A Waikiki makeover

The "Pink Palace of the Pacific" isn't quite as pink as it used to be.

The landmark hotel on the beachfront at Honolulu's Waikiki has emerged from an $85 million makeover with a new palette of colors -- white, cream, magenta and greens have been added to the mix -- meant to give the 82-year-old landmark a more contemporary feel.

It went several brushstrokes too far.

There's no doubt the Royal Hawaiian needed a face-lift. It had become more than a bit frumpy and dropped from the very top tier of Waikiki hotels. When it closed in June, it was overdue for a smart renovation, the kind the owners, the Japanese firm Kyo-Ya, had pulled off earlier at the Sheraton Moana Surfrider. The Moana, Waikiki's oldest hotel, emerged refreshed and cleared of clutter, yet it was still the big Edwardian-era wedding cake of a hotel it had always been.

Next up, the Royal Hawaiian, an icon, the state's most famous hotel. Surely the owners would use a light hand when it came to the beloved faux-Moroccan palace that opened in 1927.

Sadly, no. The renovators were smart enough not to mess with the outside. From afar, the Royal Hawaiian remains the Pink Palace.

But inside, there was the shock of the new. The pastel pink of the past has been replaced in many places by a louder, almost raw salmon pink.

But beyond the check-in area was, gulp, more change. The central ceiling was painted that startlingly strong pink. Gone, too, was Helen & Suzanne at the Royal, the tiny bling and bauble store in the lobby run by Helen Sinclair since 1987. Every trip, I would buy a glittering pineapple pin or palm tree brooch for my wife and daughter. Helen was usually there, dressed from head to toe in pink, including a wide-brimmed hat fringed in faux fur. It's now going to become another outlet of the upscale Maui Divers jewelry store chain.

Vivid colors are out of place

The farther along I went, the more radical the departure from the past. The hallways were stripped of their floral wallpaper. My room in the historic wing was decorated in the new color scheme. What had once been pink, pink, pink was now a loudly clashing pastiche of vivid greens, too vibrant floral wallpaper and out-of-place contemporary furniture. The pink sheets were now white.

I could see that the designers wanted to give the old place a new face. There was a flat-screen TV and an iPod docking station. There are new restaurants, a new spa and a very cool new pool shared with the Sheraton Waikiki next door that has a waterslide for the kids. But the Royal Hawaiian is never going to make a splash with what is new. What the Royal Hawaiian and Moana have a corner on is the market for classic.

I left after one night, irritated by the changes in my old friend, but realized that most of the things I disliked were cosmetic. The Royal Hawaiian has gone through many changes in its long life. If it survived a world war, it can survive an overdone makeover. All the changes I didn't like could be solved with paint, wallpaper and furnishings. I'll just have to wait it out.