The History Behind This Remote Hotel In Hawaii Is Both Eerie And Fascinating
By Megan Shute|Published May 04, 2018
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Megan Shute
Author
With more than 10 years of experience as a professional writer, Megan holds a degree in Mass Media from her home state of Minnesota. After college, she chose to trade in her winter boots for slippahs and moved to the beautiful island of Oahu, where she has been living for more than five years. She lives on the west side but is constantly taking mini-road trips across the island and visits the neighboring islands whenever she can getaway. She loves hiking, snorkeling, locally-grown coffee, and finding the best acai bowl on Oahu.
As local travel experts, we know what travelers are looking for when it comes to finding the perfect accommodations for their next trip. To compile our lists, we scour the internet to find properties with excellent ratings and reviews, desirable amenities, nearby attractions, and that something special that makes a destination worthy of traveling for.
When most people check into a Hawaiian hotel, they expect comfort, some Hawaiian-themed décor, and maybe a nice view of the ocean. What they don’t expect is to stay awake at night afraid of the paranormal, but believe it or not, the Hawaiian Islands are home to quite a few hotels surrounded by spine-chilling myths. One of these hotels is the well-known Volcano House Hotel. Don’t take our word for it, though: check out the fascinating history and haunting stories surrounding this otherwise picturesque lodge.
Nestled within Hawaii’s most famous destination, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, Volcano House is one of the islands’ oldest hotel, tracing its origins to the mid-1800s when it was built as a modest, one-room shelter made of grass and native ohia wood poles.
In 1866, a four-room wooden frame structure replaced the original hotel and housed notable guests such as Mark Twain, who wrote about the hotel "Neat, roomy, well furnished and a well-kept hotel. The surprise of finding a good hotel at such an outlandish spot startled me, considerably more than the volcano did."
But the hotel’s history isn’t as sparkling as Mark Twain would have you believe. A fire destroyed the entire hotel in 1940, and the structure was rebuilt, with various additions and changes being made over the last eight decades.
Rumor has it that a former Volcano House owner and his family claimed to regularly see an apparition of an elderly woman. This ghastly woman has also been seen in guest rooms and wandering the hallways.
Sightings of a ghostly white dog on the entrance road to the hotel have also been reported. There are many who believe this white dog is Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire and volcanoes, in disguise, warning guests of death.
With views of the Kilauea Caldera in the dining room as well as some of the guest rooms, we shouldn’t neglect to tell you about Pele’s curse. The curse states that anyone who takes rock or sand away from the Hawaiian islands will suffer bad luck until the items are returned. Whether this myth is the result of Pele or merely a disgruntled park worker is unknown, but each year, hundreds of visitors send packages full of rocks and sand back to the island to relieve their bad luck.
Though the paranormal activity at Volcano House is based purely on rumors and myths, there is no denying that the historic hotel has a fascinating history.
All paranormal legends aside, the Volcano House is a phenomenal place to stay while exploring Hawaii Volcanoes National Park. To learn more about Volcano House’s charming side, click here. And for more haunted hotels, none of which are as remote as Volcano House, click here.
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