The Ritz-Carlton O‘ahu, Turtle Bay

Review just after Ritz acquired property The overall setting of the resort is beautiful. The property is updated and beautifully decorated but not pretentious. The rooms are clean and well kept. The pools are rather small and lots of kids, so it's loud. I wouldn't describe the pool as serene or necessarily chill, so that's something to consider if you are looking for a more impressive pool to lounge at, especially if it's an adult trip sand the kids. The ocean is beautiful but there isn't very much of a beach area. Again, not really a respiteful area in which to chill. We found this aspect disappointing. Unless you venture off to the nearby beaches off the resort. But there you do not have any resort amenities available. The Ritz front desk is not organized for check in, be prepared for a long wait. They are also inflexible on check out time. The food and drinks are pricy, especially fpr what you get in terms of quality of food and bevvies menu is limited. Considering we booked at prices before the Ritz acquired the property, I think it was a good choice. I would not pay current prices however for this resort. If so, I would have been disappointed with our selection.

Laid Back North Shore Fun This resort was like a breath of fresh air. There was no race from your room at 7 AM to make sure you got a lounge chair by the pool or the beach. Each day, we started with breakfast, either at the buffet or the coffee shop around 8 or 9, went back to our room to get ready, and then headed out to the beach where an attendant set us up (4 of us) at an umbrella. As long as you were there by 11 or so, you would get a spot. And other spots would open up throughout the day. The pool did seem to get very crowded by mid-afternoon. The two things that really stood out at this resort for us were the horseback riding at the stables and the surf lessons. Both were a lot of fun. We rode the horses along the beach with a total of 10 people and 2 guides - it was very relaxing and enjoyable. I had never been on a horse before and the guides were very knowledgeable and friendly. We also had an outstanding instructor, Ben, at the surfing experience. He gave us great instruction and by the end, everyone in our group caught waves, stood up and surfed. Awesome surfing on the North Shore. I have seen mixed reviews about the restaurants, but we enjoyed each of the ones we went to - The Beach House, Lei leis (twice) and Off The Lip (hotel bar). The food was great at each - yes, they are expensive, but its Hawaii. One night we drove down to Haleiwa for dinner - there are quite a few good looking restaurants there, about a half hour drive. We were worried about food options on the North Shore, but that was unfounded as there are also food trucks about a 10 minutes drive that have shrimp trucks, taco trucks, burgers, pizza, etc. Theres even a beer garden that invites you to bring your take out and have a beer. We grabbed shaved ice while there. We drove down to Waikiki to do the Diamond Head trail one day - which was phenomenal. It was a little over an hour to get there in the morning, about an hour and half on the way back in late afternoon traffic. It was enough to do the hike, shop in downtown Waikiki and have lunch. Just know it is going to be a full day event to do that. We highly recommend Turtle Bay - I would stay there again in a heartbeat. If you want to be away from the hustle and bustle of downtown Honolulu and enjoy the peacefulness of the North Shore, this is the place.

