Location Honolulu, Hawai'i Floor count 26 | Opening 29 February 1964 Architect John Graham, Jr. | |
 | ||
Number of rooms 343 Hotel
80 Time share
586 Condominium | ||
The Ilikai Hotel & Luxury Suites is a landmark oceanfront high rise hotel and condominium at the western end of Waikiki in Honolulu, Hawai'i. When it opened in 1964, the Ilikai was the first luxury high rise hotel in Hawai'i.
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 the brainchild of Chinn Ho, a self made millionaire. 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. Another unique architectural feature is the external glass elevator, which runs express to the top floor. The hotel opened on February 29, 1964 with 1050 rooms. A shorter single wing building was added later, across the open air lobby and pool. That wing has since been severed from the Ilikai and today operates as The Modern Honolulu Hotel.
Western International Hotels assumed management of the property on January 1, 1965. In 1974 Chinn Ho sold The Ilikai to Western International. In 1980, Western International changed its name to Westin and the hotel was renamed The Westin Ilikai. In 1987, Westin sold the property to Nikko Hotels and it was renamed The Ilikai Hotel Nikko Waikiki on October 1, 1987. The hotel was sold again in 2000 and reflagged to Marriott's Renaissance brand as the Renaissance Ilikai Waikiki on February 14, 2000.
In 2006, the 703-room hotel portion of the property was purchased by Brian Anderson and Anekona Development Group and the hotel left Renaissance. The remainder of the building had been converted to condos. 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 Hotels and Resorts to manage the property.
Ronald and Nancy Reagan (1968) are some of the many celebrities that have stayed in the Ilikai Hotel.