CELEBRATE THE 60s & 70s AT WHITE SANDS HOTEL

There’s nothing we love more than the classic midcentury hotels that dot the Waikiki landscape, but many are desperately in need of an update. When we heard that Michelle Jaime and her award-winning firm Vanguard Theory—one of our favorite local interior design companies—was taking on the new White Sands Hotel renovation, we knew it would be a stunner.

The design team behind Surfjack Hotel & Swim Club has brought that same retro fun to this project with a Polynesian-kitsch-meets-60s/70s-motel vibe. Originally built in 1957, the vintage property sits in a quiet oasis just off of Kuhio Avenue. The three-story building typical of the era was bought by Springboard Hospitality in 2019, and they spent about a year quietly making updates while the hotel remained open.

The breeze-block walkway and garden tiki at the unassuming entrance hint at what’s to come: a groovy getaway that feels like a throwback to old Waikiki in the best way possible. A record player playing 70s Hawai’i hits sits on the counter of the moody lobby, decked out in lava rock and Hawaiian-print club chairs, which opens onto a lush courtyard. Like the Surfjack, the pool is the center of the fun—this one fringed with frilly umbrellas and flanked by the soon-to-open bamboo pool bar, complete with swinging tiki chairs.

Also on the agenda is a grotto-style hot tub whose bubbler button plays tunes from island crooner Don Ho and the opening of the Hey Day restaurant. We are thrilled that a piece of old Waikiki has been preserved rather than replaced, and can’t wait to check in, tune out, and enjoy a poolside tiki cocktail.

431 Nohonani St., Waikiki, 888.926.6047, whitesandshotel.com