Post #64134 by fatuhiva on Wed, Dec 10, 2003 2:48 AM

The kon tiki hotel was on 24th and Van Buren. There used to be alot of cool hotels/motels on VB back in the day. Now they are either torn down to build condos or they are hooker motels.

In college I was dragged along with some friends from the wrong side of the tracks to a room at the Kon Tiki they had booked. I was kinda trapped there, since I wasnt driving. Turns out they were using the room to buy a bunch of pot and divy it up to sell to other college kids.. I didn't see that one coming because I'm an idiot. But I did actually sorta get stay there.. if only for just a few lowbrow hours. Don't remember it much though. I kinda recall some glaring orange carpet in the hallways.

Last time I saw the KonTiki location it was an ugly duckling car lot.

The Aloha hotel was on 40th and VB which featured the "Samoan Village" It stood vacant and rundown for years- I broke in ther eone night and nosed around with a flashlight (VERY bad neighborhood to do this in at 1am but again im an idiot) there were still tiki-carved support poles holding up the roof. They tore it down, pulled out the poles and supposedly gave them away in a raffle at the community college expanding onto the site. I never got one.

There was a polynesian strip mall in scottsdale that was very tiki as well.

The islands stood on 7th st and camelback. I dont remember it at all- there is nothing but crap there now.

Great PC's sabu- neat way to organize them too.

if anyone living in phoenix reads this post and wants to get a little old-school tiki kick, check out this place i found when i used to live there:

Its a little apt complex called the Hawaiian Gardens. My memory of how to find it is a little hazy- but i remember there is a Taco Bell on Indian School and like 22nd or 24th or 32nd street. You turn off indian school on the street alongside the taco bell. Then you go north a little ways keeping your eyes open for this apt complex. In the front there is a tiki. or there was. Sometimes the bushes overgrew the tiki, so if you find the place check the bushes. One of my favorite tiki spots, because its such a hidden gem.

here is the map to the taco bell. The place is on that street just to the east of it. Happy hunting, and if anybody finds this place, snap a pic for us.

(link too big- use mapquest and address/zip below)

or you can go to http://viewers.globexplorer.com/prtViewer/2D3DViewer/Viewer.jsp

type in 2450 E Indian School Rd and zip 85016

you will see a satellite image come up. Then zoom out one level to zoom level 12. after that, click north one time and you will see the place's pool along the top just a little right of center

[ Edited by: fatuhiva on 2003-12-10 03:23 ]