My Trip To The Mai Kai & Wreck Bar - General Tiki

C CincyTikiCraig Tiki Socialite Cincinnati, Ohio USA Joined: Mar 31, 2009 Posts: 466	C CincyTikiCraig Posted posted on Tue, Oct 5, 2010 11:21 PM The Mrs & I finally made it the Mai Kai last Saturday at the end of our Florida vacation. We rented a nice house on Marco Island for a week. There's nothing tiki to be found on Marco or in nearby Naples at all, so we set up a nice bar at the house, and spent the week lounging in the pool, listening to music (including a lot of exotica) and drinking cocktails We had a fantastic time at the Mai Kai. We got there an hour early for our 8pm reservations so we could enjoy a few drinks and some appetizers at the bar before dinner. We started off with a Jet Pilot and a Mai Tai. Both were really great, especially the Jet Pilot. We shared a Sidewinder's Fang with dinner. It's a great drink for two, and was a perfect accompaniment to our dinners (which were wonderful BTW). The floor show was awesome we moved back to the bar after dinner (we were taking a taxi, so why not!), the Mrs had a Kona Coffee Grog and I had a Black Magic (the only drink that I didn't care for-it was well made, just not my cup o' tea). We went to the gift shop and bought a Mai Kai Bowl, some other mugs and some jewelry for the wife. Then we went back to the bar and finished up with a Yeoman's Grog and a Zombie. We took a taxi back to the hotel and pretty much passed out. It was a great vacation, and a great trip to the Mai Kai. I wish that I could write such wonderful words about our visit to the Wreck Bar. We were really excited about going to the famous Wreck Bar, but when we got there we were greeted by crappy service, an awful drink menu, even worse overpriced and poorly made drinks, and no less than 5 TV's blaring football games at high volume, at least two in every direction that you looked. We ordered a "sailor's Rum Punch", the only remotely tiki-ish cocktail on the Wreck Bar's awful drink menu. The cocktail did not contain so much as a trace of fresh lime juice. It was a watered down, generic disgrace of a cocktail, and a total rip-off at $12 apiece. We left after one drink-there was simply no point in staying. The current atmosphere at the Wreck Bar is as bad as any generic hotel bar that I have had the displeasure of visiting over the years. Sheraton is doing a disservice to the heritage of the Wreck Bar (as well as the memory of it's old Polynesian Room) with the current service at the Wreck Bar. Perhaps they should have just done away with the Wreck Bar rather than allowing it to languish in it's present state. Anyway, it was a great vacation, and we can't wait until our next trip to Florida so that we can visit the Mai Kai again. Thanks to all of my fellow TCer's for their advice on visiting the Mai Kai! Mahalo, Craig [ Edited by: CincyTikiCraig 2010-10-06 12:29 ]

The Mrs & I finally made it the Mai Kai last Saturday at the end of our Florida vacation. We rented a nice house on Marco Island for a week. There's nothing tiki to be found on Marco or in nearby Naples at all, so we set up a nice bar at the house, and spent the week lounging in the pool, listening to music (including a lot of exotica) and drinking cocktails

We had a fantastic time at the Mai Kai. We got there an hour early for our 8pm reservations so we could enjoy a few drinks and some appetizers at the bar before dinner. We started off with a Jet Pilot and a Mai Tai. Both were really great, especially the Jet Pilot.

We shared a Sidewinder's Fang with dinner. It's a great drink for two, and was a perfect accompaniment to our dinners (which were wonderful BTW).

The floor show was awesome

we moved back to the bar after dinner (we were taking a taxi, so why not!), the Mrs had a Kona Coffee Grog and I had a Black Magic (the only drink that I didn't care for-it was well made, just not my cup o' tea).

We went to the gift shop and bought a Mai Kai Bowl, some other mugs and some jewelry for the wife. Then we went back to the bar and finished up with a Yeoman's Grog and a Zombie. We took a taxi back to the hotel and pretty much passed out. It was a great vacation, and a great trip to the Mai Kai.

I wish that I could write such wonderful words about our visit to the Wreck Bar. We were really excited about going to the famous Wreck Bar, but when we got there we were greeted by crappy service, an awful drink menu, even worse overpriced and poorly made drinks, and no less than 5 TV's blaring football games at high volume, at least two in every direction that you looked.

We ordered a "sailor's Rum Punch", the only remotely tiki-ish cocktail on the Wreck Bar's awful drink menu. The cocktail did not contain so much as a trace of fresh lime juice. It was a watered down, generic disgrace of a cocktail, and a total rip-off at $12 apiece. We left after one drink-there was simply no point in staying. The current atmosphere at the Wreck Bar is as bad as any generic hotel bar that I have had the displeasure of visiting over the years. Sheraton is doing a disservice to the heritage of the Wreck Bar (as well as the memory of it's old Polynesian Room) with the current service at the Wreck Bar. Perhaps they should have just done away with the Wreck Bar rather than allowing it to languish in it's present state.

Anyway, it was a great vacation, and we can't wait until our next trip to Florida so that we can visit the Mai Kai again. Thanks to all of my fellow TCer's for their advice on visiting the Mai Kai!

Mahalo,

Craig

[ Edited by: CincyTikiCraig 2010-10-06 12:29 ]

Post #558039 by CincyTikiCraig on Tue, Oct 5, 2010 11:21 PM