One company is reimagining top historic hotels in California and Hawaii

What’s old is oh so new again in Hawaii. Now, a Honolulu-based company is being honored for the $500 million it has put into restoring four historic hotels in Waikiki, Maui and San Francisco — with more investment to come.

Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts and its president, Takamasa Osano, are being honored with the Historic Hotels of America’s 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award. It will be presented Thursday evening during a celebration at Waikiki’s Royal Hawaiian Hotel, which has seen extensive renovations and expansions since opening in 1927.

Even though it’s nearly 90, the Royal Hawaiian is only the third oldest of the Kyo-ya properties that continue to be lovingly preserved. San Francisco’s Palace Hotel at 2 New Montgomery St. welcomed its first guests in 1875.

And Waikiki’s Moana Surfrider opened in 1901. The relative newcomer to the pack is the Sheraton Maui Resort & Spa, launched in 1963.

Historic Hotels of America, an arm of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, said in a news release that Kyo-ya “is committed to the stewardship of these iconic landmarks.”

The organization pointed to the complete restoration of the Moana Surfrider in 1988 and major projects at the Royal Hawaiian in 2009 and 2015. Extensive work has also been done at the Sheraton Maui and the Palace Hotel.

Kyo-ya officials has more plans too. So far, the company has spent half of the $1 billion they have pledged to reinvest in their Hawaii and California properties.

Nearly 300 properties are members of the Historic Hotels program. To be considered for membership, a property must be at least 50 years old and be listed by the National Park Service as a national historic landmark.

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