honoluluadvertiser.com

Sponsored by:

Comment, blog & share photos

Log in | Become a member
The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Tuesday, July 29, 2008

MAKING THE GRADE
Turtle Bay ranked among magazine's top 25 Isle hotels

By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii news photo - The Honolulu Advertiser

Turtle Bay Resort makes its first appearance on Travel + Leisure's list of top 25 Hawai'i hotels, coming in at No. 22. A hotel official says the listing recognizes the resort's staff and recent $60 million renovation.

Turtle Bay Resort photo

spacer spacer

TRAVEL + LEISURE MAGAZINE'S TOP 25 HOTELS IN HAWAI'I

1. Four Seasons Resort Lana'i, The Lodge at Koele

2. Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea

3. Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Ka'upulehu, Kona, Hawai'i

4. Halekulani, Honolulu

5. Hotel Hana-Maui & Honua Spa

6. Fairmont Kea Lani, Wailea, Maui

7. Four Seasons Resort Lana'i at Manele Bay

8. Mauna Lani Bay Resort, Hawai'i

9. Grand Hyatt Kaua'i Resort & Spa

10. Fairmont Orchid, Hawai'i

11. Kahala Hotel & Resort, Honolulu

12. Royal Hawaiian, Honolulu

13. Ritz-Carlton, Kapalua, Maui

14. Princeville Resort, Kaua'i

15. Mauna Kea Beach Hotel, Hawai'i

16. Grand Wailea Resort Hotel & Spa, Maui

17. Moana Surfrider, a Westin Resort, Honolulu

18. Waikoloa Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, Hawai'i

19. JW Marriott Ihilani Resort & Spa, Oahu

20. Hyatt Regency Waikiki Resort & Spa, Honolulu

21. Kauai Marriott Resort & Beach Club

22. Turtle Bay Resort, O'ahu

23. Westin Maui Resort & Spa

24. Wailea Beach Marriott Resort & Spa, Maui

25. Sheraton Maui Resort

Source: Travel + Leisure Magazine

spacer spacer

Turtle Bay Resort, on the North Shore of O'ahu, made it into Travel + Leisure magazine's "Top 25 Hotels in Hawaii" for 2008 for the first time, hotel officials said.

And getting ranked on the list is a big thing for the resort, said Bob Boyle, Benchmark Hospitality's vice president and general manager at Turtle Bay Resort, because the most luxurious resorts in the state usually dominate the rankings.

For the past 13 years, Travel + Leisure magazine has presented the "World's Best Awards," asking about a million subscribers to select their favorite hotels, spas, airlines, cruise lines, outfitters, cities and islands around the globe.

The top five award winners are the more familiar names in these resort polls — the high-end properties, mostly on the Neighbor Islands: Four Seasons Resort Lana'i, The Lodge at Koele; Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea; Four Seasons Resort Hualalai, Ka'upulehu, Kona, Hawai'i; Halekulani, Honolulu; and Hotel Hana-Maui & Honua Spa, Hana.

Boyle said the award helps recognize management company Benchmark's $60 million renovation of the resort.

"It's really the staff being recognized,"Boyle said. He said it is especially meaningful because the poll was from a reader's view with an attempt to get one vote per subscriber and eliminate people who work at the properties.

And he said the selection means more than an editors poll in which a magazine's managers might pick properties based on the amount of advertising purchased.

Last year was good for business, Boyle said, with occupancy averaging around 80 percent and expected to dip to about 77 percent this year in response to fewer air seats, higher fares and skyrocketing fuel prices.

Benchmark Hospitality, which operates 30 hotels, resorts and personal luxury properties throughout the U.S. and in Japan and Panama, has managed Turtle Bay Resort since 2001 for resort owner Kuilima Resort Co., a subsidiary of Oaktree Capital.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.