I’ve been out at the sometimes controversial Turtle Bay Resort since Friday afternoon. It’s another half-hour or more past Kaaawa as you drive towards Haleiwa, just past the former plantation town of Kahuku. Meda has been taking part in an annual UH workshop that pulls together a small group of Manoa faculty and a group of downtown movers and shakers. I came along for the ride to see what this place is like, since we drive out in this direction only occasionally and I’ve been in the hotel perhaps twice that I can recall.

I can report that the hotel itself is quite nice, although there’s a major “BUT” coming later. It’s only six stories and arrayed around a point on the windy coast, with sandy beaches stretching out in either direction. The recent renovations have it looking better than new, in most cases. With the exception of a reception area in front that is way too small and backs up whenever just a few cars arrive at the same time, the lobby is beautifully done with sweeping views of the ocean. The first thing that strikes you on the way to the rooms is the wide hallways. You just don’t find many hotels these days with these big halls. And if the room we have in representative, then people staying here will be happy campers. Well, until they get a look at the hefty bill that a stay in this hotel racks up. I’m just paying for meals, and Meda’s tab is courtesy of UH, so we won’t really have a sense of the damage. Rooms appear to have been recently renovated. Ours has a separate little dressing area with large closet, a mini refrigerator and built-in safe. No charge for their use. There’s a television with HBO and free wifi in the room. A small lanai, just barely big enough for two chairs, although I was surprised at how windy it gets in the afternoons, making the lanai less than appealing. The beds are comfortable, rooms quiet, except when the wind can be heard howling outside and the occasional rain squalls hit.

One other thing you notice right away is the guard post restricting entry to the hotel grounds, and unobtrusive but frequent patrols by hotel staff in golf carts through the extensive ground. I would guess that means there are some security problems, although I haven’t seen the visitor warnings that are common in most mainland hotels these days.

Food has been a disappointment, especially Saturday night’s buffet at the hotel’s Ola Restaurant. I’m sure a pretty penny was paid to take our UH group for dinner, and I was looking forward to the fare. What a disappointment. Perhaps only the most minimal meal was ordered to keep the price down, but we had a far better spread the night before in the hotel’s regular restaurant. Last night there was a salad of mixed greens. That was it on the vegetable front. Then a choice of rice or mashed potato. And then chicken or fish prepared in a similar banquet-style miscellaneous sauce. No accompanying vegetables. No appetizers. Not even a tomato in the salad, at least not in the serving I had. Minimal at best and, in terms of quality, nothing out of the ordinary, although the open air setting right on the beach does add the experience, no doubt.

We didn’t venture into the wine list, as prices were really out of our league. So I can’t comment on that.

The hotel’s standard restaurant, the Palm Terrace, actually had a better buffet. Again, however, my review is tempered by the price. On our own tab, I know we wouldn’t have paid over $20 per person for breakfast even if it meant driving back to Laie to eat. But, for hotel fare, the buffet food wasn’t bad if you’re into such things.

We took a couple of long walks on the beach (check photos here). The sand in the immediate area of the hotel doesn’t feel natural. It’s got that bite of manufactured sand with lots of large coral bits and coarse grains. As you get away from the hotel, the sand starts to feel more normal. This morning we walked down the beach and rounded the corner at Kawela Bay. It was magnificent as the sun rose and the light filtered over the mountains and across the rolling surf.

For a hotel experience, I would have to give this one a good rating even with the problems I’ve noted above.

And here’s where that big “BUT” comes in.

The other obvious impression is that this is already a huge visitor industrial complex dropped into the middle of the country. It’s a 24-hour, high-intensity tourism factory that already has a substantial impact on the surrounding area, but is able to charm by providing easy access to one of the last relatively undeveloped parts of Oahu.

But the owners of this hotel are now intent on destroying the very isolation the hotel depends on, with a vast expansion on the drawing boards. I’ve lost count. I think there are five new hotels proposed and thousands of luxury homes and condominiums. Getting thousands of additional guests and visitors, along with all the service vehicles, to and from these new hotels will dramatically change the area and, of course, these multiple hotels spread out along the coast will transform this from undeveloped into fake undeveloped, remade in the resorts’ image to look natural to visitors while being controlled by the owners.

Right now, this has been a nice place to visit.

It’s also a part of the island that needs to defended from the proposed exploitation. Being out here for a couple of days is a good reminder of how much can still be saved.