The first hotels in Waikīkī were bathhouses, such as the Long Branch Baths, which began to offer rooms for overnight stays in the 1880s. This facility featured a toboggan slide 40 feet high, which propelled riders a hundred feet over the water, like skipping stones. The "First Lady of Waikīkī," the Moana Hotel opened on March 11, 1901 and established Waikīkī as a resort destination. The four-story, 75 room structure was the tallest building in Hawaiʻi. It sits on the area known as Ulukou, or "kou tree grove." Kou is a wood highly prized for bowls and other eating implements.

In 1918, the Moana Hotel added 100 new rooms in two wings that created this courtyard facing the sea. Under the banyan tree, Johnny Noble and his orchestra delighted dancers and listeners. In 1935, Harry Owens and Webley Edwards inaugurated the famed radio program "Hawai'i Calls." It was beamed to Hawaiian music audiences for 40 years. At its peak in 1952, the weekly program was broadcast on 750 stations worldwide.