Waikiki’s famous Ilikai Hotel, which was featured on the 1960’s show “Hawaii Five-O” announced this week that it will close its doors. The hotel was purchased by iStar Financial Inc. in May, and the company hoped that its subsidiary, SFI Ilikai Property Owners, would be able to identify sufficient cost savings and operational efficiencies to allow the hotel to remain open, but this did not happen.
The shutdown ends an era in Hawaii’s hotel industry and puts as many as 142 union employees out of work. Current guests staying on the property are being moved to other hotels and those with future reservations will be contacted with other accommodations.
The closure will not directly affect day to day operations and common areas for residents of the 600 full time condominium units or the 200 timeshare units within the Ilikai property. Timeshare owners should still plan to use their vacation week and continue to pay the maintenance fees as usual.
Residents are complaining the developer, Brian Anderson, is to blame for the condition of the property. Homeowners are paying to maintain the entire property, not just maintenance fees on their unit, and they are not happy. Homeowners have filed a lawsuit to take back control of their association board from developer Brian Anderson. They hope this will give them the control they need to make the property flourish again and reclaim its iconic stature.