Coco Palms Resort

Coco Palms Resort was a resort hotel at Wailuā on the eastern side of Kauaʻi, Hawaiʻi. It occupied a culturally and historically significant site near the mouth of the Wailua River, an area associated with Hawaiian legends, royal landholding, religious traditions, and important events in the history of Native Hawaiians. The property was also connected with an earlier tradition of hospitality: Kekaihaʻakūlou, commonly known as Deborah Kapule, maintained a residence in the area that welcomed travelers during the nineteenth century. This history gave the later hotel a setting that was far more consequential than an ordinary tourist development. The modern resort began as a small lodge. Lyle Lowell Guslander obtained a lease from the Territory of Hawaiʻi in 1952, with an option to buy, after investigating an existing businessmen’s lodge associated with Veda Warner Hills. Coco Palms opened on January 25, 1953, with 24 rooms, five employees, and two guests. The initial property combined the former residence, converted into eight guest rooms, with 16 rooms in an adapted army-surplus barracks. It stood on approximately 35 acres containing more than 2,000 coconut trees from an earlier plantation. Island Holidays Ltd., led by Guslander, operated the property, with William Newport, Bill Mullahey, and Grace Buscher also involved in its early development. Grace Buscher became the central creative force behind the hotel’s marketing and guest experience. She helped reposition the modest lodge as a Hawaiian-style destination and promoted an atmosphere built around tropical landscaping, staged cultural presentations, music, food, weddings, and ceremony. Expansion began quickly. By 1956, the lodge had been converted into a cottage-style hotel with 82 rooms; the removal of some cottages that year allowed construction of a 24-room wing, bringing the total to 96 rooms. The property subsequently became known as a distinctive Kauaʻi resort rather than simply an accommodation business. Coco Palms became associated with a torch-lighting ceremony in which performers used a conch shell, drum, and a series of torches across the coconut grove. The ritual became one of the resort’s best-known signatures and influenced similar presentations at other Hawaiian hotels, although historical accounts have described the performance as a hotel-created theatrical interpretation rather than an unchanged traditional Hawaiian ceremony. The resort also promoted Hawaiian-themed weddings, tree-planting observances, Polynesian entertainment, lagoon dining, and other experiences designed for visitors seeking a stylized version of island hospitality. Its visibility was reinforced by Hollywood. Films were shot on location at the resort, including Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii, helping associate Coco Palms with the popular image of mid-century Hawaiʻi. For decades, the hotel’s weddings, ceremonies, tropical grounds, and screen appearances made it a recognizable tourism landmark. At the same time, the resort’s cultural presentation existed within a site whose Native Hawaiian history was much older and more complex than the hotel’s commercial branding. Hurricane Iniki destroyed the resort in 1992. Coco Palms did not resume normal hotel operations afterward, and the damaged property became the subject of repeated restoration proposals. The land has also been connected to a long-running dispute over historical ownership and inheritance claims dating back to the nineteenth century. In 2016, Honolulu developers GreeneWaters LLC formed Coco Palms Hui LLC and proposed restoring the property, with an intended affiliation with Hyatt’s Unbound Collection. That redevelopment project collapsed in 2019. RP21 Coco Palms LLC, identified with Reef Capital Partners, later proposed a new 350-room resort, with completion discussed for 2026. The proposed project represents redevelopment of the site rather than a confirmed revival of the original operating hotel brand.

