Honolulu’s Most Haunted Hotels

Posted: 11.27.2024 | Updated: 11.27.2024

The span of Hawaii’s white sands and pristine beaches have created a dissonance. Screams from Hawaii’s forlorn ancestors echo across the island, only dulled by the behemoth hotels that have risen in the name of tourism. Honolulu, Hawaii’s gateway to the West, has grand and glorious hotels. Many hold dark secrets. The most haunted hotels in Honolulu are products of a decades-long spiritual decay. 

But the spirits inside of them push hard to keep their homes scared. Vacationers who made this sacred land their last stop join them. Cruel accidents, dire sickness, and deadly sin have created vortexes of spectral power. 

Hotels like the Waikiki Prince Hotel, Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, and the Moana Surfrider lead visitors into this murky unknown. Their stories are still chilling, and many experience them firsthand. 

Dig into these terrifying tales before you make your way to The Big Pineapple. You may think twice about what luxuries you need waiting beachside. Learn more about Honolulu’s ghostly past and most haunted hotels on a haunted history tour with Honolulu Haunts!

What is the Most Haunted Hotel In Honolulu?

There are many haunted hotels in Honolulu, but the coveted title of the most haunted hotel is hard to pinpoint. With its blood-curdling stories of ghastly blue orbs and phantom Hawaiian whispers, Waikiki Prince Hotel is an easy forerunner. But right behind it is the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani, stuck with a curse laid down by the Hawaiian Kingdom’s final hope. Then there is the Moana Surfrider, famous for full-body apparitions of intellectuals and military men. But which is the most haunted?

Waikiki Prince Hotel

The Waikiki Prince Hotel has a strong lead in the race for the most haunted hotel in Honolulu. Built in 1991 and recently renovated for a whopping $4.45 million in 2019, the hotel has a morbid past. Something that visitors, both living and alive, have not forgotten. 

A different building once towered over the harbor and beaches of Waikiki. Kaiser Permanente set up a sprawling complex over the Ala Wai Boat Harbor in 1958. The care and needs of Hawaii’s local population and the growing number of seasonal videos were at the forefront of their minds. Sadly, its walls have taken many lives.

Locals still remember the building being haunted long before the Prince Hotel was ever built. Talks of spirits being in rooms with ailing hospital patients were common. But, in 1986, the hospital was no more. Did the spirits disperse with it? It doesn’t appear to be the case. 

In a stunning display, the old hospital was demolished. The explosion was used in the popular television show Magnum P.I. However, the hospital’s weary spirits weren’t happy about it. Demolition was stopped when the explosion crew noticed someone in the building. 

In 1991, The Waikiki Prince Hotel was raised out of the rubble and a new hotel was built further north.

Sightings and experiences with the restless dead occurred almost immediately after opening. Strange orbs of blue lights have been spotted around the hallways. Whispers, more often than not in Native Hawaiian, are heard in the middle of the night. They sneak into guests’ ears behind locked doors and in empty hallways. 

Others have seen their luggage being moved around by unseen hands. Do you dare spend a night at the Waikiki Prince Hotel? 

There are plenty of other options…

Sheraton Princess Ka’iulani

Hawaii’s story is rife with betrayal. The land was stolen from the hands of a Hawaiian legacy that reaches back hundreds of years. The dead of the island nation have not forgotten these misgivings. Not in the least, their last great leader, Princess Ka’iulani. 

The Sheraton Princess Ka’iulani pays tribute to the last heir apparent to the Hawaiian throne. However, her namesake is not the only thing the hotel shares with the late 19th-century savior of Hawaiian culture. The hotel sits on her very home! 

Constructed on top of Ainahau, the royal palace of Queen Victoria Kawēkiu Kaʻiulani Lunalilo Kalaninuiahilapalapa Cleghorn, the Sheraton sits on sacred land. The crown Princess worked diligently to defend her nation from Western influence, which had overthrown the monarchy in 1893. She lobbied for her country in Washington and London, but sadly, to no avail. 

Princess Ka’iulani mysteriously died of a fever in 1899 at the age of 23. Some suspect foul play to be the cause. A curse has floated above this building since its opening in 1959 as the Matson Hotel. Many see apparitions of Ka’iulani floating through the hallways and reflecting in the mirrors behind them. However, her connection with the land runs much deeper.

A tragic death from the balcony of one room and an inferno that destroyed another have sparked rumors of this curse. Then, there was the filming of Princess Ka’iulani. Various mishaps considerably delayed filming, and producers saw things they could not explain. Shadow figures appeared in the hallways, and voices were being called out to them from the darkness. 

The princess did not take their vision of her kindly. What will she think if you show up at her front door?

Moana Surfrider

The Moana Surfrider was the first introduction of Western tourism to the pristine beaches of Waikiki. The Moana Hotel opened on March 11th, 1901. Its age alone makes it one of the most haunted hotels in Honolulu. Despite its name change, it is still much the same—at least regarding the spirits that roam within. 

Honolulu’s developing landscape and sun-soaked beaches attracted some of the brightest minds in Western culture. While many were looking for an escape,  some found a permanent home. 

Jane Stanford, co-founder of Stanford University, and her husband Leland came to Waikiki in 1905. She would never leave the confines of the Moana Surfrider again! At at 11:15 p.m, on February 28th, 1905, fearing she was poisoned, she called for the aid of a physician.

Slowly, she began to seize up as the doctor did what he could. Her final words were, “My jaws are stiff. This is a horrible death to die.” 

An autopsy later revealed she had died of strychnine poisoning. Her murder is unsolved to this day, but her spirit is forever active. Many have seen her in various parts of the hotel, and her mere presence has left many unexplainably nauseous. 

Seen in the Moana Surfrider, her ghost is not alone. The spirit of a WW2 soldier and a little girl has also been seen parading about it. The towering Banyan Tree in the center of the hotel may have something to do with this portal into the next life. Many cultures revere these trees as pools into the land of the dead. 

They are right at home in Hawaii. 

Haunted Honolulu 

The gods and spirits roam free on the island chain where the veil runs thin. Spending the night in Honolulu can encourage unsightly meetings. What will you do when you come face to face with the ancestors of Hawaii? 

Learn about Honolulu’s eerie landscape on a haunted history walking tour with Honolulu Haunts! This walking experience through downtown Honolulu covers the most haunted hotels and sinister legends in full detail. Book your Honolulu ghost tour today! 

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