TRUMP LIES: THE WAIKIKI EVIDENCE

The Royal Hawaiian Hotel, 1927

DONALD TRUMP'S PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED CONDO-HYPED-AS-A-HOTEL is not where you want to be in Waikiki. Take it from me. I was born in Waikiki when but two hotels operated on Kalakaua Avenue. Closest to Diamond Head stood the stately porte-cochère of the Moana Hotel (1891) welcoming guests with a view straight through its koa-lined the lobby to the beach and sea. With the twentieth-century came the truly world famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel (1927.) The famed "Pink Palace of the Pacific," de rigueur quarters for roving dignitaries of every description, engulfed its guests with instant Aloha. Tropical gardens launched leaping Bird of Paradise up from the sweet horticultural buffet through clusters of swaying palm trees casting shadows on Her Pinkness, ringed with a foliate green bouquet on three sides, leaving the magnificent makai exposure open to the sand and sea. Trade winds rustled the leaves but no one or nothing hustled visitors into the open-air-but-private velvet gardens, elegant Moroccan profiles, arching Asian interiors, and ice cold pineapple juice spurting from a stainless steel drinking fountain close by the main desk where arrivals checked in, more often than not trailed by luggage certifying the owner as a world traveler with the means to select any spot on earth to luxuriate, but having chosen the hanohano (glorious), hoʻohie (regal), hokele (hotel) pulsating at the heart of Waikiki. The Royal Hawaiian Hotel catered to one’s every whim and need with a loving touch provided by a caring kama’aina staff, no matter the social station of the guest, or the room rate, which included free parking for quests who owned a Ford flivver or a Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. The original Royal Hawaii Hotel occupied sixteen acres magnificently situated at powdery white Waikiki beach. Everything about it, then and now, trumped the feeble footprint Devious Donald erected when he added another abomination to the neighborhood some eight decades later. Just another example of how ....

IN 2011 DONALD TRUMP PASTED HIS NAME ON A JOINT SITUATED NOT AT ALL "ON THE BEACH AT WAIKIKI." His eponymous cement heap squats on a street across from a U. S. Army base and a frantic branch of the U.S. Post Office, flanked by vendors peddling gewgaws, knickknacks, baubles, kitsch and tchotchke trinkets to tourists who can’t afford the $28.00 to merely park at Trump’s sorry showplace, let alone eat, sleep and swim there—albeit in the sixth floor Infinity Pool. A recent guest has this to say, as excerpted from the trumped up home page of this flawed faux resort:

“The additional services one would expect at 5 star location for leisure travel were at best mediocre. The pool deck is limited, and the pool attendant service was spotty. Some days it was easy to order food and cocktails, another day we actually had to and track someone down to serve us afternoon cocktails. AND he seemed put off by the fact that he had to come out there at all. There is also no “TRUMP” area on Waikiki beach. While the hotel has an arrangement with several beach umbrella/chair rental services to bill back you room, other hotels of the same caliber offer direct beach access for free. The cleaning service also left a lot to be desired. Frequently, they would come to service the room before 9 am and NEVER come back to clean it later even though we would be gone from the hotel all day long.

"Turn down service also occurred at 6 or 6:30 every evening, even though the concierge had made our dinner reservations for 7 or 8 pm. Leisure travelers are not going to be out of the room by 9 am, nor at dinner at 6 pm - at least not the way most people I know go on vacation. As for the room itself, it was spacious BUT there was no closet or armoire in which to hang up clothes. Based on the room description I was also expecting a full kitchenette. Our room, however, simply had a wet bar with an under counter refrigerator/freezer. There wasn't even a coffee maker, nor were there utensils or a microwave for leftovers. I wouldn't stay there again unless I was in Honolulu for business."

PUTTING POLITICS, POLICIES AND PUFFERY ASIDE, I ask you my fellow Americans: Would you rent a hotel room in Hawaii from this man? -- even if Barack Obama were born in an African tribal hut, which he was not. The 44th President of the United States was born less than two miles from 223 Saratoga Road, where Trump planted his hype of a hotel, in which I bet he himself has never set foot. The Hawaiian world for Donald Trump is Konala Kukae.