The Coco Palms site lies near the mouth of the Wailua River, an area associated with ancient Hawaiian voyagers, royal residence, legends, religious significance, and long-established traditions of welcoming travelers. The location was connected with Hawaiian royalty and with Kekaihaʻakūlou, later known as Deborah Kapule, whose residence became known as Deborah’s Inn. Kapule hosted visitors, missionaries, and religious figures during the nineteenth century. After her departure and death, the property deteriorated, but the site’s association with Hawaiian history remained central to its later identity. The ownership and inheritance of the land became the subject of legal disputes. Claims relating to the estate of Kealiiahonui, a son of Kauaʻi monarch Kaumualii, entered probate proceedings in the nineteenth century. Petitions seeking to challenge earlier determinations were filed in 1866 and later revisited. The material associated with the case records disputes over wills, inheritance, representation of heirs, and procedural bars. In 1893, Sanford B. Dole participated in adjudication after the overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom, having moved from his former role as a supreme-court justice to leadership of the Provisional Government. The historical land questions have continued to inform debate over the resort site. The coconut grove itself was reportedly planted in 1896 by William Lindemann, a German immigrant who hoped to build a copra and coconut-oil enterprise. The plantation did not achieve that ambition, in part because the trees required a long time to mature. The remaining grove later became a defining visual feature of the area, which is often associated with Kauaʻi’s Coconut Coast. By the early 1950s, a small businessmen’s lodge operated on the property under Veda Warner Hills. Lyle Lowell Guslander leased the site from the Territory of Hawaiʻi in 1952 and opened Coco Palms on January 25, 1953. The first configuration had 24 rooms, five employees, and two guests. Island Holidays Ltd. operated the lodge, with Grace Buscher playing an important role in management and promotion. Buscher helped create a deliberately Hawaiian atmosphere through landscaping, entertainment, ceremonial presentations, dining, and storytelling. Rapid development followed. The original lodge was transformed into a cottage-style hotel, and by 1956 the property had 96 rooms. Among the resort’s most enduring inventions was its torch-lighting presentation, in which a conch call and drumbeat preceded the lighting of torches throughout the coconut grove. The event was presented as part of the guest experience and became closely identified with Coco Palms, later influencing the ceremonial vocabulary of other Hawaiian hotels. Its theatrical character also illustrates the tension between commercial representations of Hawaiian culture and the deeper history of the site. Coco Palms built a substantial business around Hawaiian-themed weddings and Polynesian-style entertainment. It operated multiple dining areas, including the Lagoon Dining Room, and used food, music, fire, dance, and landscape to create a destination experience. The hotel’s profile increased further through film production. Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii was among the films shot at the resort, giving Coco Palms a lasting place in popular representations of Hawaiʻi. Hurricane Iniki destroyed the resort in 1992. The original hotel did not return to ordinary operations, and the property entered a prolonged period of deterioration, legal complexity, and redevelopment proposals. In 2016, GreeneWaters LLC and Coco Palms Hui LLC proposed a restoration intended to be connected with Hyatt’s Unbound Collection, but the project collapsed in 2019. A later proposal from RP21 Coco Palms LLC, associated with Reef Capital Partners, called for a new 350-room resort and cited 2026 as a completion target. This proposal concerns redevelopment of the historic site; the original Coco Palms Resort remains defunct.

• 2019

  Restoration plan collapses

  [1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  The restoration project associated with Coco Palms Hui LLC failed to proceed.

• 2016

  Restoration partnership is announced

  [1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  GreeneWaters LLC and Coco Palms Hui LLC formed a partnership to pursue restoration and a proposed Hyatt Unbound Collection affiliation.

• 1992

  Hurricane Iniki destroys the resort

  [1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  The hotel was destroyed by Hurricane Iniki and did not resume its original operations.

• 1956

  Expansion reaches 96 rooms

  [1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  The lodge was expanded into a cottage-style hotel and a new wing increased capacity to 96 rooms.

• 1953

  Coco Palms opens

  [1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  The 24-room Coco Palms lodge opened on January 25 with five employees and two guests.

• 1952

  Guslander leases the property

  [1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  Lyle Lowell Guslander secured a lease from the Territory of Hawaiʻi and began developing the site as a tourist lodge.

• 1896

  Coconut grove plantation is established

  [1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  William Lindemann planted a coconut grove for a proposed copra enterprise. The commercial plantation failed, but the trees became a defining feature of the future resort site.

• 1866

  Inheritance petition involving the Kealiiahonui estate

  [1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  A petition involving claims to the estate of Kealiiahonui was filed, contributing to the long legal history surrounding the land later occupied by Coco Palms.

A tropical Kauaʻi resort positioned around Hawaiian atmosphere, ceremonial entertainment, weddings, coconut-grove landscaping, cultural storytelling, and cinematic associations.

• Hotel accommodation · 1953

  Guest rooms and cottages

  Coco Palms began with 24 rooms and developed into a larger cottage-style resort. Expansion in the 1950s included a 24-room wing, bringing the reported total to 96 rooms. The accommodations were integrated into a tropical setting of coconut trees, lagoons, and landscaped grounds.

• Wedding and events hospitality

  Hawaiian-themed weddings

  Weddings became one of the resort’s most important long-term commercial offerings. The programs used the property’s tropical landscape, Hawaiian imagery, ceremonial elements, music, and Polynesian-style entertainment to create a destination wedding experience for visitors.

• Cultural-style entertainment

  Torch-lighting ceremony

  The resort’s signature evening presentation combined a conch-shell call, drumming, and a performer lighting torches across the coconut grove. It became strongly associated with Coco Palms and was later imitated in various forms at other Hawaiian hotels, although it was a hotel-created theatrical interpretation rather than an unchanged traditional ceremony.

