Kaua‘i’s first hotel, the Fairview, was built in 1890 by businessman Charles W. Spitz on Rice Street (then called Government Road) about where the banyan trees now stand at Kalapaki Villas. Four years later, in 1894, Sheriff William Henry Rice
Kaua‘i’s first hotel, the Fairview, was built in 1890 by businessman Charles W. Spitz on Rice Street (then called Government Road) about where the banyan trees now stand at Kalapaki Villas.
Four years later, in 1894, Sheriff William Henry Rice bought Spitz’s house-sized hotel and renamed it Lihu‘e Hotel, where a well-appointed room in 1910 cost just $2 a night.
In 1926, Rice rebuilt Spitz’s original building to include a number of rooms and suites of various sizes, and he also remodeled some existing cottages and constructed new ones, for a total of seven, to accommodate an increasing number of tourists. In doing so, his hotel’s capacity rose to 100 persons.
A brand new building, designed by Rice and facing the government road, was also built. Long, low and painted cool green, with broad lanais, large windows and wide, overhanging eaves, the new structure housed the hotel lobby, dining room and kitchen.
In charge of the hotel’s modern kitchen, with its ice-making and refrigeration plant, was Mr. Horikowa, one of the best cooks on the island and a locally famous cake and pastry maker. Besides supplying the hotel menu, Horikowa catered locally.
Mrs. Rice took charge of landscaping the hotel’s grounds. Shrubs and palms were transplanted and broad beds of flowers and ferns were planted around the new building. In back, beyond a newly constructed pavilion, papaya, banana and bougainvillea provided a tropical setting.
The Lihu‘e Hotel became for many years a popular locale for banquets, dances and parties.
Mr. Rice managed his hotel until not long before his death in 1945. It was then sold in 1946 through Rice’s estate to Inter-Island Resorts for $125,000. In 1948, Lihu‘e Hotel was renovated and renamed the Kaua‘i Inn, which remained in operation on Rice Street until 1963.
