We heard about the passing of Hawaiʻi hotel and condotel legend André S. Tatibouet from the Hui before we read it anywhere else. A GM posted a tribute on LinkedIn about coming up through his hotels, and another hotel leader wrote in asking why nobody had published anything yet. “He didn’t invent the condotel,” the note said, “but he seemed to perfect it.”
André, who passed away July 10 at the age of 85, built Aston Hotels & Resorts into one of Hawaiʻi’s largest hotel companies and helped shape Waikīkī and Hawaiʻi hospitality for decades. He was also known as a hands-on hotelier who walked his properties, knew his employees, mentored future industry leaders, and remained a familiar presence in Waikīkī long after selling Aston. Our condolences go out to his family, friends, and the many people in Hawaiʻi hospitality whose careers he touched.
One bit of Aston trivia I didn’t know: the company name came from consultants who combined his initials, AST, with “on,” inspired by two brands he admired, Hilton and Sheraton.
I never had the chance to know André, but I was fortunate to spend time with Dr. Richard Kelley and the Kelley family, founders of Outrigger. André’s passing got me thinking about that generation of Hawaiʻi hoteliers, people who lived here, walked their hotels, knew their employees by name, and made decisions they had to live next to.
What seems to have replaced them, too often, is a fund with a hold period and an asset manager on a Zoom call from somewhere else. As that hotel leader who wrote to us put it, there are fewer and fewer people left from the big growth periods of Hawaiʻi tourism.
With them goes a tremendous amount of institutional knowledge, history, and understanding of what makes this market different.
If you have an André story, send it our way. We’d love to hear it.
