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Permalink Reply by Sgt Schulz on February 26, 2009 at 1:14

This makes no sense, last I heard, Tiki Bars started in Hawaii, & Hawaii is part of the US, so it cant be the oldest in the US. Besides, Trader Vics is the more famous chain ( did not even know that the Fairmount had a Tiki Room in any of their hotels & thought it was a Hilton Phenomenon.. The Dallas Trader Vics in What was the Hilton & is now the Hotel Palomar has an interesting history and was frequented by Elvis, Frank Sinatra, & many other celebrities & was just restored, they are still fixing up the Giant Wood Moai , its very Easter Island like at the entrance The limited number of condos in the renovated hotel/ condo (Its also still a hotel as only 1 section is now condos) are going for 1 million dollars & up, and as a result the restoration money available for the hotel & Tiki room was HUGE, its amazing what you can do if you do not have to worry about cost. Personally I would like to see a new style of Tiki bar, a hybrid one like, Mr Ambassadors CCCP Tiki looks like great fun as long as they keep the Bear under control and add a few more drinks as Vodka & Ice is a bit of a limited selection .... :^)

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Permalink Reply by Captnkirk on February 26, 2009 at 3:55

Tiki bars did not start in Hawaii, Don the Beachcomber started the first one in California and later exported them into Hawaii.
Trader Vic had a joint called "Hinkey Dinks", after he saw Don's place, he remodeled it and opened it as "Trader Vics".

I believe the Tonga Room was called the oldest surviving Tiki Bar, not the first.

If the Fairmont Hotel wants to tear it down because it is not making money, they will do so. What are you going to do, force them operate it at a loss so you can have a Mai Tai and a Pupu Platter whenever your in San Francisco.

Remember the Kahiki in Columbus Ohio, it remains the only tiki bar ever designated as a US Historical Landmark.
A year or so after it received that designation, they tore it down and built a Wallgreens Drugstore in its location.
Very few people give a rats ass about history, or tiki for that matter.

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Permalink Reply by Offcamber on February 26, 2009 at 5:13

Good luck, regardless of whether its the oldest its been around a long time. Progress has a way of steamrolling things for better or worse. I applaud your efforts to save it....I hope it works out but remember money always has the finale say. If they aren't making money on it will go no matter how many letters they get.

Best of Luck

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Permalink Reply by johnny dollar on February 26, 2009 at 10:44

hear what you all are saying... just considering this board is about tiki bars, thought this might be of general interest :D

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Permalink Reply by Kapt Willy on February 26, 2009 at 12:59

The Tonga Room is an original dating from the 1940's when it used to be frequented by G.I.'s on their way to fight in the Pacific. Before it became tikified, it housed the U.S.S. Tonga placed in the center of the pool (I think where the stage is now). It still rains periodically as you sip your Mai Tai under a thatched roof. It will be sad if it closes down.

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Permalink Reply by Sgt Schulz on February 26, 2009 at 23:13

Its interesting, the oldest surviving Tiki bar in Hawaii on the net is at
http://www.critiki.com/cgi-bin/location.cgi?loc_id=74 and WIERDLY, they are newer than the Tonga room, they got a lot of their stuff from Trader Vics, Kon Tiki, & don the beachcomber, when they were going under. They seem to be trying to sell it for about 3 million, which is a lot if they can get it, but from what I keep seeing it really makes me wonder as there seems to be both a dying off and revival going on simultaneously. Hopefully the revival will win out , but in this economy, even the big 3 automakers may not make it & EVERYBODY is drinking heavily, but then again, that is good for the bar business....

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Permalink Reply by Doctor Tiki on February 27, 2009 at 0:18

Signed, done and done!
I would love to see the Tonga Room in the proper hands and no longer host a cheesy 80s cover band.

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Permalink Reply by BonzoGal on February 27, 2009 at 12:07

Doctor Tiki said:

Signed, done and done!
I would love to see the Tonga Room in the proper hands and no longer host a cheesy 80s cover band.

Amen to that. Last month I went there for a going-away party for a friend and it sucked. Billy Joel songs, and they wanted us to pay a $7 per person cover charge to stick around when the band started! FTS. If they had some slack-key guitar or even a DJ playing tiki music, I'd pay and stay.

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