Park Shore Denny's closes
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
It was an eatery that served corned beef hash with an ocean view made for haute cuisine, but Denny's at the Park Shore Waikiki hotel is no more.
Eugene Tanner • The Honolulu Advertiser
The all-American family dining establishment is closed for good after 20 years at the corner of Kalakaua and Kapahulu avenues.
The Park Shore Denny's, above Starbucks at Kalakaua and Kapahulu avenues, could not renew its lease, according to the restaurant chain. The company said 56 displaced workers were offered other jobs.
"I wanted to sit up there to look out at the water," said Steve Washington, a visitor from Virginia. "We thought they'd be open."
Washington and fellow Virginia tourist Mario Ward, like others yesterday, came back to the Park Shore Denny's after being turned away a day earlier by signs saying it was closed for a "meeting" or "maintenance."
The hotel actually did not renew the restaurant's lease that expired yesterday, according to South Carolina-based Denny's Corp.
"We sincerely regret the closing of Denny's at 2586 Kalakaua Ave.," said company spokeswoman Debbie Atkins. "This has been a great location for us, and we're looking for other locations in the area."
Management at the Park Shore, which is owned by Wyndham International, did not return a call for comment yesterday. But someone familiar with the hotel's plans said the space is slated to become a casual bar and restaurant by October.
"That's a great restaurant location, no question about it," said Ron Watanabe, vice president of hospitality advisory services for real estate firm Chaney, Brooks & Co. "It certainly isn't going to be a coffee shop no more."
Unblocked views of Diamond Head and of sunsets made the second-floor spot below the pool deck one of a kind for Denny's.
The location has become much more valuable in recent years, according to Roger Lyons, retail services vice president of real estate firm CB Richard Ellis Hawaii Inc.
"For years ... that was the tail end of Waikiki," he said. "It's only come into its own in the last year or two as a million-dollar location with a million-dollar view."
The 226-room hotel has been renovating rooms over the last few years and plans to add new stores in a refurbished lobby.
Lyons said the Kuhio Beach improvements, Sunset on the Beach movie events and revitalization of the neighboring Waikiki Beach Marriott and Aston Waikiki Beach hotels all lent support to replacing Denny's with a higher-end eatery.
Still, vacationers looking for 24-hour dining — a bowl of Cheerios or a T-bone steak — were disappointed by the loss.
"It's the best place to walk three blocks for breakfast," said Allen Pierce, a visitor from Memphis, Tenn., staying at a nearby hotel.
Denny's also had a special menu for people 55 or older.
Fifty-six employees were displaced by the closing, though Atkins said they have been offered transfers to other Denny's restaurants in the area.
Denny's still operates two locations in Waikiki, in the Miramar at Waikiki hotel on Kuhio Avenue and at the Imperial of Waikiki condominium on Lewers Street. The chain also has a restaurant at Pearlridge Center, two on Maui and one on the Big Island.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
