There’s something about a gingerbread house that brings to mind the “Hansel and Gretel” fairy tale we all heard as kids, a time when the wondrous idea of a cottage constructed with cake and candy would be a dream come true.

The lost and hungry siblings filled their bellies on the sugary creation before the wicked witch ruined it all, but the 1812 Brothers Grimm story must have nourished the souls of readers. Historians say the popularity of the warm and fragrant confection spread throughout Europe, and gingerbread became part of cherished Christmas traditions that German immigrants brought to America.

Bakers at the Moana Surfrider and The Royal Hawaiian sister hotels have embraced gingerbread as the mainstay of holiday displays in the lobbies. They’ve built edible replicas of their hotels or are giving kids a chance to create their own fantasy houses.

The Sheraton Princess Kaiulani (another sister property of Kyo-ya Hotels & Resorts) is hosting grade schoolers throughout the month to decorate little houses as part of a Christmas village.

Displays at all hotels will be up at least until Dec. 27.

At the Moana, pastry chef Nanako Perez-Nava and assistant Carmen Montejo put the finishing touches on their 4-by-3-foot hotel model in front of the concierge desk during the first week of December. They used 20 pounds of gingerbread dough, 300 French macaron shells and 8 pounds of assorted candies. They spent most of the 60 hours it took to build the house in a cramped refrigerated “chocolate room,” where the concentrated fragrance of the spices was mouthwatering.

While gingerbread houses are usually part of a winter wonderland scene, Montejo said, “Everyone expects snow — but we have an ocean” (depicted by 25 pounds of blue royal icing) and instead of snowmen, sandman tourists dot the beach. At the request of engineering manager Douglas Pedro, they baked a gingerbread man sunbathing, dressed in a gold thong and red sunglasses, with carefully burned edges because, he said, “Everyone gets sunburned!”

Pedro’s department built the wooden structure on which slabs of gingerbread were “glued” with frosting (to make sure the whole thing didn’t collapse in the humidity), and wired the interior lighting. Only the tower above the hotel’s famous porte-cochere driveway is made completely of gingerbread without a wooden base, said Perez-Nava.

The pastry chefs made the intricate coral branches, starfish and seashells that lined the ocean; the surfboards; and little blue “rubber slippers,” adorned with tiny white flowers, scattered on the beach. A mixture of white and brown sugars and flour made the perfect sand. The front windows are delicate sheets of gelatin, and you can see the Christmas trees clearly in the lobbies.

At The Royal Hawaiian, pastry chef Carolyn Portuondo built a 10-foot replica of the hotel’s landmark Royal Bell Tower, which sits atop the iconic pink hotel. It includes a button viewers can press that will actually ring the bell. (Last year Portuondo built a 4-by-6-foot model of the entire hotel).

She used 80 full sheets of gingerbread, 200 pounds of icing and 50 pounds of chocolate, among other ingredients. Portuondo baked and spackled the entire thing in pink-hued chocolate and placed each jelly bean and frosted detail by herself over six days. The engineering department carved out the plastic foam base and did the bell-ringing electronics.

Portuondo also made gingerbread decorating kits for sale in the hotel’s Royal Bakery, including all the pieces needed to make a 7-by-7-inch house. She will lead a workshop on making the houses Dec. 20.

The Princess Kaiulani continues its custom of inviting school groups to decorate houses, starting with the Waikiki Community Center on Dec. 4 and concluding with Cole Academy in Kaimuki on Monday.

Due to the enthusiastic response from six schools, the hotel is buying preordered kits for the 230 kids to decorate, rather than trying to bake enough gingerbread for them all. Large groups will be divided into teams to work on one house each.

Their fairy-tale cottages will become part of a village centered on a bigger house baked by Kaiulani pastry chef Aaron Love and decorated by the keiki.