RUSS LYNCH / RLYNCH@STARBULLETIN.COM Passers-by look at the Ilikai's rebuilt grand staircase at the entrance off Ala Moana that was part of the hotel's $27 million renovation. Water runs over display rocks on the sides.

Facelift brings Ilikai
back to its 1964 roots

A rebuilt grand staircase
entrance and upgraded rooms
are among the new features

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By Russ Lynch
rlynch@starbulletin.com

After a $27 million-plus facelift, the 37-year-old Ilikai looks much like it did when it opened in 1964, but that was one of the aims of the redo, the hotel's managers and marketers say.

The rebuilt grand staircase at the entrance off Ala Moana had disappeared under previous owners. It has returned with new water displays running over rocks on either side, occasionally emitting steam to create a volcanic-area effect. The staircase uses some of the original tiles that made it so impressive in the 1960s.

At the top of the staircase, a new whale-and-water sculpture by marine life artist Wyland dominates the entrance.

In the project that began in November 2000, most of the 783 guest rooms were renovated, as were all of the hotel's public areas.

Honolulu architectural firm Wimberly Allison Tong & Goo did the redesign, aimed at opening up the buildings to the seas and the surrounding landscape.

The poolside restaurant, Canoes at the Ilikai, has a rebuilt bar, bigger windows and a better menu. All of the guest rooms in the 26-story Ilikai Tower were redone as were most of the units in the Yacht Harbor Tower.

Guests like the availability of 280 condominium-style units, which have fully functioning kitchens, said the hotel's marketing team, headed by Alvin Wong, director of sales and marketing.

Developed by Honolulu financier Chinn Ho and opened in 1964 as a mixture of luxury condominium and hotel units, the hotel was later sold to Japanese investors, and since February 2000 has been owned by a California partnership controlled by Taiwan's Zen family, owners of hotels in California and Washington.

It is managed by Pittsburgh-based Interstate Hotels Corp., which runs 165 hotels in the United States, Canada, the Caribbean and Russia. The Renaissance name comes from a franchise agreement that has the hotel marketed and listed under the Renaissance brand, owned by Marriott International Inc.

While the look harkens back to an earlier era, room rates are a far cry from what they were in the 1960s. Then prime oceanview rooms went for $27 a night and suites with kitchens were $35 to $100. The basic posted rates now start at $240 for a "city view" unit and run to $750 a night for a two-bedroom ocean-view suite and $1,000 for a honeymoon suite.