I just blogged about the Royal Hawaiian yesterday but heck, hard to miss this news. The owners of the the four big Starwood properties in Waikiki -- the Royal Hawaiian, the Westin Moana Surfrider, the Princess Kaiulani and the Sheraton Waikiki -- unveiled some whopping renovation plans. The press releases and news articles say it will total $750 million. I'm unsure how much of that has already happened (the Sheraton Waikiki and the Moana have both had fairly extensive renovations already). I'd estimate, however, that there are at least $600 million in renovations left. The project will bring some much needed life to the rapidly reviving but still aged infrastructure of Waikiki. The pool will be the first of its kind on Oahu. Waikiki has had trouble competing for poolhounds because its hotels were mainly built in the era before superpools become commonplace -- ergo, the postage stamp size of most Waikiki pools, with the notable exceptions of the Halekulani and the Hilton Hawaiian Village.

Another part of the plan is to make the entrance to the Royal Hawaiian Hotel visible from Kalakaua Avenue. This is awesome. Many locals still talk about how, in the old days, before the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Sarcophagus Center decimated the view, you could take in the beautiful pink facade of the Royal and the Pacific beyond looking out over an ancient coconut grove and a favorite picnic ground that was decimated by Waikiki development. This goes a way towards restoring that gentler era and easing the visual clutter. All told, I love that Waikiki is finally trying to head upscale. Jamming more budget travels into the existing ugly buildings and onto the already crowded beaches is a non-starter and every hotelier knows that but it took three decades to get to this point. So kudos to Kyoya and Starwood for this undertaking. I am really looking forward to it. The only downside, I can think of, will be massive disruptions during the construction phase. But such is the price of progress and a killer view that's long overdue.

UPDATE: Just spoke to Sheraton PR. The plans are still preliminary, pending permits, etc. So this is not a done deal. But heck, it sure looks good!

—Alex, 07/24/07