WELCOME TO THE HILTON.
The pool house, Rarotonga Sheraton/Hilton.
On the southern end of Rarotonga lies the ill-fated (and allegedly, cursed) Rarotonga Sheraton/Hilton development. The Sheraton chain never owned this but signed a management contract with the Cook Islands government to develop the site into a five star beach resort. The entire development however became entangled in a web of intrigue that began with a NZ$52 million (US$37.8 million) dollar loan from an Italian bank. The entire behind-the-scenes happenings will never be known thanks to “misplaced”/missing records but, in a nutshell, it may have involved the laundering of Mafia money, a debt blowout to $120 million that won’t be repaid until 2025, part control being handed to a Japanese investor who was arrested for fraud and between 10 and 20 million dollars that just ‘disappeared’ into the ether.
Stopped halfway during construction, the development was left to rot in the tropical temperature, which quickly deteriorated over the years. It’s a strange feeling creeping around the ghost resort, and seeing some of the still half-furnished rooms rotting away.
Currently looking for investors.
scary larry!