Near the turn of the century, Hotel Hayashi occupied this popular and infamous site. It served residents and visitors of Nawiliwili Harbor and nearby Lihue Town as Kalapaki Bay’s first Hotel. In 1925, Katsuyuki Kuboyama purchased the land and the hotel. He demolished the old and weathered structure and built a new hotel in 1929, called Hotel Kuboyama. The hotel was a two-story, wood frame structure with a continuous balcony running the width of the second floor, which was cantilevered above the first floor’s stone walkway. An interesting element of the projecting balcony was that the posts supporting the roof were slightly canted outward, giving the building a more modern appearance than normally found in buildings of this style and era. Above the second floor lanai was a wood parapet with the center portion raised in a pedestal form. The exterior finish was horizontally lapped wood siding. The second floor functioned as hotel rooms, while the downstairs featured a full service family-style restaurant and bakery. Modern for its time, the building initially featured five upstairs bedrooms and later expanded to ten rooms.

Originally, the kitchen had wood-burning stoves that were eventually changed over to oil rather than gas. Another annex building was added on, to house workers during the construction of the Nawiliwili Pier. For several years, the main road to Nawiliwili ran right in front of the hotel and the surrounding shops. Today, this road takes people to Kalapaki Beach. In 1962, Mr. Kuboyama died and the family-operated hotel slowly fell into decline, Legend has it that during the time of Kuboyama’s ownership the tavern was used for the filming of“Donovan’s Reef,” starring the incomparable John Wayne.

In 1980, Mr. Kuboyama's second wife leased the building to Allan and Betty Garner, who operated the "Oar House Restaurant" and catered to a wide range of visitors and local residents. Mr. Garner recalled how some of the memorable years at the Oar House were spent when yacht racers would come to Kauai in the early 1980s.

"We would cater to Pacific Cup racers," he said, noting that this race from San Francisco to Hawaii happened in the off-season, opposite of the famed Trans Pac Race. "We would have standing room only, with some 200 people, laughing and having a good time.”Betty Garner recalls that her most memorable times at the Oar House were around the holidays.

She said she would cook a full spread of turkey orham and invite the area men who were without family to come together. "I really liked holiday gatherings," she said. "It made everyone feel so good to have a place to go.”
 
In October of 1994, after surviving hurricanes, landslides, and over a half-century of service, termites were the predators that finally caused the hotel’s demolition. Friends and supporters ofthe Kuboyama family, who still own this historical site, rallied to rebuild the old hotel into a reflection of its memorable past.

Today, after nearly a century of serving Kauai's Seaport Community, this landmark hotel features "The Nawiliwili Tavern”. Proprietor J. Jay Geffert has successfully created a charming and nostalgic tavern that incorporates an open air gameroom with billiards, shuffleboard, video-games, laser karaoke, satellite live sports and Kauai's first online Internet bar with free electronic mail. The tavern boasts a Hawaiian tropical beach-house atmosphere with plants and open-air windows over- looking Kalapaki Bay. It is open daily, serving a late afternoon lunch, dinner, and late-night snacks, including Giant Burgers, Tender Steaks, Pasta, & “the best tropical fruit drink concoctions this side of Ni’ihau”. As in the past, The Tavern welcomes visitors, tourists, and kama’ainas alike to enjoy some Hawaiian-style hospitality and aloha.

 

 

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Located beachside between The Kauai Marriott and Anchor Cove Shopping Center  Open 11AM til 2 AM Call us at (808) 245-1781 EmailMe@NawiliwiliTavern.com 3488 Paena Loop Lihue, Hawaii 96766