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Tiki Central / Locating Tiki / Kona Kai, Wildwood Crest, NJ (motel)

Post #492524 by Mo-Eye on Sat, Nov 7, 2009 3:31 AM

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M
Mo-Eye posted on Sat, Nov 7, 2009 3:31 AM

This one was mentioned in a couple posts, but all the photos were missing, so I figured I would start a new one in Locating.

The Kona Kai Motel was built in 1968 by Lou Morey, who built a number of motels in Wildwood, with at least 3 in a polynesian / tiki style. Reports show that it had tikis hanging in every room. It became one of the more famous vintage motels in the area, but still meet the wrecking ball in January 2006.

Overall view of the motel, fairly close to opening date :down:

Close up of the entrance :down:

Note the tiki pole, tikis mounted on wall, fake palm trees, tiki torches and bridge over water feature!

Lobby :down:

Is that a tiki in the dark corner?

View of the pool from the balcony :down:

Guests lined up for the Luau BBQ :down:

For the ephemera...

A postcard from the 1970s :down:

Another from the 1980s :down:

And a brochure from the 1980s :down:

You'll note that at some point in the 1970s the sign was moved from the 3 story wing to on top of the office.

Here's a close up of it :down:

And here is a nice shot of it lit up at night :down:

Now, its time for the de-evolution :(

In the 80s, the tikis get their required bad paint job, fake palms look worse, and water feature filled in :down:

And then they're removed all together :down:

Lastly, its time to bring in the bulldozers :down:

I think that some one saved the sign. It is already missing in the demo photos, and I found this pic of the K which looks like it is wire up in someone's basement :down:

I saw a matchbook for this place, but can't find it now.