I found these places (along with a few more) several years ago here in Denver and the surrounding area. Just thought I'd share them with you.

This is the front entrance to Aloha Glorya's Gentelmans Club in Pueblo (about 100 miles south of Denver). It used to be a piano bar, but the owners converted it to a strip club years ago. They removed most of the interior items, except for the basement which could be rented out at the time for private parties (I think James describes this place in his soon to be published Tiki Roadtrip). Interesting side note - "The Drugstore" (that red and white soda fountain shop that the Food Network shoots it's Unwrapped episodes in) is right across the street from this place in downtown Pueblo.

A close up of one of the tiki titty guardians

This is the Kona Kai apartment complex (built in 1971), also located in Pueblo (only about 10 blocks north of Aloha Glorya's). The manager told me that the fellow who built the place died a few years back. He loved tropical foliage, so he enclosed the complex. It is loaded with all types of palms and ferns, etc. (but no tikis). Not too bad for Colorado, especially considering the five feet of snow we got here in Denver last week.

All of the apartments have balconies that face out onto the garden.

Up here in Denver I found this basic brick multi-story apartment complex...

But look closer under the foliage (easier in the winter when the vines are dormant) and we found the Moana (built in 1961).

Finally, not tiki style, but a great space age/googie sign down in Colorado Springs (about 60 miles south of Denver) for the Satellite Motel and Apartments. FYI-that's Pikes Peak in the background.

a nice close-up

[ Edited by: ZuluMagoo 2006-07-22 08:25 ]

Hey--I spent 5 years of my youth in Boulder/Aurora. I still go back to Colorado Springs to visit a 2nd grade friend (we're 36 so this is life long friendship) every couple of years. I'm supposed to go visit her this summer. Is the Satellite in the Springs or in the outskirts? I'm going to drive out this summer, so e-mail me with the must see of Denver and the Springs. I know 5' of snow may seem to suck..but think,"I couldn't make it into work/school due to the snow" never flies in So. Cal. Only riots or police chases. hahahaha

[ Edited by: tikifille on 2003-03-25 23:07 ]

[ Edited by: tikifille on 2003-03-25 23:09 ]

Thanks for sharing those. This kind of content makes Tiki Central so worthwhile.

I've been dying to go back to Colorado Springs since I was a kid and my grandparents lived there. My parents used to drive the station wagon there from San Diego every Christmas to visit. A couple years ago the SCA (Society for Commercial Archeology), of which I'm a member, had their annual conference there. I couldn't go but it sounded like a great place to visit for roadside attractions, old motels, etc.

Wow, Great pics! The Gentleman's Club looks pretty scary. It would be a brave man (or braver woman) who would enter such a den of Tiki sleaze.

Trader Woody

Is the "Gentlemen's Club" tiki holding his, -er, her, um, you-know-whats? And did the tikis pre-date the conversion - that is, did the piano bar have the tikis, and they were psychicly precient(sp?) of their future owners??

spooky...

Here's the story about Aloha Glorya's. Several years ago (1997ish) I was in Pueblo (pretty dumpy town) on a Sunday driving around historic downtown and saw this place. I parked the car and went to go in. It was closed! At the time, it did not have the awning announcing that it was a Gentelman's Club (and bars are closed in Colorado on Sundays). I thought the worst, I figured it was yet another tiki establishment to get the axe, so I got back in the car and drove home. Later that week, I looked them up in the phone book and called them. Mr. Sylvia (the owner) answered and informed me that they were still in business. Later that week I was back in Pueblo and revisited the place. I arrived about one in the afternoon and the doors were locked, but the new awning was up. What's this I thought, a tiki titty bar? I knocked on the back door down the alley and Mr. Sylvia answered. I explained my mission and he invited me in and showed me around. He explained that Aloha Glorya's (named after his wife) originally opened as a polynesian resaturant and piano bar in the early 1980's. However, due to the local demographics (Pueblo generally consists of blue collar steel mill workers) they could only stay operational for ten years. After that, the Sylvia's changed the place into a strip club and have been doing fine ever since. The best part is that the decor had not changed. They still served their drinks in tiki mugs from behind a thached bar. Tikis, masks, spears and lava rock waterfalls adorned the walls. The basement portion of the club was used as an additional dining area and piano lounge, but at the time was just used for storage. Upon leaving, Mr. Sylvia informed me that someday he was going to get rid of all that clutter in the basement (tiki decor)when he was ready to remodel down there. I asked him to call me before he got rid of anything, but I never heard from him.

