A Perfect Hawaiian Cocktail at Oahu’s Kahala Hotel

The resort offers family friendliness and 5-Star treatment.

Here was my choice: keep the video camera trained on my family to capture the moment, or put it down to take in the scene and fully participate. My angle was poor, zoom weak, and smile too broad to generate any Oscar-worthy footage. Done. Power off.

My wife and four-year-old daughter were petting an Atlantic bottle nosed dolphin. Then they danced on the dock with their tanned Dolphin Quest Oahu trainer while Flipper mimicked their moves alongside, finishing with a dramatic leap into the air and subsequent splash. Showoff. Our two-year-old son looked on, amazed. I wanted to jump the railing and join in as I watched with pride at my daughter’s excitement and fearlessness. The “Wee Family Fins and Fun Program” lasted just 30 minutes, but the experience is etched permanently in my memory. The Dolphin Lagoon is also home to rescued sea turtles and other sea life. Located in the heart of the resort, visitors can’t help but make it a focal point of their stay. Dolphin Quest was just one of the many kid-friendly activities that lured us to The Kahala Hotel & Resort, just around the bend from Diamond Head and a few miles away from the frenetic crowds of Waikiki Beach, but seemingly living in the bye-gone era of Old Hollywood.

Plumeria in the Tradewinds

Cruising the streets of the exclusive Kahala neighborhood, my childhood T.V. antennae shot up. We were entering “Magnum, P.I.” territory. The Higgins Estate could be anywhere, I thought. Zeus and Apollo, the famous Doberman guard dogs would nip at our tires any minute. Our kids, snug in their car seats, were still talking about the flight, shouting out “Ocean!” with every glimpse of deep blue between giant beachfront parcels. Windows open, we breathed in the fragrant trades blowing down from the Ko’olau mountains to the long, crescent-shaped Kahala Bay.

Up ahead rose the dominant feature on the landscape, the elegant and proud Kahala Hotel & Resort. Built in 1964 by Hotelier Conrad Hilton, the resort occupies a prime 6.5 acres and 800 feet of beach. The beach itself was imported using more than 18,000 cubic yards of sand from nearby Molokai, where they apparently don’t like being sandy. Architect Edward Killingsworth of Long Beach, Calif.-based Jules, Brady and Waugh designed the hotel using a modernist post and beam construction with huge walls of glass. I imagined the resort may have been considered un-Hawaiian by locals at the time of groundbreaking. At eight stories high, it towers over the surrounding palms. Yet the design has stood the test of time, as have many of Killingsworth’s buildings. The use of local tropical materials, colors, and patterns, along with reverence for maintaining views from nearly every room at the resort, demonstrate its designer’s thoughtful attention to detail.

From the outset, The Kahala has attracted big-name stars. The cast of “Hawaii 5-0” lived at the hotel during filming. Rock royalty like The Rolling Stones, The Who and Stevie Wonder, and actual royalty such as Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Di bedded down here. Every U.S. president since Lyndon B. Johnson has paid a visit to Kahala’s private beach. The resort has earned its nickname of “Kahallywood.” So, you can imagine I felt totally at ease – one of the cognoscenti – pulling up to the valet in our rented minivan full of cracker crumbs and sticky lollipop hands. Suddenly, I began to worry. We should have rented the Escalade.

Pure Aloha

As we entered the hotel with some trepidation, the staff greeted us with flower leis. Music from a live jazz pianist emanated from The Veranda, an elegant, open-air lounge where our kids would spend the balmy evenings dancing and twirling. The magnificent lobby drew our eyes upward. Near 30-foot, floor-to-ceiling windows with accompanying drapes dramatize the room’s verticality. Two massive chandeliers designed with the assistance of Honolulu’s Bishop’s Museum showcase natural beach glass with multicolored, reflective radiance. They are blissfully out of reach of our kids, who gazed in wonder.

From the balcony of our room we overlooked the azure blue oval pool, kiddy pool, Dolphin Lagoon, and the beach lined with chaise lounges with retractable sun shades. On our first morning, white uniformed “beach boys” opened umbrellas, set out folded towels, and groomed the sand. It would be totally uncool for guests to endure footprints from the previous day.

