Post #267029 by PremEx on Wed, Nov 15, 2006 7:30 PM

Soooooo...

I was headed down the 405 freeway coming from the San Fernando Valley this afternoon, and I really didn't have to be back at the office for any particular reason...so I took the Marina Del Rey turnoff to visit the site and see if I could do a little detective work on this former location of Don The Beachcomber.

Afraid to report that based upon my success...it appears I'm not much of a Colombo. :wink:

Headed down Bali Way and nothing much has changed in the whole area except perhaps the palm trees have grown a bit taller. And right there was the building that at first glance looked just like the last time I had seen it over 20 years ago.

(Apologies for the crummy photo quality. The only camera I had with me was the one in my cell phone.)

The distinctive round structure with its nipple crown:

...and its Polynesian style influenced curved outward buttresses:

I then scoured the area looking for any artifacts of the old Don's, but there appeared to be none with no tikis at all and the little creek and pond filled in with just grass now:

But then at the far end I did discover one piece from the Don days...this now-dry lava rock terraced waterfall that used to be the start of the stream and koi pond feature:

...but again as you can see, the basin of the waterfall and ponds has been filled in. I did also spot part of the original recirculation system for this old water feature. I remember this area being so beautiful at night, with all the landscaping and lighting it used to feature. I could almost hear the sounds of the falls in my mind as I was standing there. This area was also viewable from inside the restaurant, though the windows.

What landscaping remains, is still being maintained to some degree.

The entrance to the restaurant had a paper sign taped to it saying that all deliveries should be made to the Marina Del Rey Hotel next door. There were new Venetian blinds on all the windows, but one had a gap in it that I peeked through and saw somewhat new currently unused office space inside, finished in gray-painted drywall with drop-ceiling tiles. All that great woodwork and vaulted ceilings hidden from view now. :(

I decided to walk over to the hotel to see if they could provide any info to what happened to all the tiki, or if they had any photos, or if anyone there even worked there back then that remembered it when it was Don's. The Front Desk turned me on to one of the maintenance guys that had worked there the longest, but even he didn't work there that far back when it was Don's. But he did remember when it was Don's because he said when he first moved to the area...he got drunk there at Don's bar when he was just 14 years old! :)

He then went on to tell me that some time ago they gutted the whole interior of the building and there is nothing left of any restaurant inside now. They finished off the interior as office space and they've put it on the market trying to find someone to rent the building for their business.

Walking back to Don's from the hotel, I snapped this shot of the backside where you can see where the kitchen section came off the back end of the main circular building:

Anyway...that's about it. I was hoping someone at the hotel had maintained a small archive or scrapbook of the hotel's history and perhaps Don's too, but they didn't have any. I don't know if the hotel owned the building when it was Don the Beachcomber. But they own it now, apparently.

Being there today really brought back a lot of fond memories. The place would still make a great location for a tiki bar and restaurant. :)