Aston hotel sold for $9.8M
By Andrew Gomes
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i hotelier André Tatibouet has sold the Aston Waikiki Beachside Hotel, resolving a foreclosure lawsuit that was aimed at repossessing the 79-room boutique hotel on Kalakaua Avenue.
Tatibouet sold the property on Nov. 18 for $9.8 million to H. Michael and Robin Richardson and their company, RKL Beachside LLC, according to property records.
Through a representative, Tatibouet referred a call seeking comment to RKL.
The Richardsons, according to people familiar with their intent, did not wish to disclose their plans for the hotel at this time.
Kelvin Bloom, president of Aston Hotels & Resorts, which manages the Beachside, said Aston expects to continue managing the property as a hotel "for the foreseeable future."
The sale clears up a foreclosure suit filed in June by three Mainland lenders who said that Tatibouet defaulted on an $8.4 million loan he took out to raise cash and refinance other loans related to the Beachside.
The lenders — Owens Mortgage Investment Fund of California and Vestin Mortgage Inc. and Vestin Fund I LLC, both of Nevada — approved the sale and are expected to drop their case.
The Beachside, at 2452 Kalakaua Ave. opposite Kuhio Beach and between the Hyatt Regency Waikiki and Pacific Beach Hotel, was built in 1966. Tatibouet redeveloped the 12-story hotel about 20 years ago, and it was the first to bear the Aston brand, which Tatibouet founded in 1986.
Tatibouet sold Aston in 1998 to Memphis, Tenn.-based ResortQuest International Inc. and continued as Aston president until last year. He left ResortQuest after a dispute over licensing the Aston brand outside Hawai'i, where he retained Aston brand rights.
The Hawai'i-born hotelier still owns the leased-fee interest in the 247-room Aston Coral Reef Hotel through 2050. Tatibouet is trying to sell the property as leasehold residential condominiums but the landlord, The Queen Emma Foundation, filed a lawsuit in May to block the sales. That case is pending.
Reach Andrew Gomes at agomes@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8065.
