Owner to close Ilikai Hotel - Hawaii Business

The storied but money-losing Ilikai Hotel will close tomorrow after more than 45 years of hosting Waikiki vacations for millions of travelers, many of them repeat visitors to Hawaii.

[Blackbarry]

Get rid of the unions THEN maybe they might consider keeping some jobs

[realmerv]

Lay off all the union members and make it a family operation. Hire only family members and friends along with their friends' family members since jobs are hard to come by in the tourism industry.

If additional workers are needed, hire some part timers to help out since labor is plentiful these days.

[willie]

Sounds like the train would have saved it. Vistors could have boarded at the airport and got off on the front steps right?

[Hawaii Sucks]

another mufi fiasco

[islander]

>> Unite Here Local 5 will hold a vigil...

Those overpaid union leaders should dig into their own pockets and provide financial support to those laid-off workers. A "vigil" won't put food on the table.

[CCC]

nothing but great memories of the "iconic" Ilikai, first check in was 1966 as a 6 year old, last checkout Jan 2009 as a 48 year old, 20 visits in between those years, all at the Ilikai, "Hong Kong Junk" "Top of the I" Sunday mass in the Pacific Ballroom, the old putting green and shuffle board area many years ago, clam chowder at Pier 7, good old Calvin and the crew of bellmen and concierge, wow how time flies, once without a doubt "the absolute jewel of Waikiki" here's hoping that maybe the HHV next door will look at doing something with the property, albeit tough with the many private condo owners and timeshare units within, looks like I will need to rent a unit for Jan 2010 to keep my streak of stays at the Ilikai in tact. A toast to the employee's and history of the Ilikai and the great memories I have amassed over the years. Aloha No Au IaʻOe Hiwahiwa Ilikai

[Thanks For Good Times]

I will never forget the Good Times I had at the Ilikai Hotel.

Before being shipped off to Viet-Nam I remember dacning the night away with some of the best Jazz musicians of the United States.

The last time I was at the Ilikai was a few years ago to meet with an Insurance adjuster. I was in a wheel chair discussing a settlement with 7-11 company. I had been assaulted by five individuals at a 7-11 store at North Shore.

So long Ilikai. thanks for the memories.

[StateTaxPayer]

Another business down the tubes. Don't do business in Hawaii unless you enjoy losing your millions.

[Sad news]

Sad news about the hotel closure. A couple owners/residents who live at the Ilikai maintain an unofficial website for the Ilikai updates:

www.ilikaiowners.com

They provide ongoing updates about the Ilikai and what's happening.

[TheShaft]

I hate to see anyone out of work, but there are too many hotels in Waikiki. It is time to clear the 'excess' out.

[Von]

Hummmmm, but didn't the judge and the unions just tell the governor she cannot layoff or give workers a furlong without first negotiating with them?

Why does this work sometime and not at other times? A law is a law or is it?

Maybe nothing is real or it's like the law of the jungle where the big fish eats the small fish?

New York is bigger than Hawaii and so we are their midnight snack.

Just eat it as they say :)

[local]

iStar don't want any workers connected with the union. This is one way to end any unionized workers to turn a profit. If they re-open the Ilikai, it will be on their terms and will sent a message to all the hotels, you can't make a decent profit with union workers.

[edward kelly]

Make it into a casino and new construction
and hiring will begin tomorrow. The Legislature
is responsible for most of the disaster in Hawaii
and it will be fun to watch the next Session
as they blame Lingle...or maybe Bush.

[aku]

The United States should declare Unions as a national security threat. They are running this country into a irreversible economic disaster.

[Grinchie]

Nothing like sucking the equity out of an existing brand and saddling it with mountainous debt.

Your doing a heckuva job Brian Anderson.

[Grinchie]

I love how you guys demonize the Unions, when it was the Wizards of wall street finance that leveraged there debt to unsustainable levels, while at the same time ignoring maintenance and general upkeep.

You republicans are painting a pretty souless self-portarait, and it is doubtful that all this bad karma is going to be forgotten soon.

To pounce upon this story in an effort to spin the blame onto unions, soley because it is that last straw the cancerous Republican leadership can see as a possible wedge issue is unforgivable.

Ronnie Raygunn is dead, and his bold attempts at Union Busting were legendary. So how have we benefitted? By experiencing flat or non-existant wage increases for the past 10 years, while everything gets more expensive, while big Corporation invest every cent in facilities overseas, and then make up the difference by exploiting the labor pool over there.

You Anti Union monsters and your souless arguments make me puke. I just hope Kane, Pele nad the Menehune's go out of their way to make your life as miserable as it can get.

[was rich now poor]

How do you make a small fortune running a business in Hawaii?

Start with a huge fortune.

[paul9662]

Brian Anderson got in over his head. Was he financially prepared to run a 40 year old hotel? Did he have the finances to tide him over during the lean times? Did he not have labor agreements in place with the Union when the hotel was purchased? If so, was not his labor cost known to him? Through his greedy and reckless planning, he has lost jobs, turned the once beautiful Ilikai into a stalled construction sight and a ghost town. It is not only Union jobs lost, there were many small businesses in the lobby that have gone under.

[Kauakea]

Hmmm. I imagine that the state union workers are wondering why the Ilikai didn't just raise its room and other rates to avoid this fate. After all, these workers think that raising taxes will bring salvation to the State of Hawaii.

[wacos202]

What a stupid, arbitrary decision by IStar. Wait until the lawsuits by condominium owners and others start, and iStar will really start bleeding cash. They deserve it.