Turtle Bay Resort is celebrating a milestone birthday this month, and while the oceanfront Oahu property certainly looks fabulous at 50, it has had a little work done recently.
First opened in May 1972, the North Shore resort is not far from finishing a $250 million renovation slated to wrap up this September, according to Robert Marusi, chief commercial officer at the hotel.
We took this building right down to the studs and really built it back up in terms of its entire foundation and structure.
“We took this building right down to the studs and really built it back up in terms of its entire foundation and structure,” he said, noting that all of the property’s public spaces and pools were overhauled during a complete closure from March 2020 to July 2021.
What's New at Turtle Bay
By June, Marusi estimates that 280 of Turtle Bay’s 450 guestrooms will have been renovated, and the rest will be finished this September, along with an extensive upgrade currently underway for the resort’s 14-treatment-room spa.
Marusi was quick to note that although renovation is ongoing in the main building, work there isn’t disturbing guests.
“The building is three wings, and I can shut off entire wings one at a time without interfering with the guests elsewhere in the hotel,” he explained. “And what’s left isn’t jackhammering bathrooms and hardscape. Really, it’s laying carpet, and redoing all the soft goods in the room, so it’s not invasive from a sound perspective to guests.”
The open-air lobby has been transformed.
Credit: 2022 Turtle Bay Resort
There certainly wasn’t any evidence of ongoing work at the property during my visit earlier this spring. And while the guestroom enhancements and improvements to the pool areas and restaurants were definitely impressive, the new arrival experience and dramatically overhauled open-air lobby have beautifully transformed the hotel.
Dani Johnson, a Garden Grove, Calif.-based advisor at Coastline Travel, visited Turtle Bay last month, and said she “absolutely loved” the property’s new lobby experience.
“You feel like they brought the outside in, because you have these open-air views looking out at the ocean, no matter which way you look,” she said.
Upgraded Guestrooms and Bungalows
Johnson has sold Turtle Bay to clients for years, but she noted that she really only booked folks in the property’s 42 high-end ocean bungalow products in the past. She said the recent overhaul in the main building’s guestrooms was so impressive, however, that she now feels comfortable booking clients there, as well.
“I’m very particular about what accommodations I’m selling,” she said. “But the new rooms look fantastic.”
Marusi noted, meanwhile, that upgrades in the 750-square-foot standalone luxury bungalows are entirely finished, and a brand-new pool was added for guests in that category.
The resort offers 42 high-end bungalows.
Credit: 2022 Turtle Bay Resort“It’s literally paces to toes in the sand,” Marusi said of the bungalows, noting they’re separate from the main building but just a two-minute walk from the lobby. “It’s a neighborhood that’s a bit quieter … and a hotel-within-a-hotel product that’s hard to duplicate anywhere on the islands.”
Longtime Turtle Bay sellers should expect room rate increases resulting from the extensive resort upgrades, according to Marusi, who said the improvements were made in an effort to attract more luxury-minded travelers.
“We’re not looking to gouge people,” he said, describing the renovated Turtle Bay as a bohemian chic and barefoot luxury resort. “We’re looking to charge a fair room rate for the product … because it is a different experience, and one we’ve now elevated substantially.”
The Details
Turtle Bay Resort
