tai bar, right on the beach.

Looks like the sun's about to go down.

End of another beautiful day in paradise.

Nice sunset.

Aloha oe.

People line up on the beach to watch the sun go down.  Best show in town.

And there it goes.

Here's a walking tour of the Royal Hawaiian lobby area and grounds.

And here's some shaky video of entertainment on the grounds of the Royal Hawaiian after dark.