I try to spend a weekend in Waikiki at least once a year to keep up with what's new in Hawai'i's leading tourist destination.

The answer is usually not much, and I've expressed concerns in the past about Waikiki's failure to offer enough new features from year to year to lure back repeat visitors; competing destinations such as Las Vegas are continually reinventing themselves.

I know a big part of the problem in Waikiki is that many resorts lease and don't own the land under them, which can make long-term investment risky. But an unfortunate result can be a stale experience for returning visitors.

I was interested to find that it was a different story this year, with all kinds of new construction since we did our Waikiki weekend a year ago.

Waikiki clearly has a new center in the Lewers and Beach Walk area, with much of the action moving there — especially at night — from the former nexus of Waikiki near Kuhio Beach and the International Marketplace.

Outrigger spent $535 million on the Beach Walk project, which includes a new Embassy Suites hotel, time shares and some three dozen new shops and restaurants on Lewers Street.

Along with the nearby Trump Tower now under construction and the nearly completed renovation of Kamehameha Schools' Royal Hawaiian Shopping Center, it marks the biggest new investment in Waikiki in decades.

The adjacent Sheraton properties are also scheduled for $750 million in renovations — including a facelift at the Royal Hawaiian Hotel that will close theWaikiki landmark for seven months.

A key question still to be answered is what impact the changes will have on the character of Waikiki, with some residents and visitors concerned about a homogenizing effect that diminishes the resort area as a Hawaiian place.

You used to hear live Hawaiian music coming out of most establishments as you strolled through Waikiki, but today you're more likely to hear dance music, cheering from sports bars and the unusual sounds coming out of places like Senor Frog's.

This could change as Outrigger moves to establish major venues for Hawaiian performers at Beach Walk. I missed a Ledward Kaapana concert by a week.

The shops at Beach Walk seem to be the same kind of upscale boutiques that have come to dominate Kalakaua Avenue in recent years.

A new Roy's at Embassy Suites brings a top Hawai'i dining experience to Waikiki, but most of the restaurants opened or planned in the area are the same kind of themed chain establishments you'd find in urban redevelopments anywhere in the country — Cheesecake Factory, Ruth's Chris Steak House, Yard House, Hard Rock Café, Starbucks.

However, it does mean a wide variety of dining choices previously absent in Waikiki that, along with thriving dance clubs, attract locals as well as visitors to the streets of Waikiki at night.

The bottom line for me is that I'm intrigued by the new look if not completely sold, and it was enough to change my thinking about a weeklong gathering of my family in Hawai'i this summer.

Although O'ahu would be the most convenient place, my siblings from Los Angeles and New York have all been to Waikiki, so I thought it would be better to take them to the Neighbor Islands for a fresh experience.

But after my night in the Beach Walk area, I decided that there's enough new in Waikiki to keep everybody interested for a week.

If other repeat visitors feel the same way, it could be very good news for business in Waikiki.

David Shapiro, a veteran Hawai'i journalist, can be reached by e-mail at dave@volcanicash.net. His columns are archived at www.volcanicash.net. Read his daily blog at blogs.honoluluadvertiser.com.