Comments on: Hawaii’s famous Coco Palms Resort abandoned

By: peggy sitton

peggy sitton — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 16:50:39 +0000

Stayed at the Coco Palms in the Elvis party and fell in love with it and the people of Kaui..Would love to see it restored to its original site….so would so many others…

By: Annette Wilson

Annette Wilson — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 04:14:40 +0000

I saw the Coco Palms 6 years ago and was also saddened by the ruins. I love Kaui, it is the most beautiful place on earth! I am a fan of “Blue Hawaii” not just because of Elvis, but because it symbolizes a simpler time. How awesome it would be to at least have the bungalows restored. I live near Memphis and I think that the Elvis Estate should consider buying it and making it a Museum/Day Resort with just the bungalows for couples. They could use the movie to inspire activities. Thanks so much for the pictures!

By: Lana Feltman

Lana Feltman — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 20:27:33 +0000

Thank-you for posting the pictures but it brings me to tears. My parents had their 25th Anniversay there and my family spent many vacations there. Please reopen so I can return

By: Diana Koontz

Diana Koontz — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:56:00 +0000

I visited the Cocoa Palms in 1975 with my then husband on our tenth anniversary. Thirty five years ago, and it is still crystal clear in my mind all of the sights, sounds, and smells of the resort. We stayed in the Kings suite,overlooking a pool. It was so unique,but everything was unique about the place. The first night there experiencing the call to dinner, and the lighting of the torches inthe palms, and crossing the famous foot bridge over the water and going into the dinning room with music and singers beconing. It was a very magical place, what I dreamed Hawaii to be like. It would be a shame if others are robbed of the priviledge I was blessed to experience. I didn’t really need a camera, since the pictures remain with me, but I am glad I have pictures to share after seeing the devistation.

By: Jim Humberd

Jim Humberd — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 04:08:54 +0000

I can’t remember just when my Beautiful Sweetie and I first spent a few nights here, must have been in the ’60s or ’70s.

In 1980, due to a problem with the freighter we were on at the Island of Saipan, we flew from Gram to Honolulu. We said we would get on the first airplane leaving for one of the islands, we didn’t care which one. We ended up in Kauai, and the Coco Palms.

I seem to remember a very special lamp lighting each evening. As I remember, men would run, swinging a fire torch round and round, and each time it neared the ground, it would touch, and light a buried torch. Is that even close to what you remember?

These days it is sometimes difficult to remember what I ate for breakfast, let alone our visit to the Coco Palms, all those years ago.

By: Debbi Rehbehn

Debbi Rehbehn — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 18:52:29 +0000

I am so saddened that the plans to reopen did not take place. My husband and I honeymooned here in 1973. We like many were others were treated like royalty and we were very young and enjoyed every minute of it. The Guslanders even had us to their home for dinner. This is never heard of in the states. What service and compasion for two kids away from home who were so in love. We have been married 37 years and revisited CP in 96 when our oldest daughter graduated from high school. We had told such glorious stories of our beginning we wanted to share this place with our children. How sad it was to see it this way. At that time we were told of the plans to rebuild it. I was on this site to see if it was complete as my husband and I were planning a trip back again. Please restore it to the way it was in all it’s beauty so others can have the fantasy they long for. If you build it they will come!We vwere also sung to many nights by Larry Riveria. What a great guy!!Thanks for the memories that will never fade.

By: M/M D. Littzi

M/M D. Littzi — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 17:44:44 +0000

The extremely well-loved Coco Palms resort has been on that property for decades, no problem. Then Iniki struck, and suddenly one new “reason” after another continues to be given as to why it can’t be restored.
We were married in the Chapel, stayed at Coco Palms, Returnees 3 times (up until Iniki)…and had planned to return many more times, especially for our 25th wedding anniversary. Having returned to beautiful Kaua’i once after Iniki, it just wasn’t the same without the heart of CPs…and we haven’t returned since then. Like so many others, we share in the heartfelt memories and the sadness…and we long to return to the place we had come to deeply cherish. PLEASE RESTORE Coco Palms the way it was.

By: Betty Swetz

Betty Swetz — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:20:03 +0000

My husband Al and I celebrated our 25th anniversary at the Beautiful Coco Palms in 1984. We just returned to Kaui in October ‘09 to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and we were very saddened that the resort is still left in ruins. It made me feel very BLUE, to know that this amazing place is not being revived. Just wanted to let the people of Kaui know that they are wasting a beautiful piece of God’s land! Since my visit in October it has left me distrurbed to know that it was left to just rot away………I will continue to pray that one day some one or some corporation will restore its beauty and glory. I will continue to treasure my memories of Coco Plams, and my movie, “Blue Hawaii”!

By: C. O'Brien

C. O'Brien — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 09:25:57 +0000

Just wanted to make the comment that although yes, new buildings have to be built at a safer height than these old ones were, there are plans in place to rebuild these structures on the old foundations, that would allow the old buildings to basically be reconstructed. I believe the previous owners, who had these plans drawn up and at one time approved by County, were considering using the first floor for a spa, storage, etc., so that no one would be sleeping in the lower/more vulnerable areas. A model of these plans can be seen in the photos above (with lagoons and coconut groves intact.) The real hurdle appears to be County Planning, who have enough people determined to thwart development at every turn, that they miss a good thing when they see it. I can’t help but think, had they allowed the plans to go forward with the outdoor spa near the tennis courts, (changing their minds on that was the final straw for the previous owners), that project would have been sold out and completed before this economic downturn. And while the rest of the islands are hurting for visitor occupancy and jobs, we’d have had a very real bolster to Kauai’s economy. I’m certainly not for rampant development, this is and always should be the “Garden Island”, and I’d actually love to see more of the island reflecting that, but this already was a hotel ~ and not just any hotel, a place people came just to see it and feel a part of its history, and we all know there are plenty of places on the island that will never be over-run (or even found) by tourists, so a commercially zoned parcel on a highway fronted beach is not exactly something to try to keep hidden. What a shame and embarrassment to have this left in ruins. PS: Hey, Disney, wouldn’t this make a great “out-island, old Hawaii” experience to add to your Oahu Resort?

By: Nickole Pyle

Nickole Pyle — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 04:22:30 +0000

My son and I visited the island for a week , what a wonderful vacation . The Coco Palms was such an awesome piece of history . We met Larry Riveria what a jewel , he has worked for the hotel for 58 years , I believe he is 78 . He was an entertainer at the Coco Palms , He now performs weddings there .
He was such a heavenly person , very handsome for his age (he does not look 78 } We met his wife and heard stories about how he entertained at the lounge and how he and Elvis were the best of friends . This was one of the best things that happened on our stay in Kauai !!! If your lucky take the 4×4 movie tour take the tour that Tom drives and if they are still going to the Coco Palms Go its worth the money to see Larry Riveria !!!