Crowne Plaza Hanalei Hotel

San Diego, California, United States

The Crowne Plaza, originally the Hanalei Hotel (built in 1959), was host to Islands Restaurant and Islands Sushi and Pupu Bar.

The hotel became part of the the Crowne Plaza chain, and was later formally called the Crowne Plaza San Diego. Before becoming a Crowne Plaza hotel, it was a Red Lion hotel, and before that it was a Best Western. The sign for the Hanalei used to be a fantastic example of Googie signage, but tragically, it was replaced with an exceedingly bland sign when "updated" by Best Western. The "Hanalei" name was dropped entirely from use when it became the Crowne Plaza in 2007.

For many years, the Crowne Plaza was able to retain a little bit of its Polynesian feel, including tikis salvaged from Steve Crane's Luau in Beverly Hills. It is a large hotel, and the remaining tiki touches were more scattered than immersive.

In late 2006, the Islands Restaurant was gutted for "renovation", and the amount of tiki to be found here dwindled to near nothingness by 2024.

*This site was a host of the ever-growing Tiki Oasis event (2006-2019) before it moved and was held at San Diego's Paradise Point (2020) and later re-located to San Diego's Town and Country in 2021. From 2001 to 2005 Tiki Oasis was held at the Caliente Tropics in Palm Springs.

In the beginning of the Covid pandemic the hotel was contracted by the city to house homeless Covid victims (and then later, apparently immigrants) and this restaurant was closed since @2020 to the public. Fences and security were put up and those not registered to stay were turned away. Then, another remodeling was completed and the hotel opened back up in 2024 to show that nearly all traces of Tiki decor had been removed from the premises, save some lava rock on some of the walls and some tiki railings.

So, although you can visit the hotel now, as of 2024, it is essentially finished as a tiki point of interest, save for the memories.

Details

Type

Hotel/Motel

Phone

+1 619-297-1101

Address

San Diego, California, United States

Closed?

Yes (Permanently)

Links

Gallery

2 Tiki Mugs

Hanalei Hotel 50th Anniversary Coffee Mug White

Hanalei Hotel 50th Anniversary Old Fashioned Glass Red

4 Visits

Trader Tom – 7 May 2006

I stayed here with Ilene for my first Tiki Oasis. Had a great time and this supercharged my interest in Tiki. After this, I hosted some Tiki Oasis room parties along with "Dibroc" (John Corbid). We also volunteered in later years at the Tiki Tikes/Children's Care area.