Rainmaker Hotel was a 250-room luxury hotel in

Utulei Utulei or Utulei is a village in Maoputasi County, American Samoa, Maoputasi County, in the Eastern District, American Samoa, Eastern District of Tutuila, the main island of American Samoa. Utulei is traditionally considered to be a section of Fag ...

Pago Pago Pago Pago ( ; Samoan: )Harris, Ann G. and Esther Tuttle (2004). ''Geology of National Parks''. Kendall Hunt. Page 604. . is the territorial capital of American Samoa. It is in Maoputasi County on Tutuila, which is American Samoa's main island. ...

American Samoa American Samoa ( sm, Amerika Sāmoa, ; also ' or ') is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the island country of Samoa. Its location is centered on . It is east of the International ...

. It was the only proper hotel in American Samoa and was operated by the government. The hotel was at its peak in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was known as the Pacific's Intercontinental Hotel. The hotel was dedicated in November 1965. The four-day hotel opening celebrations began with a flag-raising at the Governor's Office on Flag Day, followed by a royal ‘ava ceremony conducted at the

Fagatogo Fagatogo is the downtown area of Pago Pago (the territorial capital of American Samoa).Grabowski, John F. (1992). ''U.S. Territories and Possessions (State Report Series)''. Chelsea House Pub. Page 51. . Located in the low grounds at the foot of M ...

malae by Taumafaalofi and Aumaga of

Nu'uuli Nu'uuli is a village on the central east coast of Tutuila Island, American Samoa. It is located on a peninsula several miles up from Pago Pago International Airport. Nu’uuli is located between Pago Pago International Airport and Coconut Point. I ...

. The parade that followed was the longest in history. Several members of the U.S. Congress attended and the Air Force Band played music. Senator

Alan Bible Alan Harvey Bible (November 20, 1909 – September 12, 1988) was an American lawyer and politician. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, he served as a United States Senate, United States Senator from Nevada from ...

was the featured Flag Day speaker and the

Department of the Interior The United States Department of the Interior (DOI) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government headquartered at the Main Interior Building, located at 1849 C Street NW in Washington, D.C. It is responsible for the mana ...

sent its top officials. Governor

John A. Burns John Anthony Burns (March 30, 1909 – April 5, 1975) was an American politician. Burns was born in Montana and became a resident of Hawaii in 1913. He served as the second governor of Hawaii from 1962 to 1974. Early life John Burns was ...

came from

Hawai'i Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only stat ...

with General Harris of the Air Force and Admiral Fabik of the Coast Guard. Prime Minister Mata'afa headed the

Western Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands ( Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands ( Manono and Apolima); a ...

n delegation. In 1980, an air disaster occurred when a

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage of ...

plane hit the cables of the Mt. Alava aerial tramway and crashed into the hotel, killing the six servicemen aboard and two tourists who were staying at the hotel. The hotel manager reportedly refused that a memorial be erected inside the hotel grounds. The hotel hosted most of the

Miss Island Queen Pageant Miss Island Queen is a faʻafafine pageant held annually in American Samoa. It is noted for being the longest standing pageant of its kind in the South Pacific. It was first held in 1979 before undergoing a series of changes. No pageant was held i ...

competitions between 1987 and 2001. In May 2002 the hotel was ordered to pay a US$400,000 overdue power bill to the

American Samoa Power Authority The American Samoa Power Authority (ASPA) is a government-run public utility company providing electricity, water, wasterwater, and waste disposal services within American Samoa. History Governor Peter T. Coleman issued an emergency executive or ...

. In march 2003 the ASPA cut off its power for a night after failing to receive payment. In 2004 the government agreed to lease part of the hotel to businessman Tom Drabble. In August 2004 the American Samoan Senate rejected a government bail-out plan. In 2014 it was announced that the derelict hotel would be demolished. It was demolished in 2015 after sitting deserted for over a decade.

History

On February 21, 1964, it was reported in the ''

Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

'' that the

Area Redevelopment Administration Area Redevelopment Administration was a rural poverty program of the Kennedy administration, primarily in Appalachia. Kennedy's anti-poverty policies Kennedy said little about poverty in his campaign, but began talking about unemployment in ...

(ARA) had announced a million-dollar loan toward constructing a hotel in

. The ARA stated in the article that “only tourism… offers a sound basis on which to restructure the economy.” It was anticipated that tourists would be arriving in increased numbers due to new scheduled flights. The paper notes that “if Samoa were independent… it would doubtless be getting a far costlier restructuring.””Restructuring in Pago Pago." ''

'' (Feb. 21, 1964). Page 8.

References

{{coord, 14.2897, S, 170.6800, W, source:wikidata, display=title Hotels in American Samoa Buildings and structures demolished in 2015 Demolished buildings and structures in American Samoa