Iconic Kona Village Resort Is Reborn as a Rosewood

The Polynesian village-theme Kona Village Resort opened in 1965, and for decades it was a Hollywood-favorite institution on Hawaii’s Big Island. But severe damage from a tsunami forced the iconic property to shutter in 2011 — and it remained closed until this summer.

That’s when Rosewood, which took over the reins, officially reopened the well-loved property on July 1 as a modernized resort in the same spirit as the original. The new Kona Village, a Rosewood Resort, combines modern luxuries with cherished aspects of the legacy lodging (including some of the same layout, and a beloved beach bar) — as well as an emphasis on sustainability and environmental responsibility.

“[It was] very important for us to bring the past and the present together in the reinvented property,” general manager Sandra Estornell tells The Hollywood Reporter. 

She explains that in the first months since opening, many past guests have already returned for a stay and voiced their approval of the Rosewood’s loyal overhaul. “It’s very refreshing to hear that they could actually have a nice sense of still the old Kona Village, that it hasn’t changed much” — except of course for the significantly elevated experience. Accommodations start at $1,800 a night (other booking opportunities available at booking.com, expedia.com and hotels.com)

The Big Island’s Only All-Hale Resort

Kona Village remains the only hotel property on the island that has guest accommodations in the form of individual hale (houses), 150 small buildings in all; several have preserved the original footprint. “We protected the basic layout of the rooms, the foundation, and we just built upon that,” Estornell says. 

And this format is part of what makes the stay so special. Range managing partner Natalie Bruss, one of Rosewood’s early guests, tells THR of her recent stay, “It is remarkable [that] the property is in the same footprint as the actual ancient fishing village that existed on this site.” 

“Because of this layout, as well as the extra care taken to preserve cultural and environmental sites all throughout the property, when you are there, you feel like you are immersed in a real village.” Bruss notes the ideal balance of the privacy afforded by an individual hale, alongside gathering spaces throughout the property that “have the vibrant feeling of the center of it all.”

Sustainable and Environmentally Connected 

The property makes use of sustainable, local materials as much as possible while still preserving the look from the past. The Rosewood property employs recycled plastic for all the thatching, reinforcing it with natural woods from the island. The resort operates almost entirely on solar power, and treats wastewater on site for irrigation. Abundant native plants create a lush environment throughout.

Overall, it’s a mostly outdoor experience, interacting seamlessly with the natural environment. (Guest accommodations still lack TVs, except on request.) “You just come out to your stairs and you have your beach right there — you don’t see that anywhere [else] on the island,” the resort’s general manager says. Bruss confirms following her family’s stay in a beachfront hale: “I have never fallen asleep to the waves crashing quite like I experienced in that remarkable setting.”

Many guests even come back to stay at their preferred favorite rooms from the property’s previous incarnation, Estornell says: “We have guests who request specific accommodations: ‘I want hale 17 because that’s where we used to be.’ It’s fun having people go back to the original accommodations and reconnect.”

Continuing a Hollywood Legacy

The resort is steeped in rich Hollywood history. “Because of the privacy, it was a great hideaway from everybody,” Estornell says. “This was one of the places that people would come and relax and escape the world.” 

And — although the property wouldn’t confirm names — its history as a celebrity magnet is well documented. Goldie Hawn and Kurt Russell, Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedwick, George Clooney, Jeff Bridges, Whitney Houston, and so many others are among past visitors.

It was also famously a favorite vacation destination for Steve Jobs, and Bruss recalls speaking with friends who knew the tech icon. “He spoke about it as the most special, sacred place to him,” she says. “We met a ton of families during our stay who had grown up making an annual pilgrimage and they were so enthusiastic about how respectful and thoughtful the renovations were; [they] felt like the architects and hotel staff went out of their way to pay homage to the history of the place and people.”

Beyond just the guest accommodations, other iconic aspects of the original will feel familiar to return guests. One such element is the Shipwreck Bar, made from the boat the property’s founders Johnno and Helen Jackson were sailing when they were looking for a place to settle in the 1960s, eventually establishing a bed and breakfast on the location. Later, that boat sank, so the pair dragged it onto the beach and converted it into a popular bar, but the 2011 tsunami destroyed it.

The Rosewood rebuilt the Shipwreck Bar from its scraps and placed it right back in the beachside space that originally housed it, positioned intentionally to frame the sunset. “We actually took one guest to see the Shipwreck Bar, and they started crying right there,” Estornell says.

Scroll on for further photos of Kona Village, A Rosewood Resort on the Big Island: