Timeless Magic, 1965 - 2015

19 MAUNA KEA BEACH HOTEL that master planned the resort for Mr Rockefeller Creating jobs was a big priority for Rockefeller He was very much a backer of the community and the culture of the islands Feminism was just starting to take root in American consciousness in the 1960s and Mauna Kea also provided a number of jobs for women on the Big Island many of whom were able to work outside the home for the first time and bring home a paycheck This shifted the islands social dynamic and over time helped to empower and bring pride and equality to Big Island women Mauna Kea was also the place where kama āina local families would come to celebrate special occasions One guest tells of the time she and her husband checked into their favorite room to find the legendary Hawaiian surfer and Olympian Duke Kahanamoku staying in the room next to theirs celebrating his 75th birthday with his family Anna Lindsey Perry Fiske of Waimeas Anna Ranch was known to bring her cowboys down to the hotel for a thank you lunch after a branding or roundup Richard Smart of Parker Ranch was a frequent guest as were many prominent families from around the state often booking as many as 10 rooms and enjoying one anothers company on the resorts wide lawns From an architectural standpoint the melding of influences from East and West was groundbreaking the concept of the hotel as an art gallery was something entirely new the sensitivity to the environment and Hawaiian culture was exemplary and the building of the golf course on lava rock hillsides long thought to be inhospitable to such development was revolutionary And in every one of those cases Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and Laurance Rockefeller showed how sensitive development could indeed should be done on the Kohala Coast and in Hawai i But for most visitors the Mauna Kea story begins and ends at Kauna oa Bay For hundreds of years when the surrounding lands were little more than brown a a lava and arid thorny kiawe scrub long before an elegant hotel was conceived and built before the lush landscaping and flowering trees beautified the hillsides Kauna oa Bay and the tranquil crescent of white sand that forms its beach was as divine as any spot in the world That is what Rockefeller saw when he first arrived It is what triggered his imagination and inspired him to create Mauna Kea Beach Hotel and it is etched in the memories of todays guests as well In a world seemingly more and more in need of idyll a place to get away and refresh the mind and soul Mauna Kea still beckons much the same as it did 50 years ago The majestic manta ray gentle honu warm water soothing trade winds and sacred mountains they are waiting for us to return What was is and will continue to be as long as our hearts continue to hold true to the ideals of Mauna Kea beauty family respect for the āina aloha of the spirit There is far too much story to tell in one small book and everyone who has visited Mauna Kea Beach Hotel over the past five decades has his or her own story to add In the end perhaps its best to simply say Theres just something magical about the place George Fuller Waimea 2014