Biography of grace guslander

Grace Buscher Guslander, world-renowned Kauai hotelier, died at her home in Wailua, Kauai, yesterday at age 89.

A native of Collegeville, Pa., she came to Hawaii in 1948 and worked at a variety of jobs until 1953 when Lyle Guslander, owner of the hospitality company Island Holidays, bought what was then a 24-room roadside lodge on Kauai, the Coco Palms, and asked her to manage it for him.

She developed it into a 35-acre Polynesian-style resort which would become famous as a movie setting.

She married Guslander in 1969, the same year he sold his business to Amfac Inc.

The hotel became known for the remaining coconut trees of what had been a copra plantation, the giant clamshell wash basins and its outdoor, low-rise flavor of Polynesian hospitality.

The 396-room hotel at Wailua has been closed since it was severely damaged by Hurricane Iniki in September 1992.

It is scheduled to be torn down and turned into a time-share resort.

Guslander won a worldwide title of Hotel Manager