Restored with an eye toward reviving its original feel and a bygone Waikiki style, the White Sands Hotel is relaunching after new ownership invested $8 million in renovations.
The hotel, which sits on three-quarters of an acre on Nohonani Street off Kuhio Avenue, was built in 1957, before Hawaii became a state.
"It has served as a Waikiki budget hotel for a long time, like many properties behind Kuhio Avenue have," said Benjamin Rafter, who formed an investment group to purchase the White Sands in 2016. "We've had some success with taking unwanted properties and adapting them to offer experiences for guests that are different from the big box resorts and are somewhat unique to Hawaii's history."
Meanwhile, Kuhio Avenue has welcomed new restaurants, bars and other developments in recent years and has experienced somewhat of a renaissance.
"The White Sands grew up as Hawaii was being built out during the jet age," Rafter said. "We want to take it back to what it would've been like in the 1965-to-1968 era. We're using that for inspiration."
The three buildings that make up the property face inward, toward a central courtyard with a pool and landscaped gardens. There is also a hot tub next to a bar.
"As a small, independent hotel, we don't have the big brand or brand guidelines, so there is a little more flexibility in terms of design elements and other unexpected surprises," Rafter said.
The room renovations started in early 2018, after Rafter's team took over the property in September 2016, and wrapped in early 2019. The public spaces and culinary offerings will be refreshed in the coming months, and a grand reopening is expected in late spring.
The 95 rooms have been redone in a midcentury modern style. The hotel offers standard rooms with pool views, standard rooms with city views and one-bedroom suites. Once complete, the property will be repositioned from budget accommodations to "upper midlevel," Rafter said.
"While the style is going back to the '60s, the technology is updated and decidedly modern," he added. "There are brand new 42-inch televisions, upgraded broadband and more plugs incorporated into the design of the room."
The Fete Restaurant Group, which operates a popular Chinatown restaurant and other establishments, has been brought in to revamp the food and beverage offerings.
"Through the whole thing, we've embraced being local," Rafter said, adding that everything from artwork to food and beverage and other amenities is being sourced locally. "Hawaii is a small place, and it's really important to support the local industries."
The White Sands Hotel is well situated, centrally located on the Ala Wai Canal side of Waikiki, a five-minute walk from the International Market Place.
The revamp of the common spaces is not yet complete, but plans call for a waterfall feature to be added to the pool and further development of the common areas with new landscaping and artwork.
"There will be palm trees and a lot of greenery," Rafter said. "We're looking for a tropical oasis from the high-rises and concrete of Waikiki."
Spreading 'tropical fever'
The Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club was redeveloped by the team behind the White Sands Hotel.
Rafter is also part of the group that purchased the Hokele Suites Waikiki and redeveloped it as the Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club. It reopened in 2016 with a new 1960s motif and a popular restaurant from five-time James Beard Award semifinalist Ed Kenney, Mahina and Sun's, and has contributed to the revival on Kuhio Avenue.
"A tropical fever captured the world in the '50s and '60s," Rafter said. "I think people are interested in what Waikiki was like in 1957 or 1965, and the White Sands will be a great representation of that. When you enter the hotel, it will be this little slice of what Hawaii was like when your parents and grandparents first started coming here."
With the rooms redone, the first guests have been a vital informal focus group for management, letting them know what is working and what additions need an adjustment.
"The feedback has been great," Rafter said. "One benefit of finishing rooms six months ahead of public spaces is that with the three wings, we could have one wing of new rooms occupied and have the first guests help us hone the edges of the hotel. It will never be 100% right after a big change, you need to test it out."
Some White Sands regulars have been coming for more than four decades, Rafter said, and they have also let management know what details should never change.
"Come 10 or 20 years from now, it might be the last true walk-up in Waikiki," Rafter said. "We're down to two or three. It's great to restore something from a previous era in Honolulu and be part of that history."