Helumoa in Waikiki

For centuries, the land beneath the Royal Hawaiian Hotel, Helumoa, has been an important place to Hawaiians. It was the stage where royal courts ruled, the supernatural appeared, an invading army landed, and royalty lived and relaxed.

Maʻilikukahi, a former ruler of Oahu, relocated the seat of government from Kukaniloko on the ewa plain to Waikiki beach. According to legend, six generations later a supernatural rooster, Ka‘auhelemoa, flew from Palolo Valley, landed at Waikiki, and challenged a descendant of Maʻilikukahi named Kakuhihewa by scratching the ground. The place was then named Helumoa, which means “chicken scratch.”

Kakuhihewa felt that the appearance of the supernatural rooster was an omen, so he planted a grove of trees, which later multiplied into an estimated 10,000 coconut trees. King Kamehameha I, ruler of the Hawaiian Kingdom, established a home named “Kuihelani” in the Helumoa coconut grove.

Kamehameha V’s residence at Helumoa

Kamehameha V also built a residence at Helumoa. After his death, Helumoa was left to Princess Ruth Ke’elikolani, who bequeathed it to Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop. Through Princess Pauahi’s will, the land became a part of Kamehameha Schools (Bishop Estate), which still owns the land today.

In the 1890s, the property was leased as a seaside annex to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel located at Richards and Hotel streets. In 1907, the Seaside Hotel opened on the property, and was later acquired by Alexander Young’s Territorial Hotel Company, which operated the Alexander Young hotel in downtown Honolulu.