This is not your parents' Honolulu anymore. The island of Oahu, which has attracted people to Hawaii since statehood in 1959, is in the process of reinventing itself and updating the islands' accommodations, restaurants, activities, attractions and nightlife. If you haven't been to Honolulu, Waikiki or Oahu in a few years, you'll be pleasantly surprised at the "new" Oahu. Below are a few additions to the recently released 8th edition of Frommer's Honolulu, Waikiki and Oahu.
Spas
In the old days, a resort had to have a golf course (or at least access to one) to be considered a "first class resort." Now a first class resort must have a full service spa. The latest spa to open in Waikiki, in November 2003, is Spa Olakino, in the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort, 2552 Kalakaua Ave. (tel. 808/922-6611; www.marriottwaikiki.com). Conceived and managed by Paul Brown, a well known hair stylist with numerous salons on Oahu and one salon on the Big Island, this boutique spa offers a unique experience in a state that has some of the best spas in the world. As you enter the second floor spa, you'll feel as though you've stepped into a rain forest -- you're greeted by a profusion of plants and lava rock, and the sounds of birds singing and wind blowing through trees. Then, as you turn the corner -- surprise! The windows look directly out onto Waikiki Beach (well, actually Kuhio Beach, at the far end of Waikiki). You can sit on comfy cushioned chairs and stare at the rolling surf of Waikiki before or after your treatment. The spa "menu" of treatments is one of the most enchanting we have seen. We recommend the Na La'au treatment, which starts with a Hawaiian lomi lomi massage (using derivatives of traditional native Hawaiian plants like the kukui nut), then goes on to a noni plant and ti leaf body wrap, and concludes with your very own, private steam room and shower. Brown, who in addition to his salons has a full line of hair care and beauty products, modestly says: "I wanted to do something different. I wanted our clients to have the experience and feeling of being in an ancient forest." This is a must-do for spa-aficionados.
On the other side of the island, Spa Luana, a 7,000-square-foot beach-level spa, recently opened at the Turtle Bay Resort, 57-091 Kamehameha Hwy., Kahuku, (tel. 800/203-3650 or 808/293-8811; www.turtlebayresort.com). The resort has a special wing that offers rooms with spa products as amenities, an exclusive elevator that goes directly to the spa, and specialty soaking tubs. The list of treatments that Spa Luana offers includes a variety of massages, body scrubs, wraps and polishes, and skin treatments (including facials). Lots of spa packages are available. Spa Luana also offers a salon and a fitness center with yoga, Pilates and other fitness classes.
Where to Stay
After more than $60 million in renovations, the former Hawaiian Regent has re-opened as Waikiki's newest resort, the Waikiki Beach Marriott, 2552 Kalakaua Ave., (tel. 808/922-6611; www.marriottwaikiki.com). The 1,310 guest rooms, which occupy two towers, have been upgraded, remodeled and newly furnished, and now boast an island-style decor in the bedrooms and marble flooring and granite countertops in the bathrooms. The resort has two swimming pools, a fitness room, more than a dozen stores, two coffee shops, and two restaurants, with a third (Italian cuisine) currently under construction. Plus, you'll find nightly entertainment, daily activities, and one of the best spas in Waikiki, Spa Olakino (see review above). The resort is located just across the street from Waikiki Beach, a couple of blocks from Kapiolani Park. Rack rates start at $149; Internet specials are even lower.
Where to Dine
Where to eat? So many choices, so little time. A new website, www.anytimegrinds.com, is an interactive online restaurant guide for Oahu. The site lets you view basic restaurant information (name, address, phone, open hours and day, and type of cuisine). You can sort the restaurants on the site by name, type of cuisine, location and price range. It's not Zagat's -- there are no restaurant reviews, but it can give you an idea of various restaurants in an area. The site also has daily information on live entertainment.
