The Ilikai was developed by
Chinn Ho, a self-made millionaire, and two California businessmen. The building was designed by
John Graham, Jr., who also designed the
Space Needle in Seattle. The original building features three wings radiating from a central point in a "Y" shape. 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. 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.
The Ilikai Hotel opened on February 29, 1964, with a total of 1050 units. 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.
Western International Hotels assumed management of the property on January 1, 1965, and managed it until October 1971. In April 1974, Ho sold The Ilikai's hotel portion, consisting of 425 rooms in the original tower and 360 rooms in the addition, to Western International for $35 million The hotel was sold again in 2000 for $57 million to Forward One LLC, owned by the Zen family of Taiwan, and reflagged to Marriott's
Renaissance brand as the
Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki on February 14, 2000. 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. The remainder of the building had been converted to 575 individually owned residential condos and 80 time-share units. 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. Ronald and Nancy Reagan (1968) are some of the many celebrities who have stayed at the Ilikai Hotel. == References ==