Tiki Spa in Palm Springs to de-tiki

Owners want to de-tiki the old Tiki Spa hotel
From the Desert Sun online paper 4/4/09

The once kitschy Tiki Spa hotel in Palm Springs now sits vacant and boarded up.
Gone are the tiki poles and the lava stone. Only the A-line roofs remain as a reminder of those 1960s tiki-era days.

Some would like to see the Polynesian influence remain at the dilapidated hotel at 1910 South Camino Real.

The owners have another idea.

“It won't have the tiki look,” property co-owner Allen Yadgari said. “It will be more contemporary and modern.”

Yet while Yadgari and partner Robert Kashefi have a name for their project (“Hotel Moderne”), they don't have the $2 million they say it will take to fix up the 30-room hotel.

“We are seeking financing,” Yadgari said.

One way might be to dump the property all together. It's been listed with Coldwell Banker Commercial Lyle & Associates for a year, said senior vice president Michael Kassinger. Yadgari has owned the 1.2-acre parcel for about two years and is asking about $1.6 million, Kassinger said. It was empty when he bought it.

“There's been a lot of interest,” Kassinger said. “But financing is virtually impossible to get.”

In the meantime, Yadgari said he will keep the hotel and hopes to start construction in early 2010.

Yadgari and Kashefi recently sunk $3 million into the Travelodge in Palm Springs and hope to now focus on the former Tiki Spa hotel.

All tiki-esque pieces would be removed, and the walls in the lobby would be replaced with glass. The courtyard, now overgrown, would be spruced up, and a hot tub would be added, as well as a spa.

Casey Jones, a partner with TimeOut Services in Palm Springs, said he'd like to see the Polynesian theme remain.

“That was the true history of the property,” Jones said.

In the early 2000s, Jones was part of a team that rehabilitated the Caliente Tropics, another tiki-themed hotel in Palm Springs on East Palm Canyon Drive.

When he and partner Charlie Robles came aboard, the plan was to de-tiki the hotel. That was, until the Palm Springs Modern Committee stepped in and educated them about why the personality was important.

(2 of 2)

“We thought it was tacky and gross (at first),” Jones said, calling the tiki theme the “poor step-sister of mid-century modern architecture.”

Now he said he understands why themes and personality can play an important part in the tourism industry.

Unfortunately, he said, the former Tiki Spa on South Camino Real has probably deteriorated so much it would be difficult to bring it back to its original South Pacific grandeur.

The city's code enforcement is continually after the property owners, who are contacted often to protect the hotel from intruders, Yadgari said.

According to City Manager David Ready's April report to the City Council, the property owners have removed all dead vegetation from the north end of the parking lot and have recently re-boarded and painted the doors to the units that have been vandalized.

They are are also removing debris that resulted from recent windstorms. Code and building staff will continue to monitor the property, according to Ready's report.

Stefanie Frith covers Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. She can be reached at 778-4757

---

Let that Freaky Tiki Flag Fly,

wildsville man

Rory Snyder (A.K.A. Wildsville-man)

[ Edited by: wildsville man 2009-05-04 18:14 ]

[ Edited by: Wildsville man 2009-05-04 20:43 ]

Martina the wonder mutt and I jumped the fence of the Tiki Spa to show you what it looks like......
Sad to see it like this!!!!!!!!!!!

:cry:

Thanks for the pictures! I drove by today after reading the paper this morning and wondered what "tiki-esque pieces" were left!

“We thought it was tacky and gross (at first),” Jones said, calling the tiki theme the “poor step-sister of mid-century modern architecture.”

hmmmph

That is soooo sad, thanks for pix Rory. With this economy in such a slump, the step-sister is likely to falter. :(

“It will be more contemporary and modern.”

I think that's a typo. It should have been "contemporary and mYAWNdern."

Here's the link to the article:

http://www.mydesert.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/200905040300/NEWS05/905040316

"Owners want to de-tiki the old Tiki Spa hotel"
STEFANIE FRITH • THE DESERT SUN • MAY 4, 2009

I appreciate the sentiment, but she's a little late to the funeral. That poor ruin has been de-tikied many many years ago. Where was the press coverage in the early 2000s, when the place was stripped of its last elements of Tiki style, when the outrigger beams were sawed off and the rock walls were torn down?

"The once kitschy Tiki Spa hotel in Palm Springs now sits vacant and boarded up."
And why-oh-why can't the press mention Tiki once without using "kitschy" as the descriptive adjective ? Sigh.

Thank you Rory for the post, allow me to ad a little additional info:

This is how the place looked when I discovered it in 1992:

Any place with the name "Tiki" was gold to me, and so the cool sign made it int the BOT:

Best of all, it still had a very unique Tiki standing guard outside:

And when I discovered these photos at Oceanic Arts...

..it seemed obvious that I had come upon a rare specimen of a carving by Bob Lutz (pictured)
(Recently though I was informed that someone contacted Bob and Leroy claiming these Tikis were not Lutz's work, I will have to look into this). On a little side note, the riddle of the location of the above photos (the sign seems to read "Mai-Tai Room") was never solved.

But back to the Tiki Spa. If you notice the pink and white paint job on the buildings, it becomes clear that by 1992 the 80s had done their dastardly job, and viewing the photo and description from their last brochure below:

demonstrates that very little of the original decor had survived, besides the elements I photographed above. Nevertheless, it was a tranquil mom & pop place still. Jeff and Aneene Berry stayed there during the first Tiki Oasis event in 2001.

So how did it end up like this?:

The original owners had died,

...and one of the daughters took the job of running the place. Unfortunately she was mentally handicapped and did not notice that the rooms were taken over by crack heads and their dealers. The early 90s was a depressed era for Palm Springs, mid-century modernism had not been re-discovered yet, and business was slow. By the early 2000s, the daughter had to give up the business, and the son, now a lawyer in San Diego, wanted to have no part of it. Oblivious to the emerging Tiki revival, he let some contractor wreck the place by removing the Tiki elements mentioned above in hopes it would look less "dated". Then he just let it sit there.

I used to drive by there whenever I came to Palm Springs, it was always surrounded by a chain link fence. Now a month ago or so, I did my regular drive by, and the fence was gone. Being aware that Tiki ruins hold their own special mystique, I decided to explore. This is what I found:

The waterfall was gone, but the moat around the main lobby was still there. So was some nautical rope around the pylons, and a rockwall:

The whole place was completely boarded up, even the side courtyards

Everything was out of service

The paint was peeling

and the jacuzzi was de-tiled

Nearby, I was thrilled to find remnants of what once must have been a huge Tiki

All that was left were its eyes, which once sat on the sides of the carving. With the help of cell phone technology, I quickly summoned some local/visiting urban archeologists

All were in awe of the relics

But imagine my surprise when I discovered HIM !!!

He had disappeared from the front years ago, and I had long given up on him.
Something had to be done...

Well, to make a long story short, a ride was arranged

and this precious artifact was rescued from its unappreciative surroundings.

Elvis had left the building. Rest in peace, Tiki Spa, you will be remembered.

[ Edited by: bigbrotiki 2009-05-04 22:56 ]

Sven,

That is one great escape.

Don't leave us hanging here, where did Elvis end up? The moon? Silverlake?

DC

Let's just say he found a good home, with someone who cares. And no, not me in this case.

On 2009-05-04 22:52, bigbrotiki wrote:

and the jacuzzi was de-tiled

Ouch! Jacuzzi was de-tiled?!! That's Barbaric!

I'm glad there's a nice ending to the story. Tiki-Kate and I stopped by a few months ago and looked around a little, We checked the dumpsters and found nothing. I think there was some construction going on inside so we took off.

Here is a yellow pages ad from happier days I found in the Palm Springs library ~

I forgot to write down the year but it may have been 1967. :roll:

OMG! What an amazing place! I am glad the proposed owners can't raise the $2 Mil.
Maybe they can renovate for cheaper!

Sven,
glad to see you saved a piece of history for us tiki folks. I did the same yesterday at a resort down the street.......saw this sitting outside by the trash!!!!!!!

Once a door to something,now tiki art history!!!!!!!!

Is this Bamboo Ben Circa 2003?

Good save. Someone needs to get ahold of this sign...

...before its gets trashed, or hidden for another 35 years (about the time when the Congo Room became the Reef)

AND someone (hint hint) needs to monitor that site so they don't fly under the radar and possibly wreck more of it!

I keep an eye on it weekly!!!! That Conga sign is hard to get out,or so I hear!!! You need tools and you need to remember it is right across the way from the front office. The patio of the Reef/Bills is now cut in half and all the windows are now covered over. Not with black paper like before,it looks like they will be drywalled over with a new entry way to the right of the old door. Allot of the old Tiki's and Stuff are locked in a storage room next to the Washer/Drier room in back!!!!

And this poor bastard has a metal rod in back holding it up and had a bad case of dry-rot.

But the usual Tikis on the grounds are still there, right? I heard about that insanity that they apparently will have no visual connection from the bar to the pool....which to me seemed to be the whole damn appeal of the bar!