Worth the drive from Waikiki (45-60 minutes) is the newly opened signature restaurant at Turtle Bay Resort, 21 Degrees North, 57-091 Kamehameha Hwy., Kahuku, (tel. 800/203-3650 or 808/293-8811; www.turtlebayresort.com). The restaurant's floor-to-ceiling windows overlook the North Shore's famous rolling surf. Under the impressive guidance of chef Andrew Anion-Copley, not only is the restaurant visually inspiring, but the Pacific-Rim cuisine is outstanding. The dishes emerging from the kitchen take Hawaiian dining to a new level. The chef has taken contemporary island cuisine and made it fresh and interesting. The ever-changing menu has such unusual combinations as pineapple-and-guava-glazed baby back ribs with sweet and sour cabbage, and Thai-chili-braised island fish in cucumber gazpacho with grilled baby bok choy and mango salsa. Save room for dessert; the signature dish, "the 21 phyllo," is a dreamy ganache brownie wrapped in phyllo and topped with toasted macadamia nuts and raspberry sauce. Open Tuesday through Saturday, entrees are in the $29 to $35 range, but we highly recommend the four-course tasting menu, which is $75 without wine and $95 with wine pairings.
On the other side of the island, Longhi's, Ala Moana Shopping Center, 1450 Ala Moana Blvd., (tel. 808/947-9899), has recently opened. Carol Longhi, who is not only a Culinary Institute of America grad, but also learned to cook from her father, Bob Longhi (chef and owner of the two very popular Longhi's on Maui), has opened this swank, open-air, Italian-Mediterranean restaurant that boasts romantic sunset views of the ocean. The breakfast-lunch-and-dinner eatery features the family's famous cooking (lobster Longhi over linguine, prawns Amaretto, and puttana, a spicy calamari pasta dish with 35 whole garlic cloves), without the sometimes annoying verbal menu of the original Lahaina restaurant (servers used to stand at your table and rattle off the zillions of items being served that night). Entrees at breakfasts hover in the $7 to $13 range, lunch entrees are $9 to $14. and dinner entrees come in at $12 to $50.
Just around the corner from Longhi's and the Ala Moana Shopping Center is another new "Mediterranean" (the up-and-coming catch-all description of cuisine that varies from Italian to Pacific Rim with French/Italian/Spanish touches) restaurant: Marbella, 1680 Kapiolani Blvd., (tel. 808/943-4353). Located where the old Taipan on the Boulevard Restaurant used to be, this elegantly casual eatery has a range of exotic appetizers, terrific seafood specialties, and unusual desserts. Open for lunch Monday through Friday and daily for dinner, entrees range in price from $15 to $30, and we recommend splurging a little and adding an appetizer to your meal (try the goat cheese tart, grilled salmon fingers wrapped in grape leaves, or spicy shrimp pil pil). Save room for dessert, perhaps the chocolate cake with cinnamon ice cream, or the galette of apples with rose-petal sorbet, or both.
Out in Waianae, the Aloha Aina Café, 85-773 Farrington Hwy., (tel. 808/697-8808), offers a fresh taste of Hawaii, serving organic greens, bananas, and a dozen other types of produce grown at the Café's five acre farm. Open 7am to 3pm every day but Saturday, the unbelievably cheap menu (everything is under $5) ranges from French toast for breakfast to turkey chili for lunch. Caffeine aficionados will be happy to note that this is the only restaurant between Waianae and Kapolei to serve espresso drinks.
Exploring
For nearly three decades, 1,875-acre Waimea Falls Park hosted visitors who came to enjoy some 6,000 species of plants and trees) and the park's activity center (which offered everything from cliff diving and hula performances to kayaking and ATV tours). In 2003, the City and County of Honolulu awarded the lease to the valley to the National Audubon Society. The Audubon Society has renamed the park Waimea Valley Audubon Center, 59-864 Kamehameha Hwy., Haleiwa, (tel. 808/638-9199; www.audubon.org), and is focusing on protecting and interpreting the valley's cultural, botanical, and ecological resources. Activities (kayaking, hula, cliff diving, ATV tours, etc.) have been eliminated; instead, the emphasis is on education and preservation. The public is invited to hike the trails and wander his quiet oasis. Admission price have been lowered to $8 adults, $5 children (4-12 years) and $5 seniors (and parking now is free).
