Red Lion Hanalei Hotel, San Diego, CA (hotel) - Locating Tiki

H Humuhumu Member San Francisco Joined: Aug 22, 2002 Posts: 3691	H Humuhumu Posted posted on Tue, Jun 15, 2004 11:22 AM I stayed at the Red Lion Hanalei Hotel this past weekend, and I've updated the records in Critiki for the Hanalei Hotel, the Islands Restaurant, and Islands Sushi & Pupu Bar. There are a ton of new photos there. I'd visited before, but only briefly to poke my head in. My overall impressions: The hotel is nice enough, I guess, but kind of bland. The hotel grounds are pretty big, and while there are actually some great tikis here, they're pretty spread out and the place definitely doesn't feel Polynesian. My room was fine, on the large side, and service in the hotel was nice. Generally, I'm just not a fan of the bland chain hotel experience, I generally like to go either really high-end or really slum it. The garden area inside the tower is where you'll find the most tiki-fied space. The Islands Restaurant I quite rather liked. It's lit too brightly, but it felt just like sitting in an old postcard. I especially liked the water features thoughout, including clam shell fountains that are still working, and small streams circling the small restaurant. The music was very appropriate, gentle hawaiian standards. The food was surprisingly good, I had the duck. The drinks were a disappointment. I started with a Mai Tai, which was about half pineapple juice. I then tried a Pirate's Grog, which was rather odd, and tasted not unlike a Flintstones chewable vitamin. It was bright pink, too. No self-respecting pirate would drink it. Or perhaps only a pirate would be manly enough to drink it and not care what others think. I didn't eat or drink at the Islands Sushi bar out by the lobby -- it looked like your basic hotel lounge. The pictures on Critiki are the good(ish) ones, and have been cropped & color corrected & all that, but there are many more pictures, as always, in my personal albums. And also: this is my 1000th post! Yowzers! I had it all backwards -- the best bed is the one that's stumbling distance from Tiki-Ti, or the Mai Kai, or the Lagoon Room, or the Alibi, or the Kon Tiki, or... Critiki [ Edited by: Humuhumu on 2004-06-15 11:23 ]

I stayed at the Red Lion Hanalei Hotel this past weekend, and I've updated the records in Critiki for the Hanalei Hotel, the Islands Restaurant, and Islands Sushi & Pupu Bar. There are a ton of new photos there.

I'd visited before, but only briefly to poke my head in. My overall impressions:

The hotel is nice enough, I guess, but kind of bland. The hotel grounds are pretty big, and while there are actually some great tikis here, they're pretty spread out and the place definitely doesn't feel Polynesian. My room was fine, on the large side, and service in the hotel was nice. Generally, I'm just not a fan of the bland chain hotel experience, I generally like to go either really high-end or really slum it. The garden area inside the tower is where you'll find the most tiki-fied space.

The Islands Restaurant I quite rather liked. It's lit too brightly, but it felt just like sitting in an old postcard. I especially liked the water features thoughout, including clam shell fountains that are still working, and small streams circling the small restaurant. The music was very appropriate, gentle hawaiian standards. The food was surprisingly good, I had the duck. The drinks were a disappointment. I started with a Mai Tai, which was about half pineapple juice. I then tried a Pirate's Grog, which was rather odd, and tasted not unlike a Flintstones chewable vitamin. It was bright pink, too. No self-respecting pirate would drink it. Or perhaps only a pirate would be manly enough to drink it and not care what others think.

I didn't eat or drink at the Islands Sushi bar out by the lobby -- it looked like your basic hotel lounge.

The pictures on Critiki are the good(ish) ones, and have been cropped & color corrected & all that, but there are many more pictures, as always, in my personal albums.

And also: this is my 1000th post! Yowzers!

I had it all backwards -- the best bed is the one that's stumbling distance from Tiki-Ti, or the Mai Kai, or the Lagoon Room, or the Alibi, or the Kon Tiki, or...
Critiki

[ Edited by: Humuhumu on 2004-06-15 11:23 ]

Post #96457 by Humuhumu on Tue, Jun 15, 2004 11:22 AM