Kalia Tower Guest Rooms Closed For Mold

Steve Jefferson
11/3/03

The Hilton Hawaiian Village Beach Resort & Spa shut down all the guest rooms in the newly opened Kalia Tower on Wednesday after discovering mold in some of the rooms. Guests in the tower were re-located to other rooms on the property as a precautionary measure, said Peter Schall, senior vice president and managing director of Hilton Hawaii.

The commercial space, including Mandara Spa, Holistica Hawaii Health Center and the executive meeting space, remains open, Schall said.

With July and August the busiest months of the year, Schall said Hilton is working with other hotels to accommodate guests if Hilton runs out of space.

With Kalia Tower, the Hilton has 3,432 guest rooms.

Earlier Wednesday, management met with the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees Local 5 union, as well as the entire staff, to apprise them of the situation.

Schall said no layoffs or furloughs are scheduled as of yet.

While the mold was first noticed in June, experts working with management determined the most prudent action would be to shut down the guest rooms until a definitive plan is formed.

Experts from Air Quality Sciences in Atlanta were flown in to help advise Hilton on the situation and determine the cause and the nature of the mold.

"The next step is to find out what caused it," Schall said.

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