Post #307894 by PremEx on Mon, May 21, 2007 11:16 AM

Been to the Caliente Tropics many times over the last 4 years, but this was my first time at Hawaiian Bill's Luau. Those of you that know Bill know what a super guy he is...the real deal...and he puts on a first rate luau! Great and yummy food, great entertainment, perfect locale. It's a real family affair with many friends and family of Bill's ohana helping to run the entire thing. Very well done. :)

I also ate lunch earlier inside at the bar...had the Kalua pig pulled pork sandwich and it was excellent. Ordered a Mai Tai and it was still the usual non-Mai Tai variation they serve there with pineapple juice and Malibu Rum and...well you get the picture. Very nice refreshing coconut flavored drink, but not really a Mai Tai at all, and they should rename it. Upon request bartender Mike makes his own version that's called "Mike's Mai Tai" that among other changes uses grenadine. That is of course sweeter and even further from a real Mai Tai...but still a very good drink if you don't think of it as any sort of traditional Mai Tai. Guess if you want a real Mai Tai...you're gonna have to call out exactly how you want it made. I'm sure they'll oblige.

Two single buddies of mine joined me and were hoping for more "talent" in the audience :wink: and were disappointed that almost all were couples and gray hairs. I thought it was a very subdued audience. This may have been due to the fact that a large portion of the guests this evening...had won their luau via a local radio station contest. Perhaps they just didn't know what to expect and were a bit like deer caught in the headlights. We had some nice folks at our table, but by and large looking around at other tables...folks tended to just eat and stare. They just didn't seem to get into the swing of things. Noticed many got up and left early after eating. Too bad. It was a great show. Despite the fuddy-duddy aspect of much of the crowd...we had a great time.

After the luau, my buddies and I headed into downtown for some cigars and drinks and trolling. Good times and good stuff! Later, 2 of us came back to the Caliente Tropics and Hawaiian Bill's and it was great to see Bill and all of his luau staff and ohana unwinding with Karaoke and drinks into the wee hours. They were having a great time and WooHoo, SoccerTiki, HinanoPaul, and Al-ii were there...some dancing and doing stints at the mic, too. SoccerTiki was especially ah...memorable...with his rendition of "El Paso." Don't give up your day job! :wink:

My buddy and I closed the place down and soon the lights were turned off and we went back to our rooms to call it a night. Great day. :)

Went to Bill's the next morning for Bloody Marys, but discovered he didn't open until 11:00am, so we headed to downtown again for provisions. Because we could now get a room at the Caliente Tropics for only $44 at their much lower Sunday-Thursday rates...we were going to move over from the Travelodge next door and stay an extra night at the Caliente. Our plan was to have lunch at Bill's and then get a couple of rooms there and just hang another day and night. But when we got to Bill's at 12:30pm he was still closed! An upset Bill was sitting out on the patio and was very apologetic that some of his staff had still not showed up for work and so he couldn't open. Guess he kept his own staff out a bit too late the night before. :)

We took that as an omen that our extended stay was just not meant to be, and nixed the plan for an extra night. We gave our Thanks again to Bill for the great time...and hopped in our cars and headed home. But it was a great 24 hours in Palm Springs. :)

Didn't get to spend much time with the other TCers, but it was nice meeting you all and I'm sure we'll meet up again. :)

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[ Edited by: PremEx 2007-05-21 11:44 ]