There are a number of resorts and hotels here Oahu, as one might imagine.
About 95% of them are located either at Honolulu International Airport or Waikiki. Another 3% can be found at the growing location on the Leeward side of the island called Ko’Olina (the “next Waikiki,” if the developer and owners have their way.) The other hotels and resorts are spread across the three corners of the island: Windward, North Shore, and the far-Leeward side of the island.
For some visitors/tourists, it’s all about Waikiki: shows, beaches, sun, surf, food and fun. For others, it’s about “getting away from it all” but still enjoying everything that Oahu has to offer. For the rest, it’s about really getting away from it all.
But with most of the tourist traffic heading to Waikiki, it’s up to the hotels on the other three corners to offer world, and shoot for the moon, to get tourists to their remote locations.
On the North Shore of Oahu, that hotel is Turtle Bay. It’s a beautiful location, with some amazing meeting rooms, restaurants, and various other [in my opinion] untapped potential.
Not a new idea, the owners (Oaktree Capital) want to continue their plans to greatly increase the size of the resort. These plans have been on the table for several years now.
This is a tough one. I’m not one to bite the hand that feeds me, and I’m certainly not trying to do so here, but I think this is worth mentioning.
Turtle Bay has a fantastic potential, but has some … issues … regarding the Local 5 Union. I won’t try and address the issues here; I’m not involved.
But I think it’s important to work out such issues before trying to grow. A building needs a solid foundation. A business is no different. And whether the Union is at fault, or Turtle Bay, it’s important to work out the differences either way. I’ve not seen that from either side. It’s up to the management group at Turtle Bay to resolve the issue. They do, after all, represent the owners. Not to mention that it’s good business to make sure everyone is as enthusiastic about future growth for the Resort as the owners seem to be.
Now the owners recently finished spending some $60 million upgrading and updating the hotel. But when I recently walked around the resort, I saw several unfinished parts and pieces. Some were amazingly large unfinished issues. For example, I watched a woman, in her wedding dress, walk across broken rocks and busted sidewalks to get to her wedding on the beach. That sidewalk should have been fixed a long time ago, and with a budget of $60 million, they should have spent a measly few hundred dollars to do it.
I might be wrong. For some other reason I’m not familiar with, that sidewalk might have been busted up for any number of reasons. But that’s just an example. There were other projects that should have been finished and fixed up. I doubt that an excuse can be placed on all of the unfinished projects. And herein lies my point.
Jerry Doyle, actor and now talk show host, says often on his program that you should “question everything.” That’s what I think Oaktree Capital should do. They need to find out why their investment, Turtle Bay, is still having issues with the Local 5 Union. They need to find out why there are still portions of their investment that haven’t been fixed, improved or installed. Oaktree Capital needs to question everybody. The management group they hired [Benchmark Hospitality] to run Turtle Bay. The Local 5 Union. The local community that has reservations about Turtle Bay’s growth. Everything.
What can I say? For $60 million, I’d want answers and solutions. Not more problems and questions.
For more, see the most recent article from the Honolulu Star Bulletin titled “Proposed development at Turtle Bay bothers residents.”
RLR