Herbert Takami Hayashi, who rose from humble beginnings to become the owner of some of Hawai'i's best known hotels, has died. He was 85.

Hayashi founded HTH Corp., which owns the Pagoda Hotel and the Pacific Beach Hotel in Honolulu and King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel on the Big Island. He was named Businessman of the Year in 1972 by Hawai'i Business Magazine.

Hayashi, who died Sunday at The Queen's Medical Center, was a man of numerous interests. He had a passion for koi; orchids; homing pigeons; and Akita dogs.

"My father was a visionary who loved Hawai'i very much," said Corine Hayashi, president and chief executive officer of HTH.

"He grew up on an O'ahu sugar plantation and learned to work hard for a living, but also to be grateful for the opportunities given him. He scratched and scraped to pay for college, sometimes with very little left for food, hoping that one day he might be able to give back to the community."

A native of Makaweli, Kaua'i, Herbert Hayashi was raised at the 'Ewa Mills Camp on O'ahu. He attended college in Japan, returned to Hawai'i to work as a Navy construction superintendent and founded his own residential construction company in 1946.

Hayashi developed the Pagoda Hotel, noted for its koi ponds and Japanese gardens, in 1964.

The Pacific Beach Hotel was purchased in 1970. Its 280,000-gallon saltwater aquarium, built in 1979, is home to nearly 400 fish.

Hayashi added to his holdings with the purchase of King Kamehameha's Kona Beach Hotel in 1991.

Funeral services are pending.