But that's all changed. Big time.
In a matter of just a few years, Waikiki has undergone a sweeping overhaul. As of the middle of 2007, some $2 billion has been spent in this oceanfront community and it's estimated that another $1 billion is in the investment pipeline. The result is that Waikiki has been entirely made over.
When it comes to accommodations, for example, luxury-seeking visitors have choices that have never been available before. Shopping, too, has moved light years away from the ubiquitous little storefront shops hawking gaudy aloha shirts, seashell trinkets, T-shirts and postcards. One developer acquired a full block of such tacky properties along Kalakaua Avenue and at a cost of some $150 million replaced them with a smartly designed series of stores now occupied by the likes of Chanel, Gucci, Tiffany & Co. and Yves Saint Laurent. Elsewhere you'll find Hermes, Cartier, Dior, Prada and Louis Vuitton.
"This street is now becoming the Rodeo Drive of Hawaii," said one executive.
Without question, the most expansive and costly project ever to take place in Waikiki is what is now called Waikiki Beach Walk. Taken together, its multiple features cost some $535 million to bring about, but they now represent a market value of around $1.75 billion. That's according to Melvin Kaneshige, executive vice president for Outrigger Enterprises Group, who has been involved with the project since its inception. "This project was really the catalyst for all of Waikiki's redevelopment," he said.
Concurrent with all this effort and spending devoted to upgrading dramatically its hotels, Outrigger moved to provide visitors with a concentrated shopping, entertainment and dining complex. Taking advantage of space that opened up along Lewers Street that runs through the heart of the Waikiki Beach Walk project, Outrigger produced 93,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space with nearly 50 tenants.
Says Kaneshige, "We've created a place where people can come and know that they're in Hawaii - not Tahiti, not Fiji. Here they can see, touch, smell, taste and feel Hawaii and share what we feel is so great about Waikiki."
Immediately adjoining the Outrigger's Beach Walk "campus" is the Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center. Interestingly, both the center and the land where the famous Royal Hawaiian Hotel are situated are owned by the Kamehameha Schools. Unhappy with the outdated design of the existing Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center it owned, Kamehameha officials have totally renovated and greatly expanded it at a cost of some $84 million. When completed at the end of 2007, it will include a four-level structure situated on a 6,000-acre grassy site featuring scores of newly planted coconut trees, native flowers and ferns in six botanical gardens.
Free cultural shows featuring Hawaiian singers and dancers and lessons in such things as lei making, playing the ukulele and dancing the hula will also be presented in a new amphitheater just built in what's called the Royal Grove.
While it might sound prosaic, a major step to improve things involved removing one of the four traffic lanes on Kalakaua Avenue, the main thoroughfare that runs right above the beach itself for the full length of Waikiki. That move permitted the sidewalk to be widened, contributing to more casual strolling by visitors.
Then came a series of additions to better reflect Hawaiian culture and tradition. The WIA established a "hulu mount" where free performances of traditional - not the grass-skirt variety - hulus are performed twice daily. On Kulio Beach each evening, lithe young men perform the popular torch-lighting ceremony.
To remind native Hawaiians and visitors alike of the islands' rich cultural heritage, more than 30 historic markers in the shape of surfboards were produced and now line the oceanfront walk. Raised, too, were statues of figures prominent in Hawaii's colorful monarchy: Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, Olympic swimming champion and the father of international surfing, and Prince Jonah Kuhio Kalaniana'ole. Victorian-style street lamp fixtures adorned by baskets of fresh flowers lend another touch of gentility to the main thoroughfare.
The famed white-sand beaches of Waikiki have even been expanded, thanks to the 10,000 cubic yards of sand that was pumped back from the offshore waters. While you can rent a surfboard or snorkel gear, take a ride in a traditional outrigger canoe or engage in other water-related recreational activities, there are some things that are not permitted on Waikiki's beaches. Those so-called "thrill craft" - noisy jet skis, banana boats, parasailing and speed boats - are all strictly prohibited in Waikiki waters.
For all these efforts, Ed Fuller, president and managing director of international lodging for Marriott International, credits the local government.
"The city made a major commitment to bring Waikiki back as a great destination," he said.
Most will agree that it has achieved that goal.
