Haunted hotel guide · Honolulu, Hawaii
The Haunted Hilton Hawaiian Village, Waikiki: Pele and the Woman in Red
Waikiki’s biggest resort has one of Hawaii’s oldest printed hotel ghost stories: a tall, glowing woman in a red muumuu who vanished in front of a housekeeper in 1959. Many believe she was Pele. Here is the story and the history of the land beneath the towers.
Hilton Hawaiian Village spreads over 22 acres at the western end of Waikiki Beach, a city within the city of towers, pools, gardens and shops around a lagoon named for Duke Kahanamoku. Its Rainbow Tower, with a 286-foot mosaic of more than 16,000 tiles, is one of the most photographed buildings in Hawaii, and with more than 3,300 rooms it is one of the largest hotels in the Hilton family.
It is also one of the best-known haunted hotels in Hawaii. In 1959 the Honolulu Star-Bulletin reported that a housekeeper had met a woman in red who vanished before her eyes, and people have been seeing her ever since. Many believe she is Pele, the goddess of the volcano. This guide covers the sightings, the legends and the long history of the shore at Kalia.
Hilton Hawaiian Village at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 2005 Kalia Road, Honolulu, HI 96815
- Opened 1955, as Henry J. Kaiser’s Hawaiian Village Hotel; Hilton since 1961
- Most haunted spots Guest towers and hallways, the beachfront and lagoon, and the crosswalk by the Kalia Tower
- Best-known ghosts A tall woman in a red muumuu, often identified with Pele
- Booking the haunted room No single room is linked to the stories; sightings are spread across the towers and grounds
- Good to know Fireworks over the beach on Friday evenings, a big choice of restaurants, and a resort fee on top of the room rate
The ghosts of Hilton Hawaiian Village
The woman in red, 1959
The best-known story was printed by the Honolulu Star-Bulletin in 1959. A housekeeper at the hotel came across a tall woman with long reddish-black hair, wearing a long red muumuu with a blue and white print, who seemed to glow. A housekeeping inspector began leading the woman to a room, and partway there she was simply gone. As the paper put it, the woman had disappeared into thin air.
The account appeared only four years after the hotel opened and two years before Hilton bought it, and it has been retold by Honolulu storytellers ever since.
Is she Pele?
In Hawaiian tradition, Pele, goddess of fire and volcanoes, can take many forms: an old woman by the road, a hitchhiker, or a tall, beautiful woman in red. Stories of meeting her are told across the islands, often with the advice to treat any stranger kindly.
A retired teacher interviewed for the University of Southern California’s folklore archive recalled that around the time of a 1960 eruption on the Big Island, people said they saw Pele walk through a wall inside the Hilton Hawaiian Village, tall and regal, with long black hair and a flowing red dress. Others prefer a darker explanation: earlier versions of this page repeated a claim that the woman in red is the ghost of a guest murdered in her room. We found no record of such a death, so treat that version as rumor.
Newer sightings
The sightings did not stop in the 1950s. Locals and visitors still describe a barefoot woman, often in red and sometimes glowing, who asks for directions or a ride and then disappears in a hallway, on the beach or by the lagoon. Ghost storytellers Lopaka and Tanya Kapanui also collected the account of a visitor and his wife who watched a young man in a windbreaker and backpack walk through the crowd at the crosswalk by the Kalia Tower, murmuring to himself, pass within inches of them and then vanish.
Many of the figures reported here wear modern clothes. The Kapanuis suggest that places where confusion, trauma or sudden death have occurred can hold imprints that replay like a loop.
The land at Kalia
Before the towers, this shore was Kalia, a landscape of fishponds and taro fields fed by streams from the Manoa and Palolo valleys, managed with a system of gates found nowhere else. Duke Kahanamoku, the father of modern surfing, spent his childhood here. Epidemics in the 1800s devastated the Hawaiian population, and in the 1920s the dredging of the Ala Wai Canal drained the marshes and filled in the ponds. For many who tell these stories, the ghosts belong to that older Waikiki as much as to the hotel.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The guest towers: Sightings of the woman in red have been reported in rooms and corridors across the towers, not in one room.
- The beach and Duke's lagoon: Where the woman in red is often seen walking, especially in the evening.
- The Kalia Tower crosswalk: Where a visitor saw a young man vanish in the crowd.
History of Hilton Hawaiian Village Waikiki Beach Resort
In 1954 the industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, whose companies built ships and dams, bought the Kalia shore estate with developer Fritz B. Burns. He opened the Hawaiian Village Hotel in 1955, a low-rise resort with 70 thatched-roof guest rooms around gardens and a lagoon.
In 1961 Conrad Hilton bought half the resort from Kaiser for $21.5 million, Hilton took over management and the hotel became the Hilton Hawaiian Village. That year Elvis Presley stayed while filming Blue Hawaii, and over the decades the resort hosted stars from Ray Charles to Michael Jackson.
The Rainbow Tower followed in 1968, its tile mosaic 26 feet wide and 286 feet tall. The Tapa Tower opened in 1982, the original Ocean Tower was rebuilt as the Ali’i Tower in 1987 and the 25-story Kalia Tower opened in 2001. With the Diamond Head and Lagoon towers and the Grand Islander, which opened in 2017, the village now has more than 3,300 rooms on 22 acres of beachfront.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Walk the beach and the lagoon path after dark, when the woman in red is most often reported.
- Book the Rainbow Tower for the views and the history; the Ali’i Tower is the quieter, more exclusive option.
- Be respectful of Pele stories: locals take them seriously, and many simply advise kindness to any stranger you meet.
- Stay for the Friday fireworks over the beach.
- See more ghost stories in our guide to haunted places on Oahu, including Hickam Air Force Base and Highway 1.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Haunted hotels in Hawaii: Including the Moana Surfrider and Royal Hawaiian, a short walk east
- Haunted places on Oahu: More of the island’s ghost stories
- Outrigger Kona Resort, Big Island: The former Sheraton Kona and its ghostly girls
- Haunted hotels in Hawaii
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Hilton Hawaiian Village haunted?
Guests and staff have reported a woman in red since at least 1959, when the Honolulu Star-Bulletin printed a housekeeper’s account of a glowing woman who vanished. Sightings in the towers, on the beach and by the lagoon are still reported.
Who is the woman in red at Hilton Hawaiian Village?
Many believe she is Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of volcanoes, who is said to appear as a tall woman in red. Another story says she was a murdered guest, but we found no record of such a death.
Is there a haunted room at Hilton Hawaiian Village?
No single room is linked to the stories. Sightings are spread across the towers, hallways, beach and lagoon.
When was Hilton Hawaiian Village built?
Henry J. Kaiser opened it in 1955 as the Hawaiian Village Hotel. Hilton bought into it in 1961 and renamed it.
Did Elvis stay at Hilton Hawaiian Village?
Yes. Elvis Presley stayed in 1961 while filming Blue Hawaii.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Wikipedia: Hilton Hawaiian Village
- Aloha State Daily: Haunted History of Hilton Hawaiian Village (June 2025)
- USC Folklore Archives: Madame Pele at the Hilton Hawaiian Village Hotel
- Mysteries of Hawaii: Top 5 Most Haunted Hotels in Waikiki
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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