Built in 1968, the Merrillwood Mall had 30 exclusive shops on the first and second levels as well as the luxurious Merrillwood Arms Apartments on the upper four levels.

One of these exclusive shops was Hale Hawaii, which was located on the second level and sold sportswear, swimwear, leisure wear, jewelry, perfume, luau accessories and exotic gifts.

Today, as of 2022, this site is known as the Merrillwood Collection Apartments but still appears to be the same building construction.

Opened March 2nd, 2022.

The Luau was developed by owner/bartender Brett Rose to "stoke the masses".

Though not as lavishly decorated as some tiki palaces, tilting perhaps a touch more towards the surf bar than the tiki bar end of the spectrum with its coral painted walls and serviceable wood café chairs, there are still, indeed, several tikis throughout.

It has a live music stage in front of house and an outdoor patio in back.

Some nice decorative touches include a wall of ukuleles behind the live music stage, some Oceanic Arts style masks on the walls, lauhala matting, fish floats, and a couple of concrete tiki fountains out on the patio.

Tiki favorites are served in tiki mugs and volcano bowls. Including the Tropical Itch cocktail, with backscratchers included.

The Jefferson Davis Hotel is a former hotel located in Montgomery, Alabama. It was named for Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederate States of America. Built in 1927. It was one in a chain of Carling Dinkler family owned hotels named after Confederate war leaders. Dinkler also opened the Luau in Nashville which he sold to the Dobb's.

The Surf Rider Lounge was opened on September 15th, 1960. The Alabama Journal has the following to say about the opening night entertainment:

"The entertainment picture of Montgomery became in focus last night with the opening of the Surf Rider Room in the Jefferson Davis Hotel and the arrival of Dorita. Both are wonderful! The style of Dorita is refreshing, to say the least. A fine musician, a fine singer and, above all, a top notch entertainer, she is exactly what the newly redone lounge needs to set it off as Montgomery's lounge of distinction. Dorita is an entertainer of note. Facile with both English and Spanish, she has just enough of the Latin temperament and feeling for her music to be able to sing with sincerity and that deep feeling which make the difference between true artistry and mere technical skill. Her interpretations of some of the old favorite Spanish numbers are without peer. Singing 'Granada' she manages to take her audience off on a musical venture which is fascinating and colorful. The decoration of the Surf Rider Room is, for Montgomery, out of this world. Using a Polynesian motif, the decorator managed to achieve the atmosphere without being gaudy or ostentatious. The overall harmony of style meets the eye gently, as, indeed, it should in a place of that type. One coming into the room is aware of theme without being aware of any one aspect which goes to make up the theme. The Surf Rider Room Is easily the mast delightful lounge in our state."

The lone remaining image of the Surf Rider, on postcards, shows it was painted in light blue with fish netting hanging from the ceiling and shells and other flotsam and jetsam caught up in the netting.

It is unclear when the Surf Rider Lounge at the Jefferson Davis Hotel closed, but it probably did not last very long.

There was also a second Surf Rider Lounge at the Andrew Jackson Hotel in Nashville which was later bulldozed in 1971 to make room for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center and the James K. Polk State Office Building.

The Jefferson Davis Hotel was added to the National Register of Historic Places on March 13, 1979.

This location looks much the same on the exterior but is currently used as apartments for the elderly -- The Jefferson Davis Apartments.

Bali Ha'i was open by at least 1966, possibly as early as 1963.

It was a much loved and popular nightclub in South West London. The club entrance was adjacent to the right hand side of Streatham Silver Blades Ice Rink. You climbed a set of stairs, and the club was housed above the rink. You could look down on the skaters from inside the club, which was a unique quality.

The Silver Blades Ice Rink opened on 26 February 1931.

Bali Ha'i was synonymous with Reggae Music in the mid 1970s to the 1980s, with one of the top-ranking sound systems in South London, Soferno B, taking a residence in the club on Sunday nights. It was also known for its Motown, Soul / Northern Soul and the many disco classics associated with that era, not to mention the latest US imports.

The club was demolished at some point in 2011 (although probably stopped running years before then), and Streatham Ice Rink was replaced by a mixed-use complex which opened 18 November 2013, featuring a Tesco store and an Olympic-sized ice rink and swimming pool.

The Naniloa was first opened as a hotel in 1939. The name "Naniloa" means "very beautiful".

The Polynesian Room was built in 1964.