Now there's really no excuse not to learn to surf in Hawaii: Hans Hedemann, a champion surfer with 34 years of competition under his hang-ten toes, has opened the Hans Hedemann Surf School, at the Turtle Bay Resort, (tel. 808/924-7778; www.hhsurf.com). His classes range from one-on-one private sessions to group lessons (four students to one teacher) and begin at $50 a hour. If you aren't staying at the Turtle Bay Resort, check out Hedemann's "Surf Da North Shore" excursion: the school will pick you up at your Waikiki hotel; bus you to the North Shore; provide a two-hour surfing lesson (with gear); serve lunch; let you choose an afternoon of snorkeling, kayaking, hiking, or a touring the North Shore's beaches by van; and then take you back to your hotel. The whole package is $150 ($100 for children 6 to 12 years).
You can experience a bit of Hawaiian history in Waikiki at the newly opened King's Guard Museum, King's Village, 131 Kaiulani Ave., (tel. 808/944-6855; www.kings-village.com). King Kalaukaua, the "Merrie Monarch," established the Royal Household Guards in the late 1880s, when he finished the Iolani Palace. The elite corps of 50 men protected the king and queen at the Palace grounds. The Guards served until Jan. 16, 1893, when the United States government overthrew Queen Liliuokalani. The Guard would have faded into history if the King's Village Shopping Center in Waikiki hadn't added a rifle drill team when it opened in 1972. The King's Guard Drill Team, still the reigning world champion among exhibition rifle drill teams, performs every night of the year at 6:15pm as the Hawaiian flag is lowered. The King's Village has added another bit of history by opening the King's Guard Museum, which is open from 5:30 to 10pm daily; admission is free. Among the exhibits are memorabilia (photos, uniforms, rifles, swords, flags, etc.) documenting the history and accomplishments of the Royal Household Guards.
Oahu isn't just high-rises in Waikiki or urban sprawl in Honolulu; the island also offers extinct craters, hidden waterfalls, lush rainforests, forgotten coastlines, and rainbow-filled valleys. To experience the other side of Oahu, contact Oahu Nature Tours, (tel. 808/924-2473; www.oahunaturetours.com). They have seven different ecotours, starting at $20 per person. They provide everything: experts in geology, history, Hawaiian mythology and archaeology; roundtrip transportation; entrance fees; bottled water; snacks; and use of day packs, binoculars, flash lights and rain gear.
If you'd rather go touring on your own, TourTalk-Oahu (tel. 877-585-7499; www.tourtalkhawaii.com), offers a complete package of 2.5-hour narrated compact disks (or cassettes), driving instructions, and a 72-page booklet containing color maps, photos, site information and Hawaiian facts for $25. The self-guided driving tour not only directs you around the island to see the most popular sites, but also gives you cultural and historical information.
Nightlife
Although the "scene" changes all the time, here are the latest updates on Waikiki's sizzling nightlife: Singer Kaori Kiana can be caught at the Royal Garden, 4400 Olohana St., (tel. 808/943-0202), every Wednesday from 7 to 9pm. Kiana belts out tunes that will keep you humming into the wee morning hours. Around the corner is the spare Maze Nightclub, 2255 Kuhio (upstairs), (tel. 808/921-5800). Although plentiful in urban cities on the Mainland, stripped down, contemporary clubs are rare in Waikiki. The Maze has three rooms, each with different music and a different feel: there's trance music in the industrial surroundings of the Maze Arena, hip hop in the Red Room, and live performances (sometimes with a DJ playing disco or funk) in the Paradox Lounge. Down the street, at Scruples Beach Club, 2310 Kuhio, (tel. 808/923-9530), the DJs play an eclectic variety of music (from hip hot to trance to whatever) that works. For those who like their music live and loud, and their beer cold, the Irish Rose Saloon, 227 Lewers St., (tel. 808/924-7711), a "hard drinking saloon," features the Piranha Brothers belting out rock and roll songs at full volume on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights.