The Imperial Luau was part of the Harris Imperial.

It opened in 1959 and was 20,000 square feet in size.

The stone was supplied from Cuba for the wall treatment in the Kon Tiki Lounge and the American style grill room. Germany supplied the antiqued gold mirrors which covered the entire 2-story front section of the building. Japanese craftsmen built seven bamboo panels for the Polynesian dining room in the Imperial House. Each panel was 6' by 8' with 18-inch sections of bamboo cut to give the impression of various sized circles. The bar was entirely of stained cypress wood.

James B. Kirby was the builder.

At one time this restaurant was the most popular restaurant in the area (45 minutes north of Miami).

Luckily, several of the floor to ceiling tikis were salvaged by local collectors before it was torn down. There were 10 in the restaurant and Max’s South Seas Hideaway in Grand Rapids, Michigan has three of them. The first two guard the entrance to their Atomic Lounge bar and a third is mounted on the wall in the Atomic. A fourth one resides at the Tabu Tiki Room, the home bar of Duke and Amy Carter.

The Imperial Luau appears on page 24 of Sven Kirsten’s “The Book of Tiki.”

Opened around 1972.

Until 1999 when it closed, this restaurant was part of the adjacent Kon Tiki Inn.

The Inn was then home to a seafood restaurant called Steamers from 2000 to 2016. From 2017 to 2020, this location was home to a restaurant called Flagship, which appears to have been unable to withstand Covid closures. Flagship was replaced by Vista Steak and Seafood (current as of 2024).

The 40-room hotel opened in 1974 and expanded to 86 rooms in 1985.

If there were once any tiki elements at this site, they appear to have been long removed.

This hotel used to hold Trader Nick's, but in 1999 Trader Nick's was closed.

The old Trader Nick's location was home to a seafood restaurant called Steamers from 2000 to 2016. From 2017 to 2020, this location was home to a restaurant called Flagship, which appears to have been unable to withstand Covid closures. Flagship was replaced by Vista Steak and Seafood (current as of 2024).

In 1982 this became the Stanford Terrace Inn, an independent, non-Polynesian hotel.

*Background rendering is by John Nicolini for Electrical Products Corporation but the sign he drew was not built. Note that Gene Costa was appearing at the piano bar. Gene was another one of the illustrators at EPCO. He and John were close friends. They both shared a love of art and jazz...and probably dancing girls.

When the Palo Alto Trader Vic's opened in 2001, it was the first new Trader Vic's in the U.S. in 28 years. It was a bit of a departure from the core Trader Vic's concept -- rather than a moody, mysterious interior chock-full of items from the four corners of the globe, the look was bright, airy and relatively streamlined. The U.S. Trader Vic's that have opened since have returned to a more rich, elegant feeling, but are still relatively sparse compared to the Trader Vic's of old.

The Palo Alto Trader Vic's housed a rather large collection of stunning Papua New Guinea art, courtesy of the franchise owner (who also owns the neighboring Dinah's Court hotel).

The Palo Alto Trader Vic's location closed in August 2012.

Opened November 18th-19th, 1961. Aloha Jhoe's was created by Lyle R. Wheeler, a prolific Hollywood Art Director who won Oscars for his work on Gone with the Wind, Anna and the King of Siam, The Robe, The King and I and The Diary of Anne Frank, and was nominated another 24 times (many years, against himself). Wheeler was an Art Director on South Pacific four years before the opening of Aloha Jhoe's.

Featured on pages 28-29 of Sven Kirsten's The Book of Tiki.

Toucans opened in 2002, and is a tiki bar nightclub catering to Palm Springs' large gay population. The earlier theming was more tropical-light, but over the years the tiki angle has intensified, and now it is full of beautiful vintage lamps, hut structures, bamboo, thatch, and large tikis. Toucans offers fairly standard nightclub drink fare, but they do have a Mai Tai. Toucans' specialty is drag shows.

The Caliente Tropics Resort began its life as simply "The Tropics" when it was opened in 1964 by Ken Kimes. Kimes owned 40 motels, and five of them were the Polynesian-themed Tropics chain with locations in Blythe, Indio, Modesto and Rosemead. The Kimes family later earned headlines when Ken's wife Sante and son Kenny were wanted, and later tried & convicted, for a variety of crimes including murder and kidnapping.

In its '60s heyday, the Tropics, especially its Congo Room steakhouse and underground Cellar bar, attracted the celebrities of the era who lived and vacationed in Palm Springs, including members of the Rat Pack. The front of the resort held a Sambo's coffee shop. In later years, the Cellar bar was closed, and the Congo Room became the Reef Bar.

The Tropics fell into rough times in the '80s, attracting unsavory characters who disrespected the hotel. The hotel was rescued by new owners in 2000, and after a $2.2 million renovation, it was restored to its former tiki glory.

A couple years later the Reef Bar was remodeled to bring it up to speed with the newly refreshed hotel, with bamboo work by Bamboo Ben. In 2006, the Reef Bar was transferred to independent owners, and was called Hawaiian Bill's.

In 2009, the Reef Bar/Hawaiian Bill's had been gutted of all tiki details, and the hotel was advertising the restaurant/bar space on site as available for lease. They were planning on making some major architectural changes to the building, including the removal of an A-frame entrance to the bar and restaurant. Thankfully, that didn't happen.

In 2015, new hotel owners reinvested in the tiki theming, having the artist Bosko complete large tiki signs ringing the courtyard, representing different Polynesian islands. The grounds still have several detailed vintage tikis by carver Ed Crissman.

In February 2017, Rory Snyder took over and refreshed The Reef Bar overlooking the pool.

In Summer of 2022, Snyder added Sancho's Mexican Restaurant and a second bar, Le Fern.

*This site was the original host of the ever-growing Tiki Oasis event (2001-2005), before it moved to the San Diego Crowne Plaza (2006-2019), and was briefly held at San Diego's Paradise Point (2020) before moving to San Diego's Town and Country in 2021.

**Since 2009, Caliente Tropics resort has been host to the annual Tiki Caliente event (as well as other tiki events like Circa Caliente) which some describe as a smaller and more intimate version of what Tiki Oasis is like now. The resort also sees a great deal of traffic during Palm Springs' Modern Week.

Opened circa 2015.

This is about as far from a themed & decorated poly-pop tiki bar as you can get with its all-white walls, ceiling, and bar.

It sort of looks like an empty apartment that somebody just filled with some wicker furniture and bar supplies.

However, the bar looks to be well stocked and they are said to have very good tropical drinks.

Closed circa 2022.

Opened in 1980 and closed in 2013.

This location did have a bamboo trimmed bar and some tiki decor but it had more of a roadhouse atmosphere and was known for being a live music venue.

They closed due to rising rent.

Opened in 1950.

The Kon-Tiki raft used in Thor Heyerdahl's 1947 expedition across the Pacific is on view here, along with artifacts and information from all of Heyerdahl's many explorations. Associated with the museum is the Institute for Pacific Archaeology and Cultural History, which continues Heyerdahl's research.

Thor Heyerdahl passed away in April 2002.

This Trader Vic's location operated from 1986 to the late 2000s. It was located in the Hotel New Otani.