Post #574298 by Cammo on Wed, Feb 2, 2011 6:06 AM

"When you make your establishment look like everyone else's with a bland, neutral tone to the color, decor, style, etc., it's makes it easier to sell to other corperations who might be interested in buying the place if the present owners want to dump the property."

Lee bro! This is a REALLY interesting idea, and probably true to a point, and Lee is thinking exactly the way he should, by not focusing on the pro-or-anti Tiki question because management really doesn't care about classic-non-classic Tiki stuff one way or the other. But Lee, I'm telling you that NO manager in the history of any chain has ever planned for failure. They just don't. They don't plow a couple million in renovations into a property in order to plan for the failure of the renovations. They should. You and I would, just to be careful, but they sure as heck don't.

Here's a big clue: the largest amount of money the Hanalei spent in renovations had nothing to do with updating the Tiki look. Not a single person has mentioned this yet.

And here is another hint: you folks have it all wrong. You are assuming that the new management at the Hanalei HATE TIKI, or somehow think Tiki is old or outdated or whatever. In fact, they think exactly the opposite. They like the Tiki look, they know the Hanalei is successful because of it and that it fits in with a San Diego climate. That's why they have gone out of their way to PRESERVE IT. Parts of the Islands restaurant have been kept exactly the way they always have been - the wall hangings to a degree and the railings, the outside poles, etc.

The hallway waterfall is still there, there are more than 8 outside waterfalls operating perfectly, the giant atrium area is kept in 1961 stasis. And they polished up the canoe. Give them credit.

Crazy as it seems to us, they LIKE TIKI. They think of it as Hawaiian Moderne. It actually works for them. The new owners went out of their way to hire Polynesians as much as possible, believe it or not, in the early days. The question isn't if they "like" Tiki or not, because they DO. They still call it the Hanalei Conference Center, which of course is another clue.

Like the Big Dude says, don't turn this into a forum of who is more Tiki than whom.

The Dude has spoken, listen to his word, for they are of the Dude and by the Dude.