Our days at Kahala unfolded like this: coffee, papaya, and sweet rolls from Plumeria restaurant; pool, beach, ocean, lunch from Seaside Grill; pool, beach, ocean, mai tai or piña colada; rinse and repeat. When the kids weren’t using my wife as a jungle gym she enjoyed a snippet from a magazine or a few undisturbed paragraphs in her novel. A shallow kiddy pool was perfect for our son, who loves the water but still sinks like a rock. The larger pool challenged our daughter to practice her “big splashy arms.” And the beach, with its gradual slope and no surf, was ideal for rolling in the sand and coating oneself like a sugar donut. Intermittently I scanned the pool deck in hopes of spotting a “Lost” cast member. The entire time our kids were squealing, splashing and giggling with delight. No one seemed to mind. In fact, many guests had kids of their own enjoying an equally good time. Like our neighborhood park at home, the pool and beach area were a daily gathering spot.

For the Keikis

Kahala’s Keiki Club is not a throbbing disco open until the wee hours of the morning (sorry, Vegas lovers). Keiki means “kids” in Hawaiian, and everything about Keiki Club is geared toward entertaining, educating and challenging kids in a safe and fun environment. A small classroom created from a converted ground floor hotel room functions as the Club’s headquarters. Upon arrival at 9:30 a.m., my daughter marveled at the underwater murals on the walls of the classroom, calling out the names of various sea creatures at her usual volume 11. Thomas, the instructor, smiled and welcomed us in a soothing voice. Our daughter and her three classmates calmed down accordingly to hear what Thomas had to say. At 24, Thomas, the oldest of seven siblings, clearly had more experience than I did at managing chaos.

Later on, after a red sand crab sighting and some bird watching, Thomas directed the kids to a quiet section of beach to collect shells for their craft. He explained to me that he worked for Kama ‘aina Kids, a Hawaiian not-for-profit with the mission of helping kids develop a positive sense of self, community and the environment. In addition to hotel programs, the organization operates preschools and daycare centers licensed by the State of Hawaii. All staff is trained by the Red Cross in first aid and CPR, though the only assistance these kids would need was help getting the sand out of their ears and wiping the smiles off their faces.

Geev’em Grinds

I once read a Hawaiian guide book that said if a local looks at you funny you should turn to him and say in your best Pidgin accent, “What? I owe you money or somptin?” If the author follows his own advice, I hope he has good medical insurance. The same book also said that when you sit down to order food at a restaurant, just say, “Geev’em grinds.” Whatever they bring you will be a treat. This could be said for the Kahala’s many restaurant options.

Our final night we dined at Hoku’s, one of Kahala’s upscale dinner restaurants. Hoku’s is the only restaurant at the resort without a printed kid’s menu. Now, fancy restaurants make me nervous, mostly because I tend to spill things. Fancy restaurants with my children make me really nervous. I have to concentrate so much it’s painful. Reach slowly, no flapping elbows. Drink with deliberate precision. Place glass down gently and well out of high chair range. Sometimes it’s too much of a burden. But the Hoku’s staff hopped to it with colorful and tasty snacks to keep the kids happy, like purple Hawaiian sweet bread made from poi, and chilled apple noodle soup. There’s nothing like starting dinner with dessert.

Ringed with windows on three sides that framed the Pacific, we took in the view of waves crashing on the reef and palms swaying in the trades. I savored my Tasmanian salmon with roasted Jerusalem artichokes, pear tomatos, sugar snap peas, and horseradish, while my wife sampled the lobster poached Onaga. Our son remained transfixed by a giant ice sculpture surrounded by fresh seafood. Our daughter enjoyed her favorite pastime of bride spotting as a wedding party passed by for photos on the lawn below.

Pau Hana

Outside the doors of The Kahala Hotel & Resort we had many adventurous options: bodysurfing Sandy’s or Makapu; surfing off Diamond Head; shopping in Waikiki, museum touring in old Honolulu; hiking to Manoa falls; golf at Turtle Bay; and snorkeling at Shark’s Cove on the North Shore, just to name just a few. I wondered, with all this at our fingertips – plus a private, world-class resort that caters to the whole family – who needs to island hop when you can experience nature, adventure, luxury, and city life right here on Oahu?

I didn’t want to be anywhere else. In fact, I wanted to extend our stay at least long enough to enjoy a romantic dinner with my wife while the kids joined The Keiki Club’s Sundown Seafari. At last, we could sit back and have an uninterrupted conversation about life, travel, and of course, our kids.

For more on The Kahala Resort & Spa, visit www.kahalaresort.com. Grant Bixby is a Realtor who loves to travel. He can be reached at www.grantbixby.com.

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