Update (March 2003). I have driven past this place several times over the last five years just to check up on it whenever I happen to be in Pueblo. I always take a quick look around to see if the tiki guardians are still standing out front and if Mr. Sylvia has thrown out of of his "clutter" yet. Unfortunately, I stopped in to visit last month, and am sorry to report that the interior has been 98% remodeled (glitter balls and mirrored stages, etc. typical strip club atmosphere). The old coat room still has a Tonga sign above it and the stairs that lead to the basement are still lined will tiki fence poles from OA, but that's about all that's left. I asked the bar tender about the basement and he told me that it had been gutted and was going to be remodeled within the next month. I guess Mr. Slyvia forget to call me, maybe he lost my phone number! All that "clutter" ended up in the dumpster. Note to Gecko - don't let the Tahitian Lanai "clutter" suffer the same fate.

Last additional side note - the outdoor guardian tikis must have known their fate because they are indeed both holding their mumus. In fact the nipples on both of them are painted red for extra effect, they must be female tikis.

Zulu, interesting story. Thanks for sharing. Too bad they remodeled the interior. Must have been a hoot to see it as it once was with a bunch of strippers walking around!

Look for a new tiki bar in Mammoth called "Lakanuki". Should be fun.

On 2003-03-27 22:17, RevBambooBen wrote:
Look for a new tiki bar in Mammoth called "Lakanuki". Should be fun.

Yeah, I heard about this. Actually met the guys who are going to open it at the King Kuke show at the the Purple Orchid last month. They were scoping out the PO as well as other Tiki joints that weekend for "field study."

Should be interesting to see how it turns out. Ben, are you doing any work for them?

Ho! dat sucks ZM. sorry braddah. But great storry to read! I don't think I'm gon get da Tahitian Lanai stuff. To hard.

I was in Colorado Springs 1 year and a half ago and traded a large palm mask for this aquarium from a guy who owns a african art shop. If you look in the phone book hes da only guy in town that sells this stuff. Not hard to miss. He said he was going to seel my mask so If your looking for Tiki that would be the only thing he had. It's a real nice mask. He might still have it. I think I got a pic of it. I'll post it if i find it. No tiki collectors in the springs so I'm sure he still has it. Go check him out.

Also there is a place in the springs called Hawaii in the Rockies that serves local food and sell some things from da islands. No tikis though.

good luck ova in Colarado! I know it's hard to find tiki there.

Aloha

bump

My great-step aunt lives at the Satellite! What a great place.

When in Colorado there's also the Castaways Inn & Suites in Manitou Springs, which is by no means all tiki, but which does have tikis, as well as pirate treasure and nautical decor. They serve drinks in tiki mugs and the bartender we always got (Lori) was really great. My husband and I stayed there in October and you get a discount in the restaurant if you're staying at the hotel.

I was in Pueblo for work today and stopped by Aloha Glorias strip club to check on the tikis. The tikis are now painted blue with bright red nipples on their breasts. Here are some images. I liked the masks on the A frame part of the building.

uggggghhhhh!!! I'm glad to see that they are still in place, but.....

Wow, how long has that Satellite sign been around? I lived in the Springs from 1989-1991 and never saw it in any of my perambulations about the town.

Of course I never noticed the Castaways either, and I drove through Manitou Springs every day...

The Castaways can be EASILY missed. There are minimal exterior hints that would give away the place. Unless you were specifically looking for it, you would never notice it driving down the street, and it is on a major street.

Does anyone know what happened to that Tiki place in Glendale, somewhere near the Galleria, where the tables were sitting on piers with koi swimming around in the water below them? That's the place that stills haunts me from my childhood.

Has anyone on this board ever mentioned a place in Denver called "The Islands" before? I searched but couldn't find anything about it.

Here's something from that place:

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?topic=13402&forum=1&hilite=the%20islands%20denver

Did a search and came up with this. :)