Don’t waste your money My husband and I have saved a trip to Hawaii for our eventual babymoon for years. After hours of research on which island and resort to visit we landed on Turtle Bay. The reviews seem stellar and the location perfect and after the Ritz Carlton purchased the resort we were even more excited as it’s been on our list to visit a Ritz Carlton property. Needless to say, my expectations were high but I think at $800/night for a standard room attached to the Ritz name, those high expectations were justified. First, there are very simple things I’d expect from a luxury resort like plush towels (the room towels were rough and small, some barely wrapped around all the way), robes in the room (there were none) and a well stocked and clean fitness center (they had few free weights and the place needed a throughout cleaning, the yoga mats in particular were disgusting). These are the easiest things that set a luxury resort apart from the rest and Turtle Bay fell short. Second, the service is terrible. We had several instances that stood out as particularly poor service. For one example, one afternoon I was down at the adult pool by myself and for an hour and a half never once was approached by the waiter. He was busy checking in with the guests drinking alcohol. I asked for a menu and after handing me one he disappeared for 20 mins. When he came back he did his rounds with the other pools guests and breezed right past me before I could stop him. I ended up leaving the pool to go to the bar and order food because I didn’t want to have to wait any longer. Most interactions with the servers were similar and I’d assume we got unlucky but I heard several other guests complaining about the poor service. Finally the restaurants and amenities are nothing to write home about. There is an adults only infinity pool, but it’s right above the main pool and the entrance to one of the water slides is right next to the adult pool. If you sit on the edge of the infinity pool you will get splashed from the pool below and you hear the kids screaming down the pool the entire time you’re there. There were also several days where kids would run up and jump into the adults pool with no one there telling them to get out for awhile. Several times I saw random kids playing around in the pool and splashing the other guests. The resort beach is pretty rocky when you get out in the water and it’s full of people so it’s pretty chaotic. We didn’t find the beach or pool to be relaxing at all and went off property most days to find peace and quiet. The restaurants on property were unimpressive. We found most of the food to be pretty average and very expensive. They’re also extremely lacking in non-alcoholic drink options which was pretty disappointing. You need to plan out your meals otherwise you can get stuck without many options. You need to have a reservation to eat at the two dinner restaurants and don’t expect anyone to be helpful in acquiring one. There are some positives. The property itself is very pretty and in a good location. We loved opening our door and listening to the waves. They have nice pickleball and tennis courts that we enjoyed using. The valet parking is $40/day and super easy to use. The cafe open for breakfast and lunch has lots of great options and good coffee. At the end of the day I’m leaving Turtle Bay ready to go home and very disappointed that this is where we spent our Babymoon. The research I had done led me to choose Turtle Bay for a relaxing vacation that we expected to spend most of our time on property. After our first day we pivoted and spent the better part of our trip off property. I could have achieved the same level of vacation for much less somewhere else. We won’t be back and I am unlikely to be booking at another Ritz Carlton property anytime soon.

North Shore gem Turtle Bay Resort is a beautiful place, right on the water. You walk into the lobby and your breath is taken away by the spaciousness and view of water and beach on both sides. The staff is friendly and helpful. We stayed in the main hotel in an Ocean View Queen room on the east side. It was more like Ocean Front - we had a great view of Kulima Cove. We had 2 queen beds and a tiny balcony that could fit two chairs and a small table. The hotel has two pools - one for adults and one that includes kids and slides, which were a big hit with the kids. There are several restaurants on the grounds and a cafe that serves breakfast and lunch items. Note that there are no other places to eat within walking distance - I recommend stocking up on breakfast items and cold drinks (you do get a mini fridge) at the Foodland nearby. Kulima Cove is great for snorkeling - bring your own or you can rent for 2 or 4 hours or all day. Amenities include well furnished fitness center, shuffleboard and pool table in the lobby (which are often taken) and Wi-Fi (which can be spotty). Why only four stars? Well, I hate hotels charging resort fees and this one charges a whopping $52 per day. This is on top of a room rate that was almost $1,000 per day. Really?? You are going to nickel and dime guests paying that much? In addition, there was no free coffee in the lobby. If you want freshly made coffee not from your room coffee maker, it will set you back $6 per cup. For black coffee. That said, I would go back in an instant. The beauty of the place is amazing.

Love Turtle Bay This was our 2nd year staying at this hotel. First, I love Turtle Bay. It is truly a beautiful resort and breathtaking beaches nearby. We booked a double queen ocean view with Club Level. The Club Level is amazing. This year it was not as accommodating for our food allergies. So, if we ever return we would really have to consider just not doing Club Level. The resort sits sort of by itself so we mainly ate at the resort but ventured out a few times to the food trucks on the North Shore. The pools are amazing....they really keep on top of the lounge chairs. So, unlike other resorts that you can never find a lounge chair this is not the case. No stress about going to the pool anytime you want. There are amazing beaches a walk or bike ride away. If you have a rental car then there are other beaches nearby and waterfall. I know that the hotel was going through the transition to become a Ritz Carlton. You could tell the service was not exactly the same as previous year but when we complained about a few things they did make the situation right. Hopefully the Ritz will not be so overpriced that we can't return. This hotel is already on the pricier side but we felt like it was worth it. We had two teenage boys both trips and they loved it!