Tropics Restaurant & Congo Room Bar Opening Celebration

Yes, Ohana, the time has finally come!

Tikis meet fireworks as John and Tony cordially invite you to the legendary Caliente Tropics Resort for the big 4th of July Opening Celebration for their new Tropics Restaurant and Congo Room Bar!!!

And to help get the Tiki-lovin' festivities off to a rockin' start and keep the party rollin' all night long, your hosts have enlisted the musical aid of two groups -- The Growlers & The Entrance Band!

I was just there towards the end of June for a special private preview party and had my taste buds blown away by an apetizer of delicious wings followed by an amazing grilled pork loin chop with mushroom sauce, mashed potatoes, and zucchini that was out-of-this-world good!

But, as if that wasn't enough, I was further impressed by the resurrection of a drink recipe that was literally found deep in Caliente's cellar -- a delightful concoction called Tropics Punch which was the apparent favorite of none other than one of the original Rat-Packers -- Sammy Davis Jr. himself! (His name was actually attached to the recipe, I kid you not.) And Sammy's fave is an artful blend of triple sec, sweet & sour, pineapple, other juices, and, last but not least, properly garnished and topped by a generous float of light and dark rum (Yum!). But there's a couple secrets in there as well which I just couldn't pry out of John or Tony. But hey -- the result is habit forming and I had two to prove it!

Well, there's not much more I can say, so, pictures being worth more than most words, here's a photographic record of my fun preview and just a teeny taste of what awaits on the 4th:

What??? Could that be an actual PHOTO of the previously elusive John (architect/builder/co-owner)??? Well, just goes to show that practically ANYONE can be coerced to "smile at the birdy" providing they have enough :drink: in 'em!

And here's Big Tony lookin' big & mellow as his co-creation blossoms around him like a whole garden of hibiscus!

And here's Yours Truly with his first Tropics Punch...

And after his second...

(No jokes about "Big Stoned Heads" please!)

And just check out this ultra-cool UltraLounge tucked away in the "secret" back room!...

And I helped set up the furniture, so that'll be one complimentary Tropics Punch, John! (Oh yeah -- you already GAVE me that!)

But it was out in the Congo Room Bar's patio that the real action was...

Complete with pleasantly tipsy revelers from the Netherlands!

"Peace" right back atcha, my Nordic Brethren! And long live Kon Tiki!

And tending the poolside bar...

Juan says "Hey Kreepi! I got yo NUMBA -- TWO! As in Two Drink Limit!"

And speakin' of poolsides...

Ya can't get much more iconic than THIS one!

Yep -- Tikis plus Torches = one thing... PARTY TIME!!!

But before we drink and dance ourselves into a happy oblivion, here's a look at another iconic (and newly uncovered, thanks to John and me) LeRoy Schmaltz masterpiece...

No longer hiding in the bushes, this proud tiki here displays a lighting scheme with a distinct Doug Horne vibe...

Highly appropriate, too, as Doug designed the striking new menu...

...held here by Castaway Clemens himself as he bids a fond farewell 'til next time to that classically hip, Mid-Century Modern meld of retro 60's Futurama and old school Poly-Pop that is the new Tropics Restaurant and Congo Room Bar!

See ya on the 4th!!

Cheers & Mahalo :drink: :tiki:

Congrats! to all involved...Thank You for your efforts. I'll be visiting sometime this summer. G

I'll be there this weekend coincidentally. My family and another booked the weekend some time ago. It'll be cool to see bands and hang.

I thought we were pissed at these guys for not playing ball with Rory for next years Tiki Caliente?

That wasn't these guy's. The Tropics Resort owner was the one who wanted to move it to later in June for more money. I don't want anyone to be PISSED at anyone at the Tropics. The Staff of the Resort was AWESOME. The General Manager (Tom Law) was as Shocked as I was from the response we got from the owner of the resort.

So Business is Business and we will go were we are wanted.

Oasis moved on and so will we.

The Tropics Bar/Rest are tenant of the Tropics Resort and I wish them the best.

Thank you to anyone who came to the show and supported the idea of leaving the Caliente Tropics to follow TIKI CALIENTE 3 were ever we take it.

With Tiki Ray,Buzzy and Crazy Al and the rest of the tiki crew we can make anyplace TIKI for a weekend.

Enjoy the weekend.

P.S. Great story with the Sammy Davis Jr Drink,but you may want to check your fax's much like what tiki is on the menu cover.

Catch ya on the flip,Dig?

W

Thanks for clearing that up Rory. Patti and I met John Friday night and he showed me around the new place. The dude is super cool with a great place. I am glad to hear we still like him. Saturday morning he gave us the distinction of being his first customers to have breakfast. And a tasty breakfast it was. I wish him all the luck.

Didn't even realize there was an issue. I hope you (Rory) can find a good place for the next event. My family and I wanted to get away and the Tropics was just a no brainer. I don't want or care to get involved in any drama. The hotel has great memories for me and I figure going there will be nice and relaxing.
Peace with every step.

On 2010-07-02 13:13, Wildsville man wrote:

P.S. Great story with the Sammy Davis Jr Drink,but you may want to check your fax's much like what tiki is on the menu cover.

Hey there, Rory -- I actually never said that the tiki on the menu cover was the same tiki in those last three pics, just that the menu cover was by Doug Horne and that the lighting in the second of those last three pics reminded me of the lighting effects that Doug often uses on the tikis in his paintings.

Also, re. the Sammy story, I only have what John told me to go on -- I wasn't there when the recipe was found and never saw it with my own eyes. But John is a good guy & I have no particular reason to doubt what he tells me. But if you know something about this which I -- or John -- does not, then I'd be interested to hear it 4 sure!

Anyway, Peace & Mahalo & Happy 4th, wherever ya all may be!

I may actually be heading down there for the 4th with some buds of mine. Excited to hang in the Secret lounge, although how "secret" it is depands on how many people i showed it too during tiki caliente 2 :P

I heard there's gonna be a big Halloween Tiki weekend at the Caliente Tropics this year. It sounded bigger than tiki calienete was...something about a real Tiki-Ween costume party with killer bands and a crazy party. I am looking to find tickets now.

Well I am giving this link way to much attention because I am not involved with the tropics anymore and it all ready sounds like more drama then it's worth.
I would like to state my issues.

1.The drink you are talking about is a spin off of my Palm Springs Punch. I made the original drink menu for the Tropics well before Tiki Caliente.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-99xvrj-QE

The Drink is server at Trio Bar (next to the Shag store) 707 Palm Canyon Rd. Were I help run the Bar.

only difference is the dark Rum Float....

2. Stay at the Tropics people. I love the Tropics resort. I love the history and I love the look. But they are not that friendly to do business with.
   (look at the tiki caliente section on tiki central for the email conversation between the owner and myself. close to the end of the thread.

3. If I misunderstood about the tiki sorry. I was not trying to sound like an ass. It's just that whole Sammy Davis Jr think is F@#d up!!!!!

4. Party Bigger then Tiki Caliente? Bigger I doubt it. But NOT better baby!!!!!!!!!!!! p.s. Mondo Lounge 3 at the Riviera that weekend with Cherri Capri

Peace and love to all my tiki freaks and as anyone who has ever met me knows,I get along with almost anyone.

On 2010-07-02 19:53, tikiliki1 wrote:
I heard there's gonna be a big Halloween Tiki weekend at the Caliente Tropics this year. It sounded bigger than tiki calienete was...something about a real Tiki-Ween costume party with killer bands and a crazy party. I am looking to find tickets now.

This is the problem I have here.......tikiliki1 just became a member today and this is his only comment ever......Is this fishy to anyone?

Yep, Fishy sounds right.

I already in a cranky mood, so I'll bite: Damn straight it's fishy!

Wildsville man, you know how to throw a party and you are damn good at what you do! I for one, will never set foot at the Caliente Tropics without knowing you are somehow involved. That's right, I am boycotting.

Personally, whoever this person is, they are trolling, and I think the matter should be turned over to Hanford. Not cool.

Man, I don't want any drama either! Just good times! :drink: :tiki: :drink: :tiki:

And I'm only goin' on my own personal experiences recently as a guest at Caliente and in the past when my wife and I used to go to Hawaiian Bill's. I've had zero personal issues with the Tropics myself, and I hope it stays that way!

And as far as that drink business -- hey, I'm not gettin' in the middle of that. I just enjoyed the drink I had and reported what I'd heard about it. End of story. I haven't met you yet, Wildsville, and was not trying to challenge your veracity. And I'll always regret never having been able to attend Tiki Caliente or the early days of Oasis when it was also held there.

Anyway, I wish John and Tony the best of luck with their cool restaurant bar, and I think the success of any such tiki-themed venture is good for the tiki community as a whole. And as for whose parties or events are bigger and better than whose, and how rude or not rude the owner of the Tropics resort may or may not have been... well, that's the kind of shouting match I don't wanna get mixed up in. Heck, I've never even MET or spoken to the owner of the Caliente. And this talk of boycotting sounds like the evening news re. Arizona, Tiki Gods help me!

Peace

Great post, Kreepy Tiki, and congrats to John. This is what the Motel really needed, a modern and hip running bar and restaurant. I love that place, despite the original owner's indifference to the Tiki community. Mahalo forever to Casey Jones and his partner for saving its Tiki-ness in the first place, to Otto for making it a legendary event venue, to Bamboo Ben and Crazy Al to putting all this work in for free, and to Bosko and CC for their art, and to Rory for keeping that spirit alive. I don't understand why some folks are bent on alienating the Tiki Central community by posting such weird posts as this tikiliki1 person. Granted, TC is a small group compared to the "un-incorporated" Tiki lovers out there, but what we might lack in numbers, we bring forth in pure love and enthusiasm for the culture, so why be divisive?

In any case, the Caliente Tropics is, together with the Tiki Resort at Lake George on the East Coast, the last well preserved example of Tiki MOTEL architecture, and deserves all the love, appreciation and patronage it can get! :)

And as long as we are clearing things up , Cindy and I were the ones informing the Tropics to trim the the bushes so that everyone could see the tikis . No one there seemed to care until I went into the office and had them cut the bushes back at Tiki Caliente 2. It even took a while of explaining how important these pieces were and that everyone loves to pose with these tikis . Cindy was even asking to give her the lopping shears so she could do it herself . I know you are trying to promote things for the new restaraunt but let give credit to the people who REALLY found and exposed the tikis .

Right-On, Ray & Cindy!

Ray, what a good example of the fact that architectural preservation is an ongoing effort. Just because a location got saved once does not mean it will last forever. Two, three years down the line, and new owner (who is ignorant of the intrinsic value of a place) takes over, and -Bam- there goes the neighborhood. It takes constant education, reminding, and steady patronage to protect a place.

When I gave my first Lounge Tour of the Palm Springs Tropics in 1994, it was owned by the classic Asian Motel owner family who invested little and did not care about the Tikis (like everybody else didn't, back then) -- BUT there were three more Tikis around, which since then have been stolen or have fallen apart.

Then in 2001, when the new manager/owners Casey Jones and his partner took over the Motel, they named it CALIENTE Tropics because they were going to renovate it in the Californian Mediterranean theme. Luckily, P.S.Modcom founder Pete Moruzzi brought them a copy of the Book of Tiki, and they GOT it, and saw that they had a unique property not like all the other Motels, and so they kept the Tikis, and embraced Tiki Oasis. Unfortunately their high-priced "Boutique" Motel concept did not fly, and they lost their shirt and got booted out by the majority owner (who now owns it). The saving grace since then is that very little has been invested into the place since. That's why Ben and Al put in all their work to decorate the bar and patio for free.

But as the bush overgrowth-story shows: The Tikis are not on the forefront of the owner's mind, they might even be viewed as "dating" the place --just like the lawn huts which amazingly still have the original 60s ceramic lamps. Luckily John Sofio has had the good sense to keep the original wormwood paneling and other outside features of the Reef bar --but there is no guarantee they will always be there. So enjoy the place as long as its there.

Hey there Ray!

Good goin' man! I wasn't at all trying to take away any credit there. All I knew was that when I was there some weeks ago I pointed out to John Sofio that the tiki-in-question was completely hidden by bushes -- as my pics posted on the "R.I.P. Reef Bar" thread show -- and he said he would have something done about it. And then when I returned just recently the bushes had been nicely trimmed and there was LeRoy's lovely tiki once again, exposed to the world as it should be!

So I'm afraid i just assumed that my having pointed it out the previous time must have led to the uncovering. But, we all know hat happens when one proceeds to "assume"...

So my apologies, Ray. Yer a kool dude, and I honestly had no clue.

And thanks for those GREAT posts, Bigbro! Your words and observations are always welcome!

Cheers & Mahalo :drink: :tiki:

[ Edited by: KreepyTiki 2010-07-04 17:42 ]

Not a problem , it just bothers some of us that the Tropics owners just dont seem to give a hoot about why some of us keep coming back there . We were at the Tropics during Modernism week and noticed this problem. My personal favorite tiki there is the parking lot tiki. But when I went to see my old friend , all I could find was an overgrown Bougainvillea bush with a malibu light glowing behind it . I pulled the bush open like Indiana Jones only to find the tiki sneering at me like it had been forgotten . I mentioned this to the manager at the office and made a polite request to have the bush trimmed around all the tikis . All I got back was a dumb look and a question as to "WHY , whats the big deal "?
We got there to Tiki Caliente 2 early on Thursday before it all started and the bush was twice as overgrown . Thats when we really sorted of demanded attention to it before the rest of the gang showed up . They were still confused . After all, the poster for the event was inspired by this tiki, my pendants were inspired by this tiki and still they asked me" Whats the big deal with you guys and tikis "? You would think that if you worked there you might want to know a little about the place, at least enough to bullshit a tourist . Anyways, I love this resort and the restaraunt even through all the changes over the years . If I remember right, My Dad used to take us to that restaraunt as a kid when they used to call it "Sambo's".

sambos it was!!

Here's the link to a great site that has tons of original Sambos photos.... including the one from Caliente Tropics.

http://www.sambosphotos.com/photocart/catalog/California-8-4.html

I think its great that the place is still there,
and that people should go there if they are going to Palm springs for other events, or just a weekend in the sun.

But for me, the only reason/time to go there would be for Tiki Caliente 3.
But being that its probably not going to be there next year.
I will have to walk over there from where Rory will be doing TC3 and walk around the grounds and remember the good times.

Jeff(btd)

[ Edited by: bigtikidude 2010-07-04 19:59 ]

On 2010-07-04 19:58, bigtikidude wrote:
But for me, the only reason/time to go there would be for Tiki Caliente 3.

Exactly.

Ray, you and Cindy are my heroes!
Maybe someone else should buy the hotel :)

On 2010-07-05 00:34, Jetson wrote:
Ray, you and Cindy are my heroes!
Maybe someone else should buy the hotel :)

Exactly.
Kudos to you Ray for saying something. You would think that they would have figured out that they have a core following based on what they already have, and look into this "tiki thing" a little bit to see if there is any money making potential in it. If they had a clue, they'd go to tiki oasis and see how big it all really is. perhaps that would help them see the light.
Well, they HAVE been beat over the head with this and they still don't get it.
Their loss.

[ Edited by: tikiyaki 2010-07-05 11:44 ]

Yes, folks, it is good to speak up!

But in all honesty, I believe what I said...

On 2010-07-04 12:01, bigbrotiki wrote:
Granted, TC is a small group compared to the "un-incorporated" Tiki lovers out there, but what we might lack in numbers, we bring forth in pure love and enthusiasm for the culture...

...in that I don't think that one packed weekend a year, however big, will make or break the Motel. They just don't care because we don't carry that much weight in the big Palm Springs holiday scheme of things. But regular over the year customers do (like Matt and his family), so everybody has to speak up and say "I am staying here because i love the Tikis and A-Frames here!" whenever they go.

Agreed. And it's hard to even think of asking them if they'd be interested in multiple events when they can't even agree to a Tiki Caliente 3.