Famous Waikiki Hotel Shuts Down

by Deidre Woollard (RSS feed)
Jul 10th 2009 at 11:00AM

One of Waikiki's most recognizable hotels will no longer be open for guests. The Y-shaped Ilikai hotel on Waikiki Beach (shown above, hotel not pictured) opened in 1964 but came to national attention in the 1970s when it used in the opening sequence of the "Hawaii Five-0" television show. But now the hotel has closed because its new owners were losing several hundred thousand dollars a month.

In its nearly five decades the 30-story Ilikai has hosted U.S. Presidents and celebrities, especially during its 1960s and 1970s heyday when stars like Elvis Presley, Stevie Wonder and Lucillle Ball visited. But the hotel has fallen on hard times recently. New York-based iStar Financial Inc. bought the hotel for $51 million at a foreclosure auction in May and has decided it was too expensive to keep the hotel open. The move puts around 75 employees out of business. There were 203 hotel rooms in the 1,000-unit hotel-condo-timeshare property and guests staying at the hotel at the time of closure were relocated elsewhere. Operations related to the condo units are not affected. The hotel was an 800-room hotel operation just a few years ago before it was sold off into time share chunks.

Employees have said their tearful goodbyes but are holding out hope that the new owner will reopen the Ilikai with the same union crew. On the day before the closure workers rallied to save their jobs. Hawaii has seen many of its tourism jobs affected as hotel occupancy rates have plummeted. Recently the Hawaii Tourism Authority unveiled a new initiative aimed at boosting short-term travel to Hawaii by focusing on courting visitors from Japan.

UPDATE: The AP is reporting that the four dozen employees of the Ilikai hotel got their jobs back on Friday when their labor union and the property's new owner struck a new deal. Those employees that won't be rehired will receive severance packages.

Gallery: Hotels In Transition

Tags: beach, hawaii, waikiki

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels

Source

Subscribe to these comments

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

dean geleynse Jul 10th 2009 1:12PM

the picture is of the Sheraton Waikiki not the Ilikai Hotel.

Dorinda Jul 10th 2009 3:26PM

Hey Dean, here is the first line of the story......"One of Waikiki's most recognizable hotels will no longer be open for guests. The Y-shaped Ilikai hotel on Waikiki Beach (shown above, hotel not pictured)". Thanks for pointing out the obvious!

FOSDICKK Jul 10th 2009 3:36PM

Dean-check ur glasses-article says below picture this is not the lliakai-just a picture of the beach-duh!

Dorinda Jul 10th 2009 3:29PM

Hey Dean, check the first line of the story, dude.

Ron Christiansen Jul 10th 2009 3:59PM

I worked part time at the hotel in the 60's while stationed at the Marine Corps Air Station in Kanahoe...Was a great hotel...Worked for Wakenhut Security as a guard...Saw the hotel once more in 2003 when I was in Oahu, and got married on magic island...

Linda Giffen Jul 10th 2009 3:51PM

That bites big kahoonas!

Tammy Ashley Jul 10th 2009 3:51PM

This was one of the best shows of the 70's. If they should happen to want to do a movie of it someone who would be perfect for the role Jack Lord played is David Caruso of NCI Miami.

dfwtxcowboy Jul 10th 2009 4:01PM

The Sheraton Waikiki and Ilikai are the same hotel. What a shame! I attended a conference there three years ago, it seemed to be in good shape then.

roadbeagle Jul 10th 2009 4:37PM

The Sheraton and the Illikai are NOT the same hotels - the Illikai is next door to the Waikiki Prince Hotel and Ala Moana beach park. No comparison

Tony Gray Jul 10th 2009 4:36PM

Agree with Tammy. Hard to believe this hasn't been made into a movie yet.

hookmrl Jul 10th 2009 4:06PM

never been but I guess at 300 a night wonder why it closed down hawaii same sex marriage state you suck

roadbeagle Jul 10th 2009 4:36PM

Hawaii does not have same sex marriage, but it should. If you haven't been to hawaii, you don't have a clue about how nice it is.

Aubere Jul 10th 2009 5:16PM

Hawaii hasn't move to marrying gays yet. But what the gays such as Jim Nabors and Richard Chamberlain like about it is that they can live as homosexuals without much scrutiny of the press or anybody else.

I'm surprised that with so much tolerance of that alternative lifestyle that they haven't begun marrying them. I guess that will come later. (shutter)

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=190320566075&ssPageName=ADME:L:LCA:US:1123

David Zane Jul 10th 2009 4:37PM

Another piece of my childhood dies.

Stayed there twice in the 1970's as a teenager. Thanks to Mom and Dad and United Airlines.

Sue Jul 10th 2009 10:18PM

Was there in 1968 thanks to mom and dad. (Both gone now) and TWA! Remember them? Man time flies!

NailbiterHank Jul 10th 2009 4:45PM

We lived in Honolulu in the second half of the 1960s and visited friends who stayed in the Ilikai a couple of times. The Waikiki beach area and surrounding areas were constantly dotted with construction cranes even though the Alohalani steel frame stood for four years until another company finished it and renamed it the Park Shore.
It's good to hear the entire Five-O theme which Columbia Broadcasting played the first season. Was that one by the Ventures? I have heard two or three versions of it during the show's run.
Hawaii and especially Honolulu seem to be mired in constant changes, everything from the demise of the original HRT and the Hawaii Newspaper Agency to the breakup of the three main TV and radio station systems.
At least the Ilikai isnt being torn down like the travesty happning to all the original hotels and casinos in Las Vegas.

Mary Jul 11th 2009 3:23PM

Loved hearing the whole Hawaii 5-0 theme. It still rocks!!

Us2416 Jul 10th 2009 4:52PM

At the age of 9 I stayed at the Illikai with my parents and brother (1966) They had two birds in the lobby Illi and Kai. Took my kids to Hawaii several years ago and walked through the Illikai, brought back memories since both parents and my brother are gone. Just good memories.

hookmrl Jul 10th 2009 7:32PM

okk hawaii is a straight state my mistake but it so expensive to visit I went to Fl same nice sand for a lot less

Beth Jul 11th 2009 3:26PM

hookmrl.....I would disagree. I'm from Florida and the beaches do not compare to Hawaii's beaches.Yes, it does cost a lot more, but you can not compare the 2. It is possible to go to Hawaii and not spend a fortune, I have and I'm going back again. Right now they have some great deals on flights and hotels.

| 1 | 2 | Most Recent | Next 20 Comments