Q. What do you like about your new post?

A. I love working with the Hawaiian culture. I was unfamiliar with it before. I had a Mainland attitude. I didn't really understand the spirit of aloha. I didn't really understand 'ohana and now I do. 'Ohana is a word I often use here at Turtle Bay because it truly is a family of people, who have accepted me. ... And who've accepted me so graciously and help us deliver the kind of aloha spirit that's necessary in this business. I was in New England for 15 years prior to coming here. I keep the Whitefield, N.H., weather on my desktop every day so I can look at that. As I said, it's minus 13 degrees there today. I'm very thankful to not be at minus 13 degrees. I wore a suit every day, seven days a week, for 35 years. I'm now in a Tommy Bahama silk shirt; it feels better.

Q. What challenges are there for a resort located away from others?

A. We're out here by ourselves so there are some marketing challenges as you can imagine. If we had two or three other hotels out here, there'd be two or three other marketing departments selling the North Shore. So, we're a bit of the Lone Ranger out here, but that is also the benefit of being out here, too. Our guests tell us that what they like about Turtle Bay Resort is that it's this isolated North Shore experience. A lot of our guests spend a couple of days in Waikiki and then come out here for a week so they can get the feeling of the Waikiki and Honolulu experience, but at the same time get what we call a true Hawai'i experience. Our challenge is simply to get people here for the first time. Once we get them here for the first time, we've got a loyal guest that comes back over and over and over again."

Q. Who do you see as your chief competition?

A. Our chief competition is probably the outer island four-diamond resorts. And here on O'ahu, clearly Ko Olina because they have a similar kind of experience. And the majors downtown: Halekulani, Hilton, Hyatt and Sheraton Marriott.

Q. You've worked here and in other markets. What — if anything — do you see as unique to this market?

A. The unique thing is the employees — and it's that Hawaiian, that aloha spirit, that you frankly don't find in Tucson, Ariz., and you don't find in midtown Manhattan and you don't find in Telluride, Colo. And it's that Hawaiian spirit that so nicely mirrors the needs of our guests, the relaxation, the opportunity to really recreate.

Q. The hotel had experienced a long labor conflict in recent years. How is that reflected in the work you do now?

A. As I'm told it was the longest labor conflict in the history of Hawai'i. It went on for about 3 1/2 years. I got here in May of 2005, and we settled it shortly after I took over in August of 2006. It was an unfortunate dispute. Looking back on it, I wish we'd made an effort to settle it earlier. Looking back on it, the problem was not between myself or the management team and the employees here as much as it was between our ownership company and the union itself. It was between partially my team and some folks downtown.When we did settle it, it was quite a celebration. Both sides were very, very happy. We're glad it's over with. We think it's a fair settlement, the union thinks it's a fair settlement. You always hear that a real good settlement means that both sides are unhappy. In this case, both sides were happy, so I think that's an even better settlement.

Q. In your job, you manage people from a wide variety of backgrounds, interests and skills. Any particular challenge in that?

A. If you only have one management style, you are not going to be very successful for very long. I think you need a style for virtually every kind of employee that you manage. There are some employees that if you pat them on the back that you will get 110 percent from them. There are others that you have to kick them in the back to get 110 percent. Over time you develop those styles so you can read a person and supply them with what they need in order for them to succeed. You can't manage everyone the same way. That's especially true in hospitality.

Q. While the area has been slated for more resort development for decades, there is now some community controversy about plans going forward 20 years later and worries that such a large development will destroy the somewhat rural character of the North Shore. How do you respond?

A. My role as the vice president and general manager of the Turtle Bay Resort is to run this particular building. We are owned by Kuilima Resort and they are the developers. So, I'm not involved in the day-to-day basis of the development picture at all. As a businessman, I would prefer to have some company out here. I hear a lot of talk that we're going to turn the North Shore into another Waikiki. We have 880 acres here on the North Shore. Waikiki is 624 acres. Waikiki has 42,000 rooms. We're projecting maybe 3,500 rooms. If people can get their minds around that concept that even at total buildout, which will take years, the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore is going to be a very quiet and unassuming resort even at 3,500 rooms. You have to read the agreement. There are setbacks that make it safe.There are height restrictions. I hear people say you're going to throw up a high-rise. The agreement calls for nothing to be higher than the current hotel, which is 90 feet. So, we're not going to build anything bigger than a good-sized coconut tree.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com.