Ilikai Hotel & Luxury Suites
Ilikai Hotel & Luxury Suites | |
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Condominium | |
Website | |
http://www.ilikaihotel.com/index.html |
The Ilikai Hotel & Luxury Suites is a landmark oceanfront high rise
The Ilikai is also well known, outside of Honolulu travelers and residents, for appearing prominently in the opening credits of the long running TV series Hawaii Five-O. The show's star, Jack Lord, is standing on the Ilikai penthouse balcony as the camera dramatically zooms in on him. This same sequence is used in the opening credits of the 2010 remake, with Alex O'Loughlin replacing Lord.
History
The Ilikai was developed by
The building was originally intended to exclusively house 1056 apartment units, and construction began in 1961. However, when the project encountered difficulties, Ho assumed complete control of the $27 million effort, and eventually re-imagined it as a complex with 509 condominium units and 504 hotel rooms.[2] Because the hotel rooms in the original tower were designed as apartments, they were unusually large, many with their own kitchens. Two of The Ilikai's most unique features, its external glass elevator, running express to a rooftop restaurant, were both added mid-construction when the project was re-conceived as a hotel.[3]
The Ilikai Hotel opened on February 29, 1964, with a total of 1050 units.[4] Due to The Ilikai's success, Ho immediately announced the construction of an adjacent additional wing, eventually known as the Yacht Harbor Tower, containing 360 more hotel rooms, located across the open air lobby and pool.
In 2006, Brian Anderson and Anekona Development Group purchased the 703-room hotel portion of the property for over $200 million and the hotel left Renaissance.[7] The remainder of the building had been converted to 575 individually owned residential condos and 80 time-share units.[8] In 2009, the 203 hotel rooms remaining in the Ilikai, which was facing foreclosure, were acquired by New York-based iStar Financial, which brought in Honolulu-based Aqua-Aston Hospitality to manage the property.[4] In 2010, the Yacht Harbor tower, which had been severed from the Ilikai, reopened as a separate hotel, the Waikiki EDITION Hotel, part of Marriott's luxury boutique EDITION brand. It was renamed The Modern Honolulu Hotel in 2011, after a dispute between the owners and Marriott.[9]
Ronald and Nancy Reagan (1968) are some of the many celebrities who have stayed at the Ilikai Hotel.[citation needed]
References
- ^ "Ilikai Hotel - History". Archived from the original on 2009-02-25. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ a b c "Now that Ilikai deal is done, is Hard Rock in its future? | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper". the.honoluluadvertiser.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
- ^ "Waikiki's Ilikai Hotel and Suites Turns 50". Retrieved 2018-07-07.
- ^ a b "Ilikai Hotel History". www.hawaiiforvisitors.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
- ^ Lynch, Russ (February 15, 2000). "Landmark Waikiki hotels changing hands". archives.starbulletin.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
- ^ Johnson, Richard L. "The Ilikai/Hotel Nikko Waikiki Reglagged as Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki; Managed by Interstate Hotels / Feb 2000". www.hotel-online.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
- ^ "Anekona Development Group, Owner of the W Honolulu Hotel, Acquires the Former Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki Hotel". Retrieved 2009-02-07.
- ^ Shimogawa, Duane (June 26, 2015). "New York's iStar Financial settles lawsuit with Waikiki's Ilikai hotel unit owners". www.bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.
- ^ "Aqua Hospitality sells Modern Honolulu management entity: Travel Weekly". www.travelweekly.com. Retrieved 2018-07-07.