By Nadine Kam

Nadine Kam photos
Hayden Panettiere flashes a shaka sign at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel grand opening gala Saturday night.

Guests had a date with history when The Royal Hawaiian Hotel celebrated its grand reopening with a fundraising gala Saturday night for The Rehabilitation Hospital of the Pacific Foundation in partnership with Louis Vuitton Hawai‘i.

Recalling the days of the Pink Palace’s original opening on Feb. 1, 1927, there was a King’s Guard posted at the driveway gate, along with conch shell blowers and female greeters whose topless figures were draped with veils of long hair and lei. Inside, a poi pounder was also at work performing a demonstration on the Ocean Lawn.

Royal guests in 1928.

Echoing the hotel’s Hollywood connection as the location for films from the 1930s through the present, as well as resting spot for vacationing celebrities, the guest list included “Heroes” star Hayden Panettiere, actor Justin Long and Heather Graham. Much is being said about Hayden telling one reporter, “Don’t touch me,” but it can be justified. Put yourself in her shoes. People have boundaries and when you’re always surrounded by crowds and paparazzi, it must get old. I remember feeling that way when I was singing and guys would grab my arm coming off stage and talk/yell in my ear. Even if it was to say the show was great, I wanted to say, “Don’t touch me, boy.” At the time I just said, “Thanks.” Most people are well-intentioned and don’t know they might have been hurting my ear or arm or spitting beer.

I missed Heather’s red-carpet appearance while talking story outside, where it was pretty quiet so I had no idea about the commotion just beyond the entry. Madness. Oh well. I saw her later having dinner in the new Azure restaurant, but it’s just wrong to bother people when they’re eating, so I think everyone gave the celebs their space.

Celebrity event planner David Beahm was called in for his expertise for the $350 to $1,250 per person event. It was sad that it was raining that night, so many of the guests stuck to walkways and roofed areas rather than allow their heels to sink into the lawn. Pink and white hotel umbrellas were offered to guests who did want to make forays out to the food tents, where there were shrimp and crab cocktails, poke, crabcakes and grilled shortribs.At different times during the evening, there was music by Ginai, Bill Tapia and Makana, dressed fabulously as usual. Sorry, I don’t have a photo. I was biting into a piece of hamachi sushi when I ran into him and could not be deterred.Fireworks started about 9 p.m., and those in the Monarch Room were entertained by Grammy-nominated trumpeter Chris Botti, whose short set ranged from the romantic to jazzy, funk-driven rock.It was a party worthy of the grand dame of Waikiki.

Mac guy and actor Justin Long posed for a photo on the red carpet with Jasmine Trias. Don’t start any rumors about Drew Barrymore’s ex.

Pink is the new fabulous and the color of the evening for many of the guests. I was going to wear pink, but I only had sheer, pale pinks which I didn’t feel would hold up to rain, so I opted for black with a touch of magenta lace at the waist and shoulders. I felt that satin might hold up to the rain, and a lot of guests did opt for the shiny fabric:

At the Escada table, from left, Hawaii store manager Mariese Montano-Smith, Audra Stevenson and Lisa Higaki looked pretty in pink.

Pink hair and rosy cheeks worked, too.

Tai Busk chose a dramatic, unapologetic pink.

I didn’t notice the pink dragonfly attached to Aureana Tseu’s dress until late in the evening. She was talking story with Zeina Jafar.

Philpotts and Associates were involved in the hotel’s interior design. Representing the company, at center, with their paper umbrellas, were Marion Philpotts-Miller and Jon Staub. They’re surrounded by men with pink roses, from left, Terry Hubbard, Mike Cordeiro, Roycen Dehmer and Alvin Chung.

Welcome to the Royal, front and back.

On the red carpet, Erika Kauffman in an Escada gown, with Hawaii Pacific Entertainment’s Lincoln Jacobe and Jasmine Trias.

From left, Terry Hubbard, Alvin Chung, Jennifer Fairbank, Andy Baldwin and Nicole Fox. Funny thing about Andy, he was following me on Twitter.com, then he dumped me, so count me as another woman dumped by “The Bachelor.” And about the most recent bachelor, I guess I was one of a minority who was OK with Jason dumping Melissa. Geez, it’s as if no one ever made a dating mistake. Sorry. Molly is his equal. It’s better to find out before the marriage and five kids later.

I loved seeing this colorful bunch together.

Designer Takeo, left, with Eric Eugene Chandler, created gowns for several women at the party, including Royal Hawaiian general manager Kelly Hoen, above, and the mermaid gown for Andromeda Hendricks, below.

In addition to this display of Louis Vuitton’s travel collection, the Royal’s second-floor Kamehameha Suite was transformed into an LV Luxe Voyage Suite showcasing its latest collection, including a waterproof bag resting in the tub full of water.

On the Ocean Lawn, chefs cooked up crab cakes and had short ribs sizzling on a grill nearby. Poke fills the glasses on the right.

One for the music fans:

This entry was posted on Monday, March 9th, 2009 at 11:45 pm and is filed under People, Video, Parties. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.