Hilton Hawaiian Village
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The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa, formerly the Kaiser Hawaiian Village Hotel, is one of the most popular hotels in Waikiki — based on name recognition and visitor statistics — on the Hawaiian island of O'ahu. Located near Ala Moana Center, the largest open air shopping center in the world, the Hawaiian Village Hotel sits on over twenty two acres (89,000 m²) of prime beachfront property and features the largest swimming pool in Waikiki. It was constructed and first administered by Henry J. Kaiser, the industrialist who built the Hoover Dam and Grand Coulee Dam and founder of a world-renowned health system that bears his name. There are over twenty-two restaurants, exotic wildlife, and botanical gardens as well as a branch of the Bishop Museum.
[edit] Village plan
In building the Hawaiian Village Hotel, Kaiser developed the "village plan" for his resort. In the "village plan", various sections of the development were designed in specific types of motifs indicative of the culture of the hotel's surroundings. Kaiser's "village plan" is now used in various layouts of hotels and resorts throughout the world. The various villages in the present-day Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort and Spa surround centerpiece towers: Ali'i Tower, Diamond Head Tower, Lagoon Tower, Rainbow Tower, Tapa Tower. The newest tower is the Kalia Tower which made national news headlines because it was infested with mold shortly after it was opened to the public (May 15, 2001) and reopened September 1, 2003 after extensive cleaning.
[edit] Wildlife
The Village Hotel is home to a group of South African black-footed penguins that live in an outdoor habitat surrounded by greenery and a small pond filled with several types of turtles (box and soft-shelled). Other animals that live on the grounds include several types of ducks, lesser flamingos, sacred ibis, black-crowned night herons, koi fish, chameleons, macaws, and parakeets.