I know about the sign, it's screws that have been painted, and are probably rusted underneath. I think the only way would be to charm that manager and do it with her OK.

On 2009-05-05 00:09, christiki295 wrote:
OMG! What an amazing place! I am glad the proposed owners can't raise the $2 Mil.
Maybe they can renovate for cheaper!

Renovate what? Those structures are bare bones, that's all that's left, they can plop any theme on top of that.
I vote that the place STAYS LIKE IT IS, sort of the urban archeology version of "The Living Desert", and you have to pay ten bucks to tour it. With the ACE Hotel, the Caliente Tropics and The Horizon Hotel just down the street, there will be a steady flow of modernist and Tiki hipsters that will explore the place and bemoan its fate, coming up with genius renovation ideas. If you read the end of the article, apparently there already have been frequent exploration parties.

Wildsville man, in ragged Beachcomber gear, would be the ideal tour guide. Maybe he could even man his own "empty pool side" bar and call it The Wreck!

Very good read....And I'm glad someone got the tikis, before the trashman did!

On 2009-05-05 16:07, Tom Slick wrote:
Very good read....And I'm glad someone got the tikis, before the trashman did!

Or someone decided to have a campfire out there.. Way to go Bigbro!!

On 2009-05-05 11:48, Wildsville man wrote:
Sven,
glad to see you saved a piece of history for us tiki folks. I did the same yesterday at a resort down the street.......saw this sitting outside by the trash!!!!!!!

Once a door to something,now tiki art history!!!!!!!!

Is this Bamboo Ben Circa 2003?

Yup!

It's 1 of 2 doors that were on a cabinet I donated.

Actually, I donated the entire interior. And Crazy Al did some stuff too!

Rory, seek out Antonio the grounds keeper. Tell him Bamboo Ben sent you to recover

anything that is left.

We also spotted the Tiki Spa last month on vacation, but we had no idea of its history nor did we spot the giant, now rescued tiki (good work!)so this is fascinating to catch this post!

We also spotted a tiki trailer in the Sahara Motor Home court right across the street from it.
Take a bike ride through the Sahara, if you get a chance, it's a nice little oasis.

On 2009-05-05 11:48, Wildsville man wrote:
Sven,
glad to see you saved a piece of history for us tiki folks. I did the same yesterday at a resort down the street.......saw this sitting outside by the trash!!!!!!!

Once a door to something,now tiki art history!!!!!!!!

Is this Bamboo Ben Circa 2003?

Nice preservation.

Rumor has it, the property will now be come "low income" housing. Sounds like most of the structure details will remain. Anyone have more info??

On 2009-05-05 15:06, bigbrotiki wrote:

On 2009-05-05 00:09, christiki295 wrote:
OMG! What an amazing place! I am glad the proposed owners can't raise the $2 Mil.
Maybe they can renovate for cheaper!

Renovate what? Those structures are bare bones, that's all that's left, they can plop any theme on top of that.
I vote that the place STAYS LIKE IT IS, sort of the urban archeology version of "The Living Desert", and you have to pay ten bucks to tour it. With the ACE Hotel, the Caliente Tropics and The Horizon Hotel just down the street, there will be a steady flow of modernist and Tiki hipsters that will explore the place . . .

I did so explore, and well worth it!
But, it still would be better as a hotel, than as public housing.
I can't imagine the adjacent golf course community would approve of such housing.
But, if there is no financing . . .

On 2009-05-04 12:59, Wildsville man wrote:
Owners want to de-tiki the old Tiki Spa hotel
From the Desert Sun online paper 4/4/09

The once kitschy Tiki Spa hotel in Palm Springs now sits vacant and boarded up.
Gone are the tiki poles and the lava stone. Only the A-line roofs remain as a reminder of those 1960s tiki-era days.
. . .
When he and partner Charlie Robles came aboard, the plan was to de-tiki the hotel. That was, until the Palm Springs Modern Committee stepped in and educated them about why the personality was important.

I wonder if the Palm Springs Mod Com can work their magic again,
this time with the City?

I was over at the Tiki Spa today after I took a pictures of the Caliente Tropics A-Frame. I jumped the fence to see what has happened since the last time i walked it about a year ago. My opinion is..........

This Place is F'ed up!!!!!! As I love the original design. It is falling apart and I believe anyone is going to think its to costly to fix up.
There is a 8 foot kinda tiki sitting in the empty pool if you want to pick it up......but even I turned it down.

I hope the modernism board do's not get involved if someone buys this property.I would hate to see someone take a risk and buy this property only to be dictated what to do with it. Unless they are flipping the bill that is.......

W

[i]On 2009-05-05 20:13, KikiTiki wrote:

A closer look at the structure indicates that, sadly, you are right, Wildsman.
Any future owner would be purchasing the land.
The wooden roof certainly is useless, and I doubt financing could be obtained for the renovation.
More importantly, it is only 1-story, and any developer would need to increase the number of units to get
a return on the investment.

MAJOR contstruction going on there today. Not sure if it's being torn down or cleaned up. I'm gonna try to go back and take some pictures.

Well, some good news! Talked to one of the workers there and he said they are not tearing it down. It will be fixed up and and become a place called "Michaels House." A place for people who have become sober and need cheap rent. So, I guess the rumors of it being low income housing weren't too far off. The worker told me they are keeping the structure (A-Frames) the way it is and rebuilding the part that got burned. I noticed stacks of plywood and two by fours and it appeared that some of the rooms were being re-framed. At least it is not being torned down!

I use to walk by this place a lot in my Junior High School and High School days. If I remember correctly, it wasn't in the best of neighborhoods at the time. (late 80s, early 90s)

Directly behind it is the historical "Twin Palms" neighborhood. Alexander "Butterfly Roof" Mecca! Seems like a good neighborhood these days.

That is a very high end area these day's. besides the trailer part across the street for 55 years of age or older,houses in that area rent for 6,000 a month during the season.

Glad to see someone using that building again. I believe it was given to Michaels house as a tax right off.

---

Rory "WILDSVILLE MAN" Snyder

http://www.tiki-caliente.com/

[ Edited by: wildsville man 2011-10-09 22:02 ]

Lol at it becoming a "sobriety house". Anyone else find it ironic a bunch of recovering alcoholics moving into a polypop styled A-frame building and NOT drinking?
Boy, times sure are changing! If those walls could speak.... :lol:

Well, especially ironic because in the last years of its decline it was inhabited by crack dealers.

Amazing, I had completely given up on the place. I doubt though that any of the Poly pop accents will be recreated.

Someone should pitch the idea to them of keeping it's history as a "rejuvenation" tiki inspired. Maybe they could have non-alcoholic cocktail parties there. I kid... I kid...

But actually, keeping it a "fun" and inviting environment would be an awesome things for recovery.

Indeed, the former Tiki Spa Hotel in Palm Springs reopened as a sober living home. At least they kept the tiki roof line!

Today's Desert Sun article: http://www.mydesert.com/article/20120503/NEWS01/205020375/New-Michael-s-House-Palm-Springs-offers-path-sobriety

On 2012-05-03 15:09, The Mod Jetsetter wrote:
At least they kept the tiki roof line!

Yes, maintaining that architecturally significant aspect in the restoration, as opposed to letting the remnants unceremoniously collapse into a heap, was better than anyone could have hoped for.

Am I correct in assuming that no historical material has been uploaded for the Spa?
May I rectify that situation? A 1960s brochure. The images loaded in the reverse of the order I intended.

VERY nice! Indeed, no historical material existed of this gem until now - and I have been watching for it since 1992!

The more mom & pop these places are, the less advertising material they produced, so this is a great find, thank you!

Great brochure. Love the illustrations.

clayfran, if you edit your post, you can cut and paste the image tag lines to put them into the order you want.

always fun to google street view the addresses of businesses from the 50/60s. That travel agent on that book of matches? Now it's the uptown bart station. But judging from the other original buildings around it, it used to be the center of downtown commerce.

On 2016-03-11 07:20, lucas vigor wrote:
always fun to google street view the addresses of businesses from the 50/60s. That travel agent on that book of matches? Now it's the uptown bart station. But judging from the other original buildings around it, it used to be the center of downtown commerce.

Actually, the 19th Street BART station just has an entrance right in front of it. It was Capwells for ages, who were then bought by The Emporium, and then for years it was a Sears that got so run down that at one point someone broke one of the windows and they merely boarded it up, never replaced it. It looked abandoned...until you saw someone leave with a shopping bag! It IS closed now - it's the building in white wrap on the google street view.

That area of Oakland was originally THE place to shop, and stayed that way for decades. Eventually it got quite run down and by the 80s it was pretty horrid - it stayed that way for a couple of decades more, in spite of the law firms and high rises a couple of blocks away. Then the whole Oaksterdam movement gave the area a huge shot in the arm, and a bunch of new businesses moved in and really turned the area around. Now it's brilliant - tons of restaurants, clubs / music venues, great bars, and fantastic shops.