Aloha, Ilikai

A familiar piece of Hawaiian TV crime drama history is suddenly endangered. As the Associated Press reports (emphasis mine):

The Y-shaped Ilikai hotel that has graced the Waikiki skyline for nearly five decades and hosted everyone from U.S. presidents to Elvis Presley is closing.

The new owner is ceasing hotel operations of the iconic property after Thursday’s business day because of mounting operating losses.

New York-based iStar Financial Inc., which acquired the hotel for $51 million at a foreclosure auction in May, hasn’t indicated what it will do with the 203 hotel rooms in the 1,000-unit hotel-condo property.

Guests are being relocated to other hotels.

The 30-story Ilikai was considered Hawaii’s first luxury high-rise hotel when it was completed in 1964. It gained prominence in the 1970s when it was featured in the opening sequence of the hit TV series “Hawaii Five-O.”

In that show’s opening (viewable here), star Jack Lord is seen standing high atop the Ilikai.