Post #664055 by lunavideogames on Mon, Jan 14, 2013 5:59 PM

I was reading this thread and I realized that I never really checked this place out. So I went down there on Saturday for a quick drink. I did some recon and dug up some information. I had never tried to check this place out before because it looks like it doesn't have anything to it from the front of the building. It does not advertise a bar or restaurant from the outside, so I always thought it was just a hotel.

But after checking out this thread, I thought that there must be more than meets the eye. I got my wife to cruise over there with me. As we were walking up to the door she was still convinced that it was only a hotel and we weren't going to find anything. I told her that we are just going to walk past the front desk and have a look. It was strange, but we did it. As soon as we were past the lobby we saw the sign to the bar/restaurant. The restaurant was closed but the bar was open. So we headed over there for a drink.

Sat down with the bartender, Jeff I believe his name was, and asked if they served any specialty drinks. He said that they did and handed me the small menu of their different drinks.

Pretty basic with not enough rum in my opinion, but I tried the Kona Kai Cooler and it was decent after I stirred it and Emily had the Kona Royale which she enjoyed. The bartender asked if we were staying in the hotel and we said no. He asked if we just came to watch the game and we said we don't follow football we actually just came to have a drink. He was kind of puzzled since the only other patrons in his bar was a family that was staying at the hotel. He asked if we were just out walking around, and I said no, we wanted to check out the place before the big remodel.

This got him talking a bit about the new owners. He said that they got rid of the Hawaiian music at the bar and replaced it with Cool Jazz. To me it sounds like a step backwards and not forward, but he said he liked it. I would be sick of any music that I had to hear all day everyday (sublime for example), so I understood where he was coming from.

He told us that the new owners "weren't crazy about the Hawaiian theme," but they were going to keep it. They are also going to keep the Kona Kai name. We talked with the bartender for a bit and then we walked around to see what we could see. It looks like a really good place for a restaurant/bar, if they would do something with it. I think a breakfast buffet would be perfect and bring in some customers, and with just a little signage they would have twice as many people over there just to check it out.

But I agree with Bosko that it is in dire need of renovations. The lobby felt semi modern, but all of the really cool areas to hang out seemed like they were very outdated. The outdoor tables and chairs looked to be 40+ years old with chipped off paint and uncomfortable chairs. The pool was small and a lot of their outdoor space was not utilized. About the only cool Hawaiian thing that we saw was the old pineapple water fountain.

So I am not sure either why anyone would stay here as of right now. It is on the far end of an island, with not much around. Sure Bali Hai is on the opposite side, but there are much better places to stay in SD, and you can still take a taxi to Bali Hai. I hope that the new owners do try to make this a more sought after destination. I sure would like to have another place to go get tiki drinks here in San Diego.

[ Edited by: lunavideogames 2013-01-14 18:03 ]