Waikiki Circle Hotel
Kalakaua Ave, Waikiki

The 14-story cylindrical Waikiki Circle Hotel had 104 rooms and officially opened on October 1, 1963, although guests had been welcomed as of September 28th. It cost $1.75 million including furnishings. The first floor restaurant opened February 22, 1964.

The Hotel was built on land purchased around 1940 by Emma Kwock Chun, who had immigrated to Hawaii from China in 1904 at the age of sixteen. Chun was the first Asian-born woman to develop and own a Waikiki hotel. 

She, her husband and children established a real estate empire that included the Emma Kwock Chun Corporation, the Punahou Circle apartments, the Kim Chow Shoe Store chain, insurance brokerages, and wholesale and retail operations in addition to the hotel. 

The first image is a postcard from when the hotel first opened.

Second image is a brochure announcing the proposed hotel.

Third image shows how each room had a sliding glass door to a lanai, and a section of operable wood louvers for air circulation.

The fourth image, from 2019, shows that the wood louvers have been replaced by a solid wall with an air-conditioning unit. The original custom lanai railings have also been replaced.