Opened May 20th, 2021.

This modern interior may look a bit spartan next to old school Trader Vic's style venues with their intensely layered and darkened interiors packed with carvings and artwork. Instead, the Ark Royal has lots of white wall space behind the bar and another brick wall painted in white as well -- both reflecting light from high-ceilinged windows in the day time.

However, at night, with swag lamps and other ambient lighting, the interior is moodier, and if it is available, one can always retreat to their "Taboo Room" with its couches, swag carpet, and lauhala matting on the ceiling for a more intimate visit.

The Ark Royal's Mission Statement:

"The Ark Royal is a modern Tiki lounge in Downtown Raleigh, though our name comes from an old ship commissioned in 1586 by Sir Walter Raleigh.

Raleigh, the man, was a scholar, an explorer, and truthfully, he was a pirate. Much of his later life was spent hunting for the fabled City of Gold; El Dorado.

Raleigh theorized, studied, searched and struggled to that mythical city, though the poor bastard was beheaded by King James before he could discover it.

Our lounge is not an ode to Sir Walter Raleigh, rather it is an ode to exploration, adventure and discovery. Our exotic cocktails feature ingredients from many cultures from many regions around the world. This blend of spices, spirits, sweeteners and liqueurs offers fascinating insight into a whole world of history, tradition and flavor.

The style of cocktails we offer are known as Tiki, but originally, they were known as exotic drinks, or as Don the Beachcomber called them; 'Rhum Rhapsodies.'

Tiki is exploration. It is adventure. It is discovery. It is The Ark Royal."

Opened in 2015.

Luau Tiki Bar's Mission Statement