For those of us growing up in the 70s — at least those of us who were allowed to watch TV — the iconic Ilikai Hotel was the epitome of glamorous Waikiki Beach, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Remember the opening shot of Hawaii 5-0, when the camera swoops in tight on Steve McGarrett, while he stands on the balcony of his penthouse suite? (It’s at the :17 mark of this video!)

Can you hear the music right this minute? Oh, right, you can because you’re playing the video. But also, Ah! Memories!

Sadly, as of Thursday those will only be YouTube memories — iStar Financial, the new owners, is closing the property because of rising operating costs and falling occupancy rates.

The hotel opened in 1964 and was touted as the “First Luxury hi-rise hotel in Hawaii.” It was designed by John Graham, who also designed the Space Needle in Seattle. Accommodations at the Ilikai were all about the view, with balconies overlooking the city and beaches. Oahu is losing an icon of the early days of Waikiki tourism.

Even more sad, nearly 200 hotel employees will lose their jobs, at a time when the economic slowdown is sharply impacting the hospitality field. We should all consider it our civic duty to save our pennies and take a vacation in Hawaii as soon as possible! It’s too late to save the Ilikai, but there are plenty of others who need our occupancy before they close, too!

Seattle Washington

Yet another wedding sent me to Seattle, Washington this summer. Finding reasonably priced hotels in this city is like climbing the Space Needle with your fingernails. The Executive Hotel Pacific was the cheapest non-shady lodging I could find, and while it was in a fantastic location, I will not be staying there again. Despite the 30% off discount on Hotels.com, the hotel was STILL over $150/night. Ouch. Secondly, the room was small, smelled bad and the bathroom was uncomfortably small and it felt and looked old.

There were some perks to the Executive Hotel, though. A Seattle’s Best Coffee is located in the downstairs lobby area, so I didn’t have to walk far to get my coffee fix in the morning. And, the location was fantastic. The hotel was only about a 10-12 minute walk from Pike Place Market, and there were plenty of good restaurants and bars nearby. The hotel isn’t close to other big attractions like the Space Needle or the Experience Music Project, though, so I was thankful that we had a car to get around in.

I disliked this hotel so much that I ended up staying with my boyfriend at the Hilton all the way out in Bellevue, a good 15 minute drive away. (He was in Seattle for a video game convention at the same time, good timing!) Now that was a nice hotel — see my next blog for my comments!

Pike's Market Seattle

Thank you to fddi1 and worldsurfer for their photo contributions.