The Ilikai Hotel has had its share of drama recently.
I’m not going to recount its current legal and financial issues, but rather look back to its opening 49 years ago last week, in 1964.
The Ilikai Hotel was the brainchild of Honolulu entrepreneur Chinn Ho, who paved the way for other Asians to enter leadership roles in Hawaii businesses. The hotel was erected near his families’ rice field and duck ponds, which had existed there 80 to 100 years ago.
Many thought it was too far from Waikiki to succeed. But Chinn Ho foresaw the explosion that would take place in Hawaii tourism due to statehood and jet travel. Waikiki would grow, and the Ilikai was positioned perfectly to benefit from it.
"Ilikai" means the "surface of the sea." At the time it was built, it was the largest condominium in the world. One-bedroom units would be sold for $18,000. Half the units were hotel rooms, and in 1964 you could have a room with a view of Manoa Valley for $12 a night.
The lead architect was Seattle Space Needle designer John Graham Jr. He designed the hotel with three wings radiating from a central point, giving the hotel its distinctive Y shape. A restaurant was placed atop its center. The hotel was painted in distinctive white and turquoise.
Other developers originally planned a 20-story apartment on the property. Chinn Ho took over when they ran into difficulties.
"Hawaii Five-0" put the Ilikai on the map. Jack Lord was filmed standing on the lanai of a penthouse there for seven seconds in the series’ opening sequence.
Many people don’t know that what paved the way for "Hawaii Five-0" was an earlier TV show, "I Dream of Jeannie," which filmed two episodes at the Ilikai in 1968.
Bobbie Watson Kane was the Ilikai’s public relations director when Leonard Freeman approached the management about filming there.
"It was one of the most exciting things that ever happened at the hotel," Kane recalls. "The guests loved it. People came from all over Oahu to watch. Barbara Eden, the star, was very friendly to everyone. It was great for food and beverage, and the press covered it extensively."
"So when ‘Hawaii Five-0′ approached us a few months later, we were ready. Management said yes and I set things up. It gave us enormous recognition. People wanted to see where it was filmed."
One of the characters in the series was Chin Ho Kelly, played by Kam Fong. The character was named for Ho and Outrigger Hotels founder Roy Kelley.
Chinn Ho was born with just one "n" in his name. He added a second "n" to distinguish himself from another Chin Ho on Oahu.
Many world leaders and celebrities have stayed at the Ilikai, including Presidents Lyndon Johnson and Gerald Ford. Dolly Parton, Mickey Mantle, Elvis Presley, Tom Jones, Jack Benny and Lucille Ball have stayed there.
The Apollo 13 Astronauts were quarantined for four days at the Ilikai after they miraculously survived an oxygen tank explosion and had to abort their landing on the moon in 1970. They splashed down in the Pacific and took over a wing of the hotel. More than 100 members of the White House press corps filled the hotel.
Ho was sickly as a child and didn’t enter first grade at Kaahumanu School until he was 8. Other students called him "skinny." He joined the Boy Scouts and took up weightlifting, swimming and surfing.
He was a C-plus student at McKinley High School, where he graduated in the class of 1924. When a group of high school students broke a window playing ball, Ho led a group in fundraising to fix it. After raising the money, another campus group asked them to help them with their fundraising. They discovered they were pretty good at it.
Ho founded Capital Investment Corp. in 1944, which invested in real estate, hotels, restaurants and, later, publishing. A $100 share investment in 1944 grew to be worth $2,250 by 1972.
Ho bought Chris Holmes’ property in Waikiki in 1945 and turned it into the Queen’s Surf restaurant and nightclub. Because the Pacific Club, where his father worked, was closed to Asians, he made sure Queen’s Surf was open to all races. He later sold it to Spencecliff.
Ho bought the Honolulu Star-Bulletin for $11 million in 1961. He wanted to make it into a of the Pacific. He was the first Asian-American on the board of Theo H. Davies and first Asian president of the Honolulu Stock Exchange.
Ho was president of the Hawaii Islanders Triple A baseball team. He also held high positions with the Hawaii Visitors Bureau, the Robinson Estate and the Bishop Museum. His philanthropic work led many to call him the "Chinese Rockefeller."
Kalani Simerson, who was Ho’s chauffer, said his boss was more like a companion and friend.
"He always sat in the front seat with me," Simerson said. "I almost never opened his door. He wanted to jump out of the car himself."
When Ilikai workers went out on strike, Chinn Ho took food to the people on the picket lines. He knew they would soon be back at work.
Ho died in May 1987 at the age of 83. At his memorial service at Kawaiaha‘o Church, Chamber of Commerce President Bob Robinson called Ho "a true self-made man in the best traditions of the United States, and one who will be remembered for decades."
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Bob Sigall is Hawaii’s business historian. He helps local companies tell their stories. Email him at Sigall@Yahoo.com.