The Polynesian Room was an interesting construction of 4 hut-shaped buildings. Several tiki poles throughout and on the exterior walkway leading to the buildings as well.

The interior was trimmed out in a fantastic array of bamboo and tapa cloth with many unusual features, including bamboo chandeliers and a thatched roof over the stage area where each beam was capped with a Maori warclub (from Oceanic Arts).

The building fell into disuse and during "renovations" everything was painted, including many carvings that had previously been naturally finished with stain & oil.

Today, as of 2022, the site is run as a Hilton Doubletree Hotel. The Polynesian Room hut buildings are not highlighted in any promotions and it appears they have been treated as storage.

Hopefully, at some point, they will be given some attention and brought back to life...

Opened in 1974.

From the August 22, 1974 Chicago Tribune:

"A Polynesian restaurant tucked away in a little shopping center called White Plains. Unusually good food in the Chinese-Cantonese tradition accented with an occasional American touch such as steak with salad and french fries. Soft and soothing background taped music of Hawaii. Interior design, overall ambiance remindful of all the other Polynesian restaurants that you've visited in the States, including Hawaii. But why Northbrook for so many restaurants? Isn't there a satiation point? ECHOING comments of many other restaurateurs of the area was Wally Chin's emphatic 'This is a going community! New homes are going up; new industries coming in.' Mr. Chin, who is co-owner of Kahala Terrace with his brother, Bob Chin, points to a developing industrial park across the highway from the Kahala. Easy access to Northbrook via Edens Expressway, and elimination of parking problems also are positive factors. FARTHER NORTH at County Line and Lee Roads in Northbrook, a proposed courtyard of nationality restaurants in a prestigious shopping area that will include Neiman-Marcus and Lord and Taylor specialty stores and a Sears Roebuck department store, is scheduled for completion in the fall of 1975. Blueprints for the p r o j e c t Northbrook Court also call for parks, small lakes, and condominiums on the 130-acre property. Although many of the residents of the area are vehemently protesting the mammoth project, construction presently is continuing.

Owners of Kahala Terrace are not newcomers to the suburbs. After a year as maitre d' at Kon Tiki Ports in the Sheraton-Chicago. 505 N. Michigan Av., Wally Chin operated Chan's Tea House in Highland Park for 10 years. Bob Chin continues as owner of the House of Chan, a catering establishment in Wilmette, and now manages catering facilities for the Kahala also. Barmaids at the Kahala, which specializes in exotic mixed drinks, are Wally's daughter, Judy, and Bob's daughter, Marilyn, fresh from bartending school. Restauranteuring, in fact, is a way of life for the Chin family. Wally and Bob's brother, Henry, is proprietor of the House of Chinn, an excellent Cantonese restaurant at 6355 N. Western Av. A FOURTH brother, Howard, operates New Wilson Village, a surprisingly good restaurant in a shabby old block at 1120-22 Wilson Av., established by the brothers' parents some 40 years ago.

Evening specialty of the house is the Kahala version of a Polynesian Iuau at $7.50 per person, beginning with soup or juice and a platter of appetizers egg rolls, crab rangoon, shrimp, barbecued ribs, pineapple in chicken. Six main courses that change daily, always including beef, chicken, and seafood dishes, are arranged at an elaborate self-help buffet."

Despite this overall good opening review and the bonafides of Wally as a maitre d' at Kon Tiki Ports, the interior of the restaurant screams 70s tiki devolution with the lack of decor, the 70s flower print cushions on the rattan chairs, the exposed brickwork, and the cedar shingles in lieu of proper thatching.

Ads show that Kahala Terrace was open at least as late as 1983.

NOTES:

*Bob Chin lived to be 99 and died April 15th, 2022. His biggest and best known restaurant was Bob Chinn's Crab House in Chicago, which he started in 1982. It would be his 14th restaurant and the longest lasting. He served the same mai-tais there that he did at the Kahala Terrace location.

**As of 2022, the location of Kahala Terrace is now home to a FastSigns print shop.

Opened in June 2020 after delays from COVID lockdowns following their first soft opening.

Located at 48 S. Magnolia Ave, this bar sits next door to the Marion Theatre in downtown Ocala.

The front exterior features windows decorated with images of palm trees.

The bar itself is decorated to look like a long stack of shipping crates. The ceiling is painted black with some Chinese parasol umbrellas and fish floats hanging about.

