Hi G_Flane,
Ah I see, so you're using standalone hosts with local storage?. If you browse to your esxi host via web browser does it list anything in the top right hand corner to manage that host? I can't quite remember with ESX(i) 4.x - I think you can just browse datastores for that host.
If so your only way to administer the host is through vCenter. If it helps you can really lock down what your users can see/do.
Sorry buddy.