Turtle Bay

What People are saying

Awesome north shore resort!

Evelyn Oon 27/08/2017 03:29

Just got back from Turtle Bay Resort which we stayed at for 5 nights, I can't wait to go back! This was our first time in Oahu and my family and I loved every minute of staying here. The property is stunning and well maintained. Here's the scoop:

Stay in the Vista Level, they serve a continental b'fast for those staying on this floor, and it's pretty good as far as continental breakfasts go. From 2-5 they offer some Hors d'oeuvres and snacks and you get to have a personal concierge on this floor during these hours (b'fast & snack time). We took advantage of the concierge service and I have to say Kelsey was fabulous! She booked our dinner reservations for us, our bike rentals, our surf lessons and anything else we wanted. Kelsey does it with a warm smile and works quickly and always followed up with us to make sure we were happy, any time she saw us she greeted us and asked if we needed anything. Kelsey was a real doll! Rooms are pretty big (I traveled with my husband and two kids ages 11 & 13) and the bathrooms are gigantic. We had a beautiful view of both the pool & the ocean.

Hans Hedemann Surf School was awesome! They are located next to the lobby and everyone there was so friendly and welcoming. My husband and kids did the surf lesson with Bobby and Hugo and they couldn't stop talking about how great they were. Mu kids have surfed in NY, Ireland & Costa Rica & said that Bobby and Hugo were the best instructors they've ever had. My husband also thought they were wonderful and had a blast! My kids want to go back to Turtle Bay again just to go surfing again. At the end of the lesson they gave us a choice of either a free hat or t-shirt, and we also received a cd of pictures that their photographer took of my family surfing, that was such a pleasant and unexpected surprise! We saw Bobby and Hugo working from 7:30 AM until our lesson was over at 5:30 PM, these are hard working guys, but they do their jobs with smiles on their faces and make sure everyone is safe and having fun. They were beyond patient with my kids, even bonded with my son over Sponge Bob, too funny. Overall, they made our stay at Turtle Bay a memorable one for sure.

They have two pools, one pretty big one next to the pool bar/grill called The Point, and a smaller kid pool with a slide. Two hot Tubs, one which is adults only which was nice because the other one was FULL of little kids. We did get up early and "reserved" our chairs under the few umbrellas they had, then we ran up, had breakfast and came back down right away. We aren't those people who put down a towel and are gone for half the day, that's a huge pet peeve of mine. But take note, there are only a few umbrellas (8 maybe) and they get taken right away, if you get there after 9 or 10 am, they're gone. My husband and daughter were playing with a small ball in the pool and were told they couldn't do that, so with that being said, it gets a little boring for kids. The slide isn't a big one so they weren't feeling it after a few times going down it, it's great for toddlers and small kids, not so much for Tweens.

Lydia was our waitress a few times at the Point. She was so sweet and funny. We had other waitress there during our stay but Lydia always greeted us with a smile and made sure we were always happy. I think she looks like Mila Kunis but with lighter hair. Try to sit in her section, you'll be treated wonderfully! I unfortunately didn't get the names of the two gentlemen who work at the towel stand by the pool, but they are the only two guys I saw during the week (the others were women) and they were also wonderful, hard working, always hustling making sure chairs, umbrellas and cabanas were perfect.

We ate at Lei Lei's which we thought was just alright, you did get a good meal for a reasonable price there. Kula Grille was slightly above mediocre, but the fact that kids ate for free was a plus. Our favorite place to dine was Roy's. The food and the atmosphere were superb! Service was a little slow, but the fact that the food was yummy made up for it.

My family and I would recommend this place and we cannot wait to return again someday soon! Thank you Turtle Bay for making our first vacation to Oahu such a great one!

Everything an Hawaiian Vacation should be

jenniferdT2085AJon 27/08/2017 01:33

Fantastic stay at Turtle Bay. Great range of activity options. Staff was very helpful and quick. Food options were great. Size of resort grounds is nice. Valet service was great -- friendly and speedy. Will definitely stay here again.

High expectations, disappointed in the end

tara aon 27/08/2017 00:00

We were so excited to get to the resort, we had seen wonderful pictures and for the most part, raving reviews. It was my family of 4 and my parents. We had a very, very long day of travel to get to the Resort. The front desk staff was rude and didn't seem to care about helping us at all. She shuffled us to the men outside parking cars and asked if one of them could take us to our room, we were at the Villas, and help us with bags and give us a run down of what we could do and expect. After several minutes of arguing back and forth about who was taking us, one guy finally did. We followed him to the Villas and instead of letting my mom and i both park there for a few minutes to unload bags, you are only allowed one car per villa in the lot, i had to move my car before unloading. Our room was 80 degrees and hot, air didn't work until next day. Beds were horrible, very uncomfortable at best. We never got the run down from the staff on what to do, where to eat, etc. we did find some local food trucks and a grocery store that saved the day for the most part. None of the staff was helpful, acted like they didn't care to be there at all. You would think, at that type of location, you would get better service. The views were beautiful and the beach was ok too. End impression was a lot of hype for what is was in the end.

Stunning But Mediocre

Chels82on 26/08/2017 00:43

Staying at Turtle Bay was a bucket list thing for me so I am glad I did it but it wasn't the standout experience I hoped it would be from my recent trip to Hawaii.

The room was gorgeous, I had a partial ocean view room and it was large and luxe and I wasn't disappointed with the "partial" ocean view, you could have called it ocean view and I would have believed you. Very clean and comfortable. Absolutely no disappointments there. The grounds are beautiful and well maintained and the North Shore really is something special (though the Big Island had already won and kept my heart midway through my stay in Hawaii).

The whole experience wasn't great though. I didn't have any amazing service at any stage while I was there from rooms or food & beverage staff and it was often hard to find someone to help you. I was underwhelmed with the dining options and overall I found the experience to be expensive (and I'm not talking about my room price I was happy to pay that) for what you got.

I get that it's a big property and they are quite busy but you really have to plan and pre-book every aspect of your stay from restaurant reservations through to activities etc and not all of them are solo traveler friendly. Like I said, there is a high volume of guests and day trippers so I guess they need this system but still. It really felt like they kind of rely on their fame and stunning spot and let everything else go?

Amazing

Shayne Son 25/08/2017 00:44

Stayed here for a week with my partner. Such an amazing chilled out relaxing experience. Went exploring on mountain bikes and discovered a few hidden beaches. Each afternoon we spent down at the poolside bar watching the sunset over the ocean with live music in the background. Beautiful fresh food from all the restaurants and room service. Personal concierge on the top level where we stayed with daily continental breakfast included. We will going back as soon as we can. Couldnt recommend this place more. Great place for couples.