February
Hilton Turtle Bay Golf and Tennis Resort, Oahu, Hawaii
A magical location on the North Shore of Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands. The resort is about an hour's drive north of Honolulu and Waikiki, and about 45 minutes from Honolulu Airport. For a more enjoyable drive take the route along the east coast of Oahu. It takes a little longer but the spectacular scenery en route makes it worthwhile.
The Hilton Hotel building is, disappointingly, in a major run-down state with balconies and exterior walls extensively corroded and decayed. Internally the rooms and amentities are fine, well furnished, decorated and appointed. The hotel rooms are very spacious and offer a separate dressing room and vanity between the bedroom and bathroom. One of the best things about this hotel is that all of the rooms, without exception, have an excellent view of the ocean. About half the rooms have a balcony.
The hotel has a large pool, pool bar and kiosk and a nearby cliff top where guests can laze away whilst overlooking the Pacific Ocean.
On the other side of the hotel buildings there is a terrific beach, lagooned inside some man-made reefs, with white sandy shores. Great for the kids and adults too. For the more adventurous surfers, nearby, within a few miles, is Sunset Beach and Waimea Bay. At the time of our stay the annual Quicksilver in Memory of Eddie Aixau (lost at sea in 1978 during a rescue attempt of the voyaging canoe, Hokule'a) surfing tournament was being held. The event has only been held 4 times since 1986 as one of the rules is that conditions of 20 foot waves are required. In the 2001 tournament, waves were reaching as high as 25 feet and the resultant surfing was nothing short of spectacular.
Back to Turle Bay and the Hilton Resort where one of the main features is an 18 hole oceanfront international golf course, designed by Arnold Palmer.
There are extensive tennis courts on-site, an exercise room and conference and functions facilities.
Religious services, inter-demoninational and Sunday Mass, are held on the premises in the Hotel Pavilion.
One of the major negatives of this hotel, aside from it's deteriorated exterior, is that computer access from rooms is non-existant. The modem ports on the telephones don't work, neither does connecting computers direct to the telephone connection. Hotel staff advise the odd laptop in the odd room may work, but invariably the line drops out after a short while. It seems the hotel PABX is antiquated, as are the telephone lines.
Whilst the hotel has been poorly maintained, and the AAA rating is now down to 3 stars, this is reflected in the rates, most of which are under $200 (USD) a night and inclusive of breakfast for two. We were able to access a rate for 3 nights on International Hotel Search.com at $129. It appears the hotel offers lower rates for stays of 3 nights or more as the only rate we could access for 1 night was $189, although this rate included breakfast for two.
In summary, the hotel has an olde world charm, a magical location, helpful and caring staff, with the negatives being that the hotel has been poorly maintained, surprisingly so for a Hilton, and the internet access.
In fairness the point should be made that a module of 40 rooms was under renovation at the time of our stay and signs were up everywhere indicating a renovation programme was underway. The only concern we would have is that it may be somewhat piece-meal, however whilst the hotel is in the state it is then this will continue to be reflected in the rates.
The second point in respect to the internet access is that there is a Business Centre in the hotel where laptops can be connected, albeit at a rate of 99 cents a minute. If you elect to use the computer provided then the rate drops to 49 cents a minute.
In all, a hotel most people would enjoy for a relaxing, sporting, surfing or romantic getaway.
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February 2001 
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