HELP! trip VERY soon-- where are the tiki bars??? kona big island or maui?? - Tiki Travel

B bigbrotiki Tiki Socialite Tiki Island, above the Silverlake Joined: Mar 25, 2002 Posts: 11621	B bigbrotiki Posted posted on Tue, Aug 23, 2005 10:18 PM Tiki bars in Hawaii? You gotta be kidding. If you read my foreword in Tiki Road Trip, in which I state something like '...the Book of Tiki is NOT a bar guide, where one can say "oh let's just go THERE..", the places in it are practically all extinct' Sadly,the same thing applies to Hawaii, with the exception of La Marianas, and the Hawaiian Hut, in Honululu. This said, the BOT inspired a few nouveaux Tiki places there, like the Tikis Bar & Grill in Waikiki, and now, the upcoming Don The Beachcomber in Kailua, Kona. Kona is my fave choice to stay in the Islands, preferably at Dug Miller's "Tiki Island" apartment rental, which is like living IN a Tiki Lounge. He tried to influence the renovation of the restaurant at the splendid ex-Hilton Hotel (now Royal Kona?, or so) into a Don The Beachcomber, with varied success. The interior is a great example of 70s modernist architecture (by Welton Becket, I think), and as a first step they added a lot of Tikis, which is good, but there will be more, it is scheduled to open officially as a Don The Beachcomber in November. It is open continuously as the Hotel restaurant, definitely worth checking out. And the open-to-the-ocean lounge often has a nice vibes player, reminding me of listening to Arthur Lyman at the New Otani. Other prime Kona Tiki sites are the rebuilt King Kamehameha Temple in the King Kamehameha Hotel lagoon, next to it's Luau grounds (if you feel like a dare, swim around the point into the harbor of the unused Bill Gates compound next door to the grounds), and my personal favorite, the City of Refuge Temple. Park at the Beach next to it and snorkel with the giant turtles, I must have counted twenty of them in the surrounding waters, and go on land at the temple, where they recently added some new Tikis around the grounds. But Tiki Bars in Hawaii? Nowadays it's already hard to find a decent vintage looking Aloha shirt there. Maui is too contempo tourist for me, Kona has more "Old Style" flair, and Hilo is cool too.

Tiki bars in Hawaii? You gotta be kidding.
If you read my foreword in Tiki Road Trip, in which I state something like

'...the Book of Tiki is NOT a bar guide, where one can say "oh let's just go THERE..", the places in it are practically all extinct'

Sadly,the same thing applies to Hawaii, with the exception of La Marianas, and the Hawaiian Hut, in Honululu.

This said, the BOT inspired a few nouveaux Tiki places there, like the Tikis Bar & Grill in Waikiki, and now, the upcoming Don The Beachcomber in Kailua, Kona.

Kona is my fave choice to stay in the Islands, preferably at Dug Miller's "Tiki Island" apartment rental, which is like living IN a Tiki Lounge. He tried to influence the renovation of the restaurant at the splendid ex-Hilton Hotel (now Royal Kona?, or so) into a Don The Beachcomber, with varied success.

The interior is a great example of 70s modernist architecture (by Welton Becket, I think), and as a first step they added a lot of Tikis, which is good, but there will be more, it is scheduled to open officially as a Don The Beachcomber in November. It is open continuously as the Hotel restaurant, definitely worth checking out.
And the open-to-the-ocean lounge often has a nice vibes player, reminding me of listening to Arthur Lyman at the New Otani.

Other prime Kona Tiki sites are the rebuilt King Kamehameha Temple in the King Kamehameha Hotel lagoon, next to it's Luau grounds (if you feel like a dare, swim around the point into the harbor of the unused Bill Gates compound next door to the grounds), and my personal favorite, the City of Refuge Temple. Park at the Beach next to it and snorkel with the giant turtles, I must have counted twenty of them in the surrounding waters, and go on land at the temple, where they recently added some new Tikis around the grounds.

But Tiki Bars in Hawaii? Nowadays it's already hard to find a decent vintage looking Aloha shirt there. Maui is too contempo tourist for me, Kona has more "Old Style" flair, and Hilo is cool too.

Post #181518 by bigbrotiki on Tue, Aug 23, 2005 10:18 PM