HONOLULU, Hawaii — Hawaii’s largest hotel, the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki (http://Travel-Hawaii.com/Hilton_Hawaiian_Village.html) has finally completed its long-awaited lagoon revitalization project, according to Travel Hawaii LLC (http://Travel-Hawaii.com), a leading Hawaii Internet booking service. The project has transformed the once murky, uninviting pond into a delightful 5 acre swimming and recreation center, open not only to guests of the Hilton Hawaiian Village, but to the general public as well.
For many years, the lagoon next to the Hilton Hawaiian Village was dark and uninviting. “It was swimmable but little jellyfish often stung those who ventured into it,” said John Lindelow, Travel Hawaii’s owner, “and the bottom was muddy from years of collected debris. You rarely saw anyone actually in the water.”
The Hilton recently completed a $15 million renovation of this historic lagoon, with excellent results. The project was finally completed in January 2008 after two and a half years of planning and work. Now guests can actually swim in the lagoon, or just wander on its sandy, beautiful shores.
Although the lagoon does not technically belong to the hotel, the Hilton’s Regional Director of Public Relations Manager Cynthia Rankin stated, “Since the lagoon is right next to the hotel, we felt it was the Hilton’s responsibility to bring it back to its original state. Prior to this, the lagoon was fed water from an intake system that was directly off of the ocean. This brought in a lot of ocean trash, invasive species, jellyfish, and algae.”
A new state of the art pumping system has been installed that pumps 15,000 gallons of fresh sea water a minute from intakes that are 250 feet below sea level. This cleaner fresh sea water entirely replaces the lagoon water five times a day.
The Hilton is encouraging the local community to hold swimming events at the lagoon. In addition, many weddings will likely be held on the lagoon’s edge, with the groom possibly arriving by boat to meet his bride.
“It’s amazing how this renovation has transformed the lagoon,” said Lindelow. “Our hats are off to the Hilton Hawaiian Village.”
