Post #123281 by bigbrotiki on Wed, Nov 3, 2004 11:57 AM

A traumatic experience for our Bosko, indeed!

But, has there been more damage done recently? Last time I was there (3 years ago?), this is what I saw:

As bad as the exterior, the sign, and the bar area by the old entrance had been obliterated (see Tiki News #13, "A classic Case Study of Tiki Devolution" by Sven-Tiki), a big part of the dining room had been left intact:

The Tiki poled bridges were still crossing a running stream that went along from the large entrance waterfall to the other one at the end of the room, and many other fixtures were still there, giving an impression of completeness.

But only if you didn't know what had been sacrificed: The room had been shrunk down by throwing out the cool booths with the indirectly lit Maori panel Tikis and weapons to create a seperate, totally boring covention table room next to it.

Many lamps were missing, so were one or two of the very important large Tikis. Important why? Because they hailed from the Luau in Beverly Hills!

The postcard interiors above are from a time BEFORE the Hanalei really blossomed by becoming a depository for the Luau's treasures. This happened in 1979, after Steve Crane sold the Luau's land to developers, and it's decor to the owner of the Atlas Hotel chain in San Diego. This man apparently was an incorridgeable Polynesiac and bought up everything, even the Luau entrance hut, which until a few years ago could be seen in the atrium of the hotel's highrise in the back (BOT p.205 small photo at bottom), together with Tikis from the Luau (see Tiki next to hut on Luau menu illustration p. 204, and compare to Tiki in large photo on page 205). He actually flew in a Kahuna from Hawaii to have the new additions blessed. All this off course went out the window when the place changed owners.

But can somebody confirm that the Hanalei dining room is still in the state described above, waterways and all?

And the status of the courtyard? The hut apparently fell apart, the Tiki railing and gazebo posts were painted in colors (shudder!), but does the yellow Uli figure (which can be seen in the Luau interior shot, BOT p.102) still sit on top of the waterfall? In the photo, it is hidden behind foliage in the upper right corner. It was one of the artifacts I identified as hailing from the Luau.