Steamship travel in the mid-1800s caused a large increase in visitors to Hawaii. In 1865, a public meeting was held and a committee was appointed to study the question of the need for a first-class hotel. For a few years, nothing happened until, in 1870, Kalakaua said he thought favorably of the Government building a hotel. Finally, things started moving along and the hotel was finally completed and opened with a formal ball in 1872.

Later, with great interest from King Kalakaua, it was renamed the “Royal Hawaiian Hotel.” So you see, the first Royal Hawaiian Hotel was not in Waikiki at all. The later one, known as the Pink Palace, wouldn’t open until 1928.

A ghost in Hawaiian Hotel - Now the site of the Hawaii State Art Museum (HiSAM)

Anyhow, almost from the beginning, the hotel was reported to be haunted.

In 1877, the Hawaiian Hotel was closed for repairs. But witnesses reported seeing a ghost wandering the halls and being seen on the verandas.

The hotel was converted to a YMCA in 1917 and used by the military in World War I. Then, due to disrepair and termite infestations, the building was torn down in 1926.

Then in 1928, it was rebuilt as what came to be called the Armed Services YMCA.

Now listed as the No. 1 Capitol District Building, it houses the Hawaii State Art Museum, HiSAM, and other State offices. But even today, people who work in the building talk about hearing footsteps in the halls at night, when no one is there, or seeing the shadow of a woman wandering the halls.

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