Waikiki Biltmore Hotel

Permits were filed for an eight-story hotel in March 1953, with groundbreaking taking place in November of that year.[2] Joseph Greenbach constructed the building, which opened on February 19, 1955. Construction cost $4 million.[3][4] The hotel was built on the site of Canlis Charcoal Broiler, the first restaurant opened by Peter Canlis, which opened in 1947.[5] The opening was met with great fanfare, including a flight from California chartered by Greenbach.[6]

The hotel opened with 247 rooms, featuring amenities such as the Top of the Isle club on the 11th floor, the Kiki Room, and the Luau Lounge.[3] D.N. Ivanitsky and R.G. Wanabe were the architects of record.[7]

In late 1955, Greenbach sold the hotel to Massaglia Hotels, Inc.[8]

The hotel was sold again to the Kimi chain, operator of the Hukilau hotels, in 1966 for $2.5 million. The Kimi owners spent $100,000 on a renovation, but a planned renaming never occurred.[9]

In 1973, a man fired a shot at a woman sitting at an adjacent hotel from a room at the Biltmore.[10]

The hotel suffered a small fire on the 10th floor in August 1973 caused by a discarded cigarette, and a larger fire in November 1973 that destroyed the second-story Port O' Paradise nightclub.[11]

The King's Alley shopping center opened near the hotel in 1972, and after the hotel's purchase by developer Christopher Hemmeter there were plans to renovate the hotel as part of a $20 million area rejuvenation.[12][13] In 1973, the hotel began offering monthly rentals due to an oversupply of hotel rooms.[14] By 1974, the plans had changed to redevelop the hotel as two 40-story towers, which became the Hyatt Regency.[15]

The hotel was imploded at 8 a.m. on May 28, 1974.[4]