The legendary Pink Palace, an iconic presence on the sands of Waikiki, has long been a bit of a paradox. It oozes elegance and bygone luxury yet has clearly lacked TLC, staff training, and any decent food to speak of.

The new wing (meaning, built 20 years ago) is an awful appendage to the graceful Moorish lines of the older building. I've stayed there and it was lovely -- if you can ignore hideously ugly bathroom wallpaper and hopelessly outdated bathrooms. As a big fan of Waikiki's revival, I was stoked to read about the planned renovations at the Royal. This is part of a long-overdue $750 million renovations package for all four Starwood props in burgeoning Waikiki. Included in the deal will be a new superpool (with three separate enclosures and a wooden hanging bridge), Oahu's first, and a sure draw for families (like mine). The new Royal will again be visible from Kalakaua Avenue -- hiding it behind the truly hideous Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center was a terrible mistake committed during the uglification of Waikiki in the 1970s and 1980s (think Big Yellow Taxi). It sounds like the Royal's owners are going to spend a bit over $100 million on renovations on that property. The resort will close on June 1 2008 for six or seven months -- a good call as renovating older properties can be messy biz, particularly with guests underfoot. I can't wait to stay at the new and improved product and, hopefully, get some really good food there (no more buffets in the Monarch Room, please!). Mahalos.

—Alex, 10/01/07