Hurricane Lala knocks out air conditioning, elevators at Hilo hotel

HILO (HawaiiNewsNow) – About 600 guests are staying at the Grand Naniloa Hotel Hilo, and about a third are Hawaii Island residents impacted by Hurricane Lala who are dealing with water and power outages.

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For nearly a week, hundreds of guests at the hotel have had only one elevator to get through the building’s 12-story tower, and the outage could persist for several more weeks.

Hurricane Lala knocked out power to all three elevators, but crews repaired one Tuesday.

Hotel General Manager Niklas Dahm predicts it will take at least a month to restore the other two elevators, adding that his staff is making the most of the situation.

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“The two days where we didn’t have an elevator back because it was gone for two days, going up and down the stairs with folks’ luggage up to the 12th floor, that was really the hard part,” Dahm said. “It’s a combination of excitement and sadness because we’re having to wait and make do. It’s working. The team is doing a great job. And that’s what we’re doing at the moment.”

To ensure safety, Dahm said a staff member is manning the elevator at all times.

Public areas in the hotel are also without air conditioning after Lala, which Dahm said crews are working hard to fix.

Meantime, residents impacted by the storm are being offered a discounted room rate of $145 a night, with their resort fees waived.

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