LUCY PEMONI / STAR-BULLETIN Abid Butt, vice president and general manager of the Turtle Bay Resort & Spa, runs the North Shore's only full-service hotel.

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Unfilled Turtle Bay
a key to area’s fate

Because accommodations are limited on the North Shore, turning around Turtle Bay Resort & Spa, the area's only full-service hotel, is a lynchpin in the plan to market the region as a destination.

While business is booming for many who run the North Shore rental vacation homes, Turtle Bay has struggled to find its identity. The resort markets itself as "the Hawaii many have hoped for but few have discovered," -- a slogan supported by the hotel's historically low occupancy rates.

Years of neglect delayed the property's ability to position itself as a major player among Oahu's resorts, said Abid Butt, vice president and general manager of Turtle Bay.

Benchmark Management is one of several resort management companies to try and turn the resort around. The tourism drop after 9/11 affected the North Shore particularly hard and the resort fell into disrepair under a previous owner.

"Parts of the building were falling down, sliding glass doors were bolted shut and balconies were boarded up," Butt said. "At one point, the property was ready to be condemned."

A $60 million renovation, paid for by owner Oaktree Capital Management LLC, has given the property another chance.

Turtle Bay's repositioning has benefited the North Shore by boosting awareness of the region among the mid- to high-end markets and the group market, said Alfred Grace, vice president of sales and marketing at the Polynesian Cultural Center.

"Travel writers for magazines and newspapers have also taken a much greater interest in the North Shore now that the newly renovated Turtle Bay Resort is fully operational," Grace said. "For example, the North Shore received an excellent, multipage write-up in the Delta Air Lines in-flight magazine. I am sure this would not have happened without the developments at Turtle Bay Resort."

Yet, while Turtle Bay's substantial capital and marketing investments have propelled the region into the spotlight, the resort itself has remained quiet. While other Oahu hotels posted near-record numbers, last year Turtle Bay's occupancy still averaged around 45 percent, Butt said. Special events and the group market have propelled occupancy higher at times, but for the most part Turtle Bay's business outlook is unchanged.

"The hotel has only been profitable two out of its 30 years," Butt said. "It's on its ninth life and we have to turn it around -- not just for the hotel, but for the community as well."

A yearlong labor dispute between Turtle Bay Resort & Spa and its unionized hotel workers is being blamed by some in the community for the resort's underperformance. The union has promoted a boycott of the property until a new contract is reached.

"We've had several large groups that were planning on staying at the hotel call and tell us that they have canceled their reservations and that they won't stay at the hotel until the dispute has been settled," said Jason Ward, a spokesman for Unite Here Local 5, the hotel worker's union.

Members of the Koolauloa Neighborhood Board passed a motion at their last meeting to encourage both the resort's management team and its union employees to reach a labor agreement so that the region can move forward, said Creighton Matoon, past chairman of the Neighborhood Board.

"The dispute is hurting the community," Matoon said.

The North Shore is in great need of funds because the population base is low, Butt said.

A more prosperous tourism market could bring much needed revenue to North Shore schools, medical facilities, and infrastructure, Butt said. A thriving tourism market also could improve the quality of life for North Shore residents by creating more jobs closer to home.

It's very important that Turtle Bay succeed because it is the top employer on the North Shore, said Elaine Hornal, who left her job at Michel's at the Colony Surf to work at Turtle Bay, which is closer to her Waialua home.

"I used to have to drive three hours a day back and forth from work," said Hornal. "Now I have more time to enjoy my home."

Most of the resort's 300-plus employees work near their homes and many work alongside family members, she said.