Sheraton Rarotonga (never opened)
Jul 7, 2013, 8:47 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Toronto
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Sheraton Rarotonga (never opened)
Hope the title doesn't get anyone too excited.
Wondering if anyone knows more about this, interesting story:
The latest ruin on Rarotonga is only 22 years old. On Rarotonga it is usually referred to as the Sheraton Resort debacle. Begun in 1990 it was to be Rarotonga’s premier resort but progress stopped due to a lack of funds. The grounds and buildings were 80% complete. The Sheraton chain never owned the buildings or grounds but signed a management contract with the government. The Sheraton has never been implicated in the web of intrigue that began with a 52 million dollar loan from an Italian bank. The entire behind-the-scenes happenings will never be known thanks to missing records but it may have involved the laundering of Mafia money. The debt rose to $120 million that won’t be repaid until 2025. Eventually part control of the complex was given to a Japanese investor who was arrested for fraud. Between 10 and 20 million dollars just ‘disappeared’. The name Hilton began surfacing in 2000 and again 2004, to no avail. Now, a target for graffiti, the complex sits amid over growth and a tropical environment that breaks down most contemporary building materials very quickly.
From: http://johncharlesdavies.wordpress.c...rotonga-ruins/
Also a video here: http://youtu.be/_mSJnOqklW8
Wondering if anyone knows more about this, interesting story:
The latest ruin on Rarotonga is only 22 years old. On Rarotonga it is usually referred to as the Sheraton Resort debacle. Begun in 1990 it was to be Rarotonga’s premier resort but progress stopped due to a lack of funds. The grounds and buildings were 80% complete. The Sheraton chain never owned the buildings or grounds but signed a management contract with the government. The Sheraton has never been implicated in the web of intrigue that began with a 52 million dollar loan from an Italian bank. The entire behind-the-scenes happenings will never be known thanks to missing records but it may have involved the laundering of Mafia money. The debt rose to $120 million that won’t be repaid until 2025. Eventually part control of the complex was given to a Japanese investor who was arrested for fraud. Between 10 and 20 million dollars just ‘disappeared’. The name Hilton began surfacing in 2000 and again 2004, to no avail. Now, a target for graffiti, the complex sits amid over growth and a tropical environment that breaks down most contemporary building materials very quickly.
From: http://johncharlesdavies.wordpress.c...rotonga-ruins/
Also a video here: http://youtu.be/_mSJnOqklW8
Jul 7, 2013, 10:58 pm
#2
Join Date: Oct 2010
Location: YVR - Vancouver, with most winter weekends in Whistler.
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Posts: 4,610
That's going to need a few coats of paint before it's ready to open. . . 
Jul 7, 2013, 11:52 pm
#3
Join Date: Apr 2004
Location: Belgrade, Serbia
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Posts: 1,549
I visited the ruins in 1996.
The hotel was poorly located, across the main circle-island road from the ocean and away from the best beaches on the island.
Rarotonga is very much New Zealand's sphere of influence, and everyone in NZ in the international traveller demographic would have been wary about staying there.
Around five years ago property developers were trying to sell individual rooms in NZ as part of a Hilton managed property.
Let's also not forget the appalling incompetence of Starwood in New Zealand these last few years. The Sheraton Auckland contract was lost to Langham, and the Westin Auckland (whose rooms were owned by individual owners) was a franchise which basically tore the shirts off the back of its owners, who are far happier with Sofitel and basically threw Westin out.
As for the Westin Queenstown, it is another vanished, unopened property.
Starwood could scarcely enjoy a worse reputation in New Zealand, and the Sheraton Rarotonga has contributed to that.
The hotel was poorly located, across the main circle-island road from the ocean and away from the best beaches on the island.
Rarotonga is very much New Zealand's sphere of influence, and everyone in NZ in the international traveller demographic would have been wary about staying there.
Around five years ago property developers were trying to sell individual rooms in NZ as part of a Hilton managed property.
Let's also not forget the appalling incompetence of Starwood in New Zealand these last few years. The Sheraton Auckland contract was lost to Langham, and the Westin Auckland (whose rooms were owned by individual owners) was a franchise which basically tore the shirts off the back of its owners, who are far happier with Sofitel and basically threw Westin out.
As for the Westin Queenstown, it is another vanished, unopened property.
Starwood could scarcely enjoy a worse reputation in New Zealand, and the Sheraton Rarotonga has contributed to that.
Jul 9, 2013, 7:25 pm
#4
Join Date: Jun 1999
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