Ceiling lighting supplied by can lights and retro 50s wire cage covered barn/industrial pendant lights.

Coral wall paint scheme in both the bar and separate lounge area, but the bar also has some lauhala matting, tropical leaf wallpaper, and at least one section of wall covered in fake tropical foliage to give more visual interest.

The wall of fake foliage and peachy/coral paint on the wall is reminiscent of Water Witch Tiki Bar in Georgia (which opened in February 2020). Perhaps this is a Florida/Georgia trend or look?

Lots of small framed ephemera and some tiki masks on the walls.

The bar does not appear to have large tiki poles or large signature pieces, but there is certainly plenty of room to add more over time if they choose.

They appear to have a good selection of rum on the backbar and a thriving craft cocktail menu featuring rotating and seasonal cocktails.

Aloha Beautiful, in downtown Orlando, did a soft opening March 17th, 2021 and a full opening on March 18th-20th, 2021.

The space was formerly inhabited by Joysticks Arcade Lounge and traces of the arcade remained with a monopoly top bar and a few pinball games.

The bar had tons of room and a free-flowing eclectic nature with various areas for patrons, including a full karaoke stage, the main bar, several lounge areas with couches and rattan chairs, and private VIP Karaoke rooms.

Though not a traditional tiki bar, there were lots of tiki elements, including a 6' tall fiberglass Ku Tiki with glowing red eyes, rattan, fish floats and netting on the ceiling, and shrunken heads hanging over the bar.

This space began transitioning to become Phoenix Jazz Bar @ March 2025 (as reflected on their old website address).

Opened November 15th, 2020.

Castaways Cove is located in the basement of River Mountain Lodge, and replaced the old Tiki Mana bar.

Owners Michael Beseda and Justin Guadagnoli, longtime Summit County locals, aspire to a cocktail bar that will be “representing the golden era of tiki” in the 1950s, according to Beseda, with 30 types of rum.

Judging by postcards, this motel was built in the 1940s-50s.

Advertising from its later years boasted: "King Size Rooms & Kitchenette Efficiencies - Completely Air Conditioned & Heated - 'Tiki' Coffee Shop - Recreation Room - Heated Fresh Water Swimming Pool - Shuffleboard - 200 Feet Private Beach - Free TV - Free parking at your Door - Open All Year."

It began with a relatively simple facade and pastel/pink color scheme. Later, they went full "Tiki" with several masks out front and the "Tiki Coffee Shop."

This building was torn down to make way for Jade Signature Condos in 2018.

Opened August 2nd, 2022.

Mothership is a sci-fi tropical themed bar in San Diego, CA that is a partnership between the owner of Kindred and CH Projects (False Idol, Polite Provisions, Raised By Wolves and more).

Designed by Ignacio “Notch” Gonzalez, Mothership imagines a restaurant and cocktail lounge build from the ruins of a crash landed ship on a tropical alien planet.

From the Mothership website:

"The Ancient Astronaut Shuttle Crew, aboard the A.A.S.C. MOTHERSHIP, boldly explores the darkest, furthest edges of the tropical-flavor galaxy. Cosmic rays blast from a solar flare and blow the MOTHERSHIP’s electronics into disarray. The psycho-space marauders are left with no option but to execute emergency landing protocols on the nearest planet. Off-board, the tight-knit Crew explores the lush surroundings. They discover no sentient life, but unexplainable events occur and a lurking presence is felt. The mysterious, uncharted ecosystem has few resources to repair the ship -- but ample plant life and curious, intoxicating spirits. In time, the Crew accepts that they are marooned in a sinister, fertile paradise. They establish a colony and fashion the ship into a base camp, including quarters of leisure. Together, the fearless crew members commit to adventurous coexistence with the natural life of the planet, not in desperate peril, but on a ...PERMANENT VACATION."

This was the sister location built in the late 1950s after the first location in Laguna Beach was already thriving.

The plans were announced publicly in the Santa Ana Register on January 16th, 1957.

It was located on South Los Angeles Street and Ball Road in Anaheim, which is now re-named Anaheim Boulevard. It was a converted home previously known as the Flynn Residence.

Plans were stated to include 5 acres of tropical gardens, swimming pool, luau parties, ukulele parties, aquaria with tropical fish, and Hawaiian and Cantonese foods.

Today, this location is occupied by the Anaheim Global Medical Center.