Hulihe’e Palace is expanding its museum hours to be open on most Mondays, with hours of operation from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. The only exception is on the Monday following the monthly Kokua Kailua Village stroll, when the palace is closed in the morning and open from 1 to 4 p.m. As of May 1, admission fees for adult, kamaaina, military and senior visitors increase by $2.
Hulihe‘e Palace is expanding its museum hours to be open on most Mondays, with hours of operation from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. The only exception is on the Monday following the monthly Kokua Kailua Village stroll, when the palace is closed in the morning and open from 1 to 4 p.m. As of May 1, admission fees for adult, kamaaina, military and senior visitors increase by $2.
The new general admission fee schedule follows: adult, $8 for non-guided tour and $10 for a guided tour; kamaaina, $6/$8; military, $6/$8; senior citizens age 65 and older, $6/$8; children, age 18 and younger, $1.
Visitors can choose from a 45-minute docent-guided tour, a self-guided tour (detailed brochure provided), or can use a personal mobile telephone to access a free “On Cell” audio tour (regular mobile air me fees may apply).
Built in 1838, the two-story Hulihe‘e Palace houses a collection of ancient Hawaiian (pre-Western contact) artifacts and personal memorabilia of 19th century Hawaiian royalty. The palace structure has been painstakingly restored to circa 1885, a period known in Hawaiian history as the Kalakaua Era.
It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Standout furnishings include King Kalakaua’s magnificent armoire that won a silver medal in the 1889 International Exhibition in Paris, a 70-inch table top made from a single piece of koa wood, an ornate steamer trunk used by Queen Kapi‘olani to carry belongings to Queen Victoria’s Jubilee, King Kamehameha the Great’s stone exercise ball weighing a whopping 180 pounds and exquisite bed mats made from the endemic makaloa sedge.
Gift shop hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays. For details, contact the palace at 329-1877, the palace office at 329-9555 or visit www.daughtersofhawaii.org. The gift shop can be reached by phoning 329-6558. Caretakers of Hulihe‘e Palace are the Daughters of Hawaii. The organization was founded in 1903 and opens membership to any woman who is directly descended from a person who lived in Hawaii prior to 1880. Helping the Daughters in its efforts since 1986 are the Calabash Cousins, in which membership is available to all.