Post #646728 by Grand Kahu on Fri, Aug 3, 2012 11:21 AM

Just a quick update - Kenike and I are still working on our DFW tiki project after a bit of a hiatus, so we hope to be able to give a projected completion date sometime soon. In the meantime, I just thought you might enjoy a quick note about the various comments. That lobby postcard pic is a great one - I agree it's probably 1950s before the PV was built. The Western Hills Hotel was most definitely Western themed, right down to their "Branding Room" restaurant, complete with branding irons to mark your steak ("M" for medium, "MR" for medium rare, you get the picture). Right behind the reception desk area in the picture was the original "Key Club" area and "Ming & Jade Room" an Asian-themed bar (likely a Ren Clark choice, given his own interest in Asian culture) which also operated with liquor lockers for drinks. This tiny room, with its exotic theme, was likely a starting point for Clark's Polynesian Village which would open in 1960. The construction of the PV coincided with an expansion of the original hotel to include a vast new wing of rooms and the entire PV complex. The PV had its own separate entry, adjacent to the pool area, which also got a makeover with thatch-covered umbrellas, new torch lighting, and an A-frame entryway. You can make out some of these details in the advertisement was posted previously.

I revisited the site of the Western Hills Hotel the other year as part of my research. While I didn't expect to find much, the sight was pretty depressing -- a defunct grocery store and rental storage units now occupy the location where the Hotel and PV stood. The picture below marks the exact spot, give or take 50 feet, where the PV once stood. Urk.

GK