• Resort dining

  Lagoon Dining Room

  The Lagoon Dining Room was one of the resort’s dining venues. Dining was integrated with the property’s entertainment program, including fire, food presentation, and Polynesian-themed evening shows designed to draw guests into the resort experience.

• 1953Hawaiian-style getaway positioning

  United States

  Grace Buscher helped market the newly opened lodge as an immersive Hawaiian-style escape rather than a basic small hotel. The approach emphasized tropical surroundings, local imagery, ceremonies, entertainment, and a distinctive guest atmosphere.

  Outcome. The positioning supported expansion from a 24-room lodge into a larger destination resort.

  Source
• Torch-lighting and Polynesian evening program

  United States · Hawaiʻi

  The resort used an evening torch-lighting presentation followed by a Polynesian-themed show and dinner to create a memorable signature ritual for guests.

  Outcome. The ceremony became one of Coco Palms’ most recognizable features and influenced presentations at other island hotels.

  Source
• Hawaiian-themed wedding promotion

  United States · International visitors

  Coco Palms promoted the property as a destination for Hawaiian-themed weddings, using its grounds, ceremonial imagery, entertainment, and tropical setting as the core of the offering.

  Outcome. Weddings became a major part of the resort’s business for decades.

  Source

• 2016

  Proposed restoration with Hyatt affiliationStrategy

  Background

  After decades without the original hotel operating, GreeneWaters LLC and Coco Palms Hui LLC sought to restore the landmark.

  Action taken

  The partnership proposed reopening Coco Palms as part of Hyatt’s Unbound Collection.

  Aftermath

  The project collapsed in 2019 and did not restore the original resort.

  Source

• 1992

  Closure following Hurricane InikiOther

  Background

  Hurricane Iniki caused catastrophic damage to the resort property.

  Action taken

  The original hotel ceased normal operations after the storm.

  Aftermath

  The resort remained defunct while the site became the focus of preservation, ownership, and redevelopment discussions.

  Source

• 1956

  Expansion from lodge to larger resort hotelGeneration change

  Background

  The original 24-room lodge was too small for the destination-resort concept being developed by its operators.

  Action taken

  The property was converted into a cottage-style hotel and a new wing was built after removing several cottages.

  Aftermath

  Reported capacity reached 96 rooms, strengthening Coco Palms’ position as a major Kauaʻi hotel.

  Source

• 1952

  Lease and conversion of the existing lodgeStrategy

  Background

  The site contained a small businessmen’s lodge and had a strong historical and natural setting but limited scale as a tourist property.

  Action taken

  Lyle Lowell Guslander leased the property from the Territory of Hawaiʻi and developed it under Island Holidays Ltd. as a Hawaiian-style resort.

  Aftermath

  The property opened in 1953 and began a rapid expansion into a larger hotel.

  Source

• Proposal for a new 350-room resortStrategy

  Background

  Following the failure of the earlier restoration project, a new development concept was advanced for the historic site.

  Action taken

  RP21 Coco Palms LLC, also known as Reef Capital Partners, proposed constructing a 350-room resort with a target completion date of 2026.

  Aftermath

  The proposal describes redevelopment rather than a confirmed reopening of the original Coco Palms brand.

  Source

• 2019

  Restoration project collapses[1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The proposed restoration associated with Coco Palms Hui LLC did not proceed.

• 2016

  Coco Palms restoration partnership is formed[1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  M&A

  GreeneWaters LLC and Coco Palms Hui LLC announced plans to restore the property with a proposed Hyatt Unbound Collection affiliation.

• 1992

  Coco Palms is destroyed by Hurricane Iniki[1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  Other

  Hurricane Iniki caused extensive destruction, after which the original resort ceased normal hotel operations.

• 1956

  Coco Palms expands into a larger cottage-style hotel[1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  Product generation

  Expansion and reconfiguration increased the property’s reported capacity to 96 rooms and strengthened its resort identity.

• 1953

  Coco Palms lodge opens in Wailuā[1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  Other

  The property opened as a 24-room lodge operated by Island Holidays Ltd., beginning its development into a major Kauaʻi resort.

• New 350-room redevelopment proposal emerges[1]Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org

  Product launch

  RP21 Coco Palms LLC, also identified with Reef Capital Partners, proposed constructing a new 350-room resort with a stated target of completion in 2026.

1. 1Coco Palms Resorten.wikipedia.org