Construction of the Korolevu Beach Hotel began in 1948.

Situated along the Coral Coast, halfway between Nadi and Suva, a stretch of coast long known as the Fijian Riviera.

The Korolevu in its day was a landmark beachfront development which drew colonial expatriates from the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand. This hotel fostered the beginning of mass market tourism to Fiji.

Original Korolevu proprietor Bill Clark is said to have confided to a friend that it was economics that prompted his design choice for the individual accommodation units, since local villagers could build them for a fraction of the cost of building Western-style buildings. His plan was to recreate a typical Fijian village with everything tourists would need.

Later, Clark acknowledged that he knew the Fijian word bure originally referred to a temple building, and the individual units should really have been called valevakaviti, the Fijian-style stand-alone hut. But Clark surmised rightly of course that tourists would never get their tongues around the proper name.

Clark got much of his inspiration for building Korolevu after travelling to Honolulu and seeing how indigenous tourism was rapidly evolving on the island. He brought back innovations like the lounge bar, and built his accommodation block facing out over the beach to the reef, and extensively landscaping around the accommodation.

This tourism visionary also came up with Fijian-themed entertainment, put on feasts every night and introduced cultural shows to educate guests about "local" ways of life.

During its heyday, it is said the martinis flowed like water, the parties were wild and families also enjoyed the wide open expanse of land and safe swimming beaches. Partying colonials were joined by large numbers of American tourists flown in by Pan American Airlines whose planes stopped at Nadi to refuel before heading on to Auckland or Sydney.

Added to the customer mix were regular air crews from Pan Am, BOAC, Qantas, Teal and later Air New Zealand who all helped to make the hotel renowned for its lively atmosphere.

The bar photo below shows that there were tikis on the support pillars, in addition to the abundance of bamboo and other natural materials used to make the interiors the equal (if not superior) to other contemporary Honolulu bars Clark may have seen prior to his build-out.

Two unrelated events saw the Korolevu Beach Resort close down in 1983. First a major hurricane destroyed power lines all around the Coral Coast, and caused substantial damage to the hotel.

It took almost a year for power to be restored, and without mains electricity the hotel could not cater to guests.

Soon after, a lease-holding dispute erupted. Land ownership is complex in Fiji, the land title for the Korolevu hotel spread over nine freehold titles, three contiguous native leases and a Crown lease to the deep water access.

The dispute escalated until all the hotel’s furnishings and fittings were removed over one night, leaving the once effervescent hotel stripped of every shred of charm and character.

Faced with a massive reinvestment to get the venue up and running again, its owners, all close to retirement, decided it was easier to shut up completely. They eventually sold the site in 1991 to Northern Hotels who at the time unveiled major plans to re-establish a tourism operation on the prominent headland and adjoining hillsides.

But no plan to redevelop the site has ever materialized...

This pre-tiki bar with its classic neon palm tree sign outside dates back to the 1940s but eventually succumbed to the wrecking ball some time after the late 1990s.

This pre-tiki location started out in the 40s at 2701 West Coast Highway and moved @ 1949 or so to 801 Coast Highway.

Primarily a clothing store, the Beachcomber Shop sold bathing suits, yachting hats and caps, Aloha shirts by Shaheen, tog sandals, and other beach attire.

The exterior of the shop was recognizable for its entrance framed by an old boat and signs made out of old nautical rope.

Judging by ads and catalogues, this shop continued at least into the 1950s.

Opened in 2015 by Cheshire-based brothers, Anthony and Edward Prophet, in the bustling Goose Green area of Altrincham Town Centre. This venture follows the launch of the pair’s Waikiki Tiki bar in Chester eight months before (which later closed @2017-2018).

Trader's Tiki Bar has an outside patio and a more recently built upstairs area as well.

Soft opening July 3-4th, 2024.

Founded as a speakeasy tiki bar with a generally nautical theme inside a larger restaurant called MacStack Tavern in Port Clinton, Ohio outside Sandusky.

The AC Hotel by Marriott is a 112 room boutique hotel with an expansive lobby, full service restaurant, two bars, Yours Truly Speakeasy, coffee bistro, fitness center, conference, event spaces, business center, concierge and VIP access to the best of Honolulus vibrant business district, artisan storefronts and diversified nightlife.

Yours Truly opened @ January 2024 and pays homage to the space's former identity as a post office.

Patrons fill out postcards and drop them in the vintage mailbox nearby to make their cocktail orders, which are later brought to their table.

Opened Wednesday, September 14th, 2022.

The owners of Tigerlily restaurant in Ferndale converted a former office space in the building into a tiki-themed “speakeasy”-style bar called Mai Tiki.

The narrow, 900-square-foot room is accessible via a “semi-concealed” door on the side of Tigerlily’s dining room, which the restaurant describes as “a portal to an island getaway” with a wraparound mural, thatch canopy, and “island relics,” including gold skulls. Mai Tiki is also accessible via a rear door on the Troy Street side of the building.

In addition to their cocktails (see menu below), the spot has a food menu with small plates like crab rangoon, robata-grilled pineapple, pork belly bao, and fish tacos. The menu was developed by Tigerlily chef Chris Vasquez, a metro Detroit native who has worked at Maru Sushi and Nippon Sushi Bar who returned to Michigan following a stint as head sushi chef at Chicago’s acclaimed Momotaro.

When you book Mai Tiki you get the whole place to yourself! The room seats about 51 guests including 12 bar seats and has a capacity of 60 Guests.

This bar & restaurant used to be named Da Big Kahuna (@2011-2015) which had the same tikis out front and the same decor inside and out but skewed a bit more to the dive bar side.

Not to be confused with Big Kahuna's Pizza (since 1994 and still running).

This incarnation, Lava Tube, opened @2018 under new ownership and prides itself on being locally owned and using locally sourced food.

Opened in early 2022.

This bar is known for its live performances, with regular music, karaoke, and burlesque showcases held in a stage area.

The interior decor includes a large tiki head built into the back bar as well as glass fish floats suspended from the ceiling and lots of artificial greenery.

They also have a large back deck with an excellent canal view as one would guess from the name.

Opened in 2022 by Zach Marsh.

This barbershop may not serve cocktails, but they play exotica and other tiki-friendly music while you have a relaxing shave in a tiki-themed atmosphere decorated with Bac Bac on the walls, tiki artwork, masks, mugs, tapa cloth, and all the other details that would make a tikiphile right at home.

Featured in pages 4-6 of Exotica Moderne, Issue 24, 2024.

This Vietnamese bar opened in Summer of 2023.

As one would expect, it has some fusion elements and is not trying to clone the Trader Vic or Don the Beachcomber aesthetic.

However, it has a number of Tiki features that Westerners would expect -- it is dark and moody with colorful lighting, tiki masks adorn the walls, the back bar is set up with an elegant re-imagining of three boat prows with a thatched tile backing. Blue and green Chinese breezeway tiles frame one entrance. They also have a wide variety of tropical drinks on their menu and serve them in a variety of tiki mugs.

From Makara:

"MAKARA is a handcrafted cocktail bar with creative tropical drinks served in a unique Vietnamese-American ambiance.

A Western tiki bar reimagined, MAKARA celebrates the beauty and diversity of Vietnamese culture through exotic beverages, food, décor, and music — all in a cozy, romantic venue in the heart of Đà Nẵng."