The Ronjo, Montauk, Long Island, NY (motel)

Name:The Ronjo, Montauk, Long Island, NY
Type:motel
Street:
City:Montauk, Long Island
State:NY
Zip:
country:USA
Phone:(631) 668-2112
Status:operational

Description:
I just found this postcard from the Ronjo the other weekend:

Has anybody been there ? Its still around : http://www.ronjoresorts.com/

[ Edited by: puamana on 2005-02-08 11:19 ]

Oh my god! They're barbequing the tikis!!

Relax, it's just two female Tikis engaging in nude sunbathing, quite common in Montauk.

Or, these were put "off to the side" while the kids are out in the pool. Little Jimmy in the striped shirt has no idea what pagan obscenities are hidden by those flowering bushes!

That definitely looks like an old postcard. I have been to the Ronjo. Notice I said 'to' and not 'stayed'. I went into the office once to get a price on a room, and from what I saw and the impression I got from the people in the office, this place ain't all that. Montauk is a seasonal resort town filled with little motels. The Ronjo being the most festive of them, and that's not saying much. Montauk is a beach town at the very tip of Long Island, and is a nice place to visit in the summer. Usually frequented by somewhat well-to-do middle class families that either have, or have saved money during the year to have a nice vacation at one of these hotels. They're not cheap!! At the same time they're not luxurious either, just a big summer price gouge with most of the hotels being sand-trap throw backs with little retro value. They're kept in pretty decent condition and clean, but shrug. In fact I'm surprised the Ronjo still exists as a tiki themed place because it doesn't seem like the owner (or the patrons) really care about that. From what I can see the tikis were left over from the original owners and the current owners probably figure 'what the hell it brings people in and we can keep our prices high because we have a giant tiki outside, besides it cost too much to take all this stuff down and renovate'. This place is not like the Mai Kai in hotel form, maybe it was at one time, but not now. Don't waste your money travelling out there to check it out because you will have travelled a loooong way (it's 3 or so hours from New York City alone!) and it will be a major dissapointment. One other observation; if kids annoy you DON'T GO to Montauk. It seems like every family has ten of them!

[ Edited by: donhonyc on 2005-02-09 07:39 ]

Now I remember seeing a giant RONJO roadside sign Tiki somewhere...was that on the Yahoo TC?

But will we ever REALLY find out what the idea behind those BBQ Tikis was? If they were photographed like that, so prominently in the foreground, they must have been in their proper place...or not?
And will we ever know who Ron and Jo were?

Found this site on Ronjo....Looks pretty tiki inside.

http://montaukvacations.com/ronjomotel.htm

Here is another article on the Ronjo Resort.

Crazy painted reclining tikis!

• “At one point there were two gas-burning lanterns on either side,” Mr. Cangelosi said, referring to the alpha tiki, which has shrunken T. rex arms and the large club feet of a sphinx. The statue’s navel has been compared to a cinnamon doughnut, but an electric eye might be more on the mark. *

http://www.easthamptonstar.com/dnn/Archive/Home20081218/News/RonjosTiki/tabid/7393/Default.aspx

That Tiki already was ridiculous (but cool), but now it really belongs into my "Gallery of regrettable Tiki paint jobs". And it would make another great companion in a Zippy comic. Good work on digging up that article, Vern.

Here are two more postcards from the Ronjo.

One with another picture of the cool Hawaiian Tiki pool area.

And another with a crazy Tiki figure.

DC

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Talk about in your face!

It almost looks like someone in a costume...

This must be one of the greatest naive art Tikis out there. I am surprised it has not been used in a Zippy cartoon yet!
When you look at the photo Vern posted, it looks like it ran away from a miniature golf course. It would be the perfect end-of-the-lane statue!

I picked up some color slides taken in 1966 at the wacky world that is the Ronjo Motel.

The front of the hotel.

Two impressive Tikis at the sign.

Another odd Tiki on the grounds.

DC

I finally made got some scans and photo enhancements of the Ronjo slides I picked up courtesy of Bigbro.

Here is another shot of the hotel front

And a close up of the giant Tiki that must have escaped from a miniature golf course.

A better shot of the entrance sign Tikis, and a third Tiki shown on the right side.

A view of the back of the hotel - nice cars in the lot.

Another Tiki on the wall

An enhanced version to see the details of this one.

A corrected shot of the Tiki in the gable.

Ronjo, what a place!

DC

A few close ups from the front of the hotel.

A young lady posing for a photo shot with the big Tiki, say Cheese!

Here is the entrance fountain feature, you can pick up a few more strange Tikis.

DC

What better day than Halloween for a new post on the Wacky World of Ronjo! I picked up this 1972 brochure that is full of photos and info.

The BBQ area by the pool, they are cooking fish this time instead of Tikis!

Cool bridge, giant clam shells, Tikis and the band.

The guest rooms... with a Witco! Check out that Tapa coffee table.

The kids pool and killer kids Tiki playground.

More shots of the pool and the swinging BBQ area with another Witco.

This rate sheet brochure came with the package.

With a great rendering of the grounds.

The activities. You could FISH right from the shore!!!

Ahhh, Ronjo!

DC

Great find! Love that Chinese swag lamp logo...and though earlier on they had some cool "natural wood" Witco and other Tikis around the premises, apparently by 1972 Tiki Devolution had set in and clown paint jobs were applied on Tikis - or they came like that from Orchids of Hawaii, like those cheesy masks that look like they were moved from shot to shot and leaned on fixtures to make the settings look more "colorful" in the photos. :D

And that room ! - A perfect period piece: Witco "Kailu" statue, rattan chairs, Treasure Craft ashtrays, black velvet nude, swag lamp over table...I wanna live there!

Oh, and this time they have gotten wise, and are BBQ-ing fish and not the Tikis. And the Tiki next to the rendering of the hotel looks like an attempt of the one on the right in this previously posted card:

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2012-11-01 12:56 ]

Bigbro,

I agree, it looks like they ended up painting the Tikis in the 1970s de-evolution period. Ronjo definitely makes top billing on the "The Gallery of Regrettable Tiki Paint Jobs" list.

http://www.tikicentral.com/viewtopic.php?mode=viewtopic&topic=28094&forum=1&start=0&hilite=regretable

DC

Picked up this oversized postcard from the Ronjo resort with the pool scene and two interior room photos(with Witcos).

DC

Thank you for bumping this thread, DC. Somehow I've missed ever seeing it. What a crazy place!

What it currently looks like.

Ronjo has been renovated and is now known as The Montauk Beach House. http://thembh.com
A matchbook that I saw on eBay.

A cute t-shirt with the devolved tiki on it is available from Montauk Mainstay.

https://www.montaukmainstay.com/collections/ronjo-resort-and-motel