Post #574380 by aquarj on Wed, Feb 2, 2011 2:24 PM

Admittedly I'm more interested in the general topic than the very specific reasons behind the design choices in the Hanalei remodel. Standing by for enlightenment on that, but I bet the "reasoning" is just as obtuse as any planning commission decree, and may or may not resemble the reasoning in other places. Probably a whole different set of factors for the hotels that destroyed or shuttered the Beverly Hills Trader Vics or the Chicago Kona Kai, and on and on. Anyway, a couple comments on the comments...

Regarding MDMike's example of Fred's Fish Shack, I really would disagree that most people consider tiki palaces to be an eyesore in and of themselves. Decaying tiki palaces maybe, but more because of the decay than the theming. If the food is lousy that can affect it too, but again I don't think the decor itself is really a big turnoff, especially in today's modern eclectic age.

I do think there's a cottage industry of so-called experts, ostensibly the authorities on what appeals to the public, who do make assertions about one style being hot, and another being dated, and blah blah. But again it's tough to ensure that their expert assessments aren't more a reflection of their own pre-existing (and sometimes arbitrary) biases, than of the people they supposedly report about.

Regarding business travelers, I was just going to add that when I travel for work, I have very little say in the hotel I get anyway. The company travel agent picks them for cost, proximity to a meeting or event or airport, internet, etc. Not sure if anyone cares whether I feel at home, or familiar, or somewhere unique, as long as it's not so bad that I tell the travel agent to put that place on an "exclude" list for the future.

I didn't see anyone suggest that the latest management at the Hanalei hates tiki. That wouldn't make much sense. But it's quite clear that any enchantment with the tiki style has been greatly diluted, when you compare with the hotel management up through the 80s when they were still expanding and enhancing that element of the atmosphere.

It could be that the Hanalei management wants to attract different kinds of conferences by having more of a blank canvas in their own decor. If you'd like to host conferences for any group, ranging from the National Seed & Fertilizer Society, to the Hermit Crab Lovers of North America, and the Fraternal Order of Glacial Ice Climbers, perhaps you want to de-emphasize your own theming so that visitors can transform the place into a seed, crab, or ice mecca for the duration of their conference. Maybe someone thinks there would be something incongruous about a tiki themed hotel and restaurant, for an audience of ice climbers. Who knows, this kind of reasoning is really not predictable, and any particular case seems to involve arbitrary combinations of real factors, debatable factors, and made up stuff.

BTW, thanks Sven for posting the refresher with the photos and timeline. Bittersweet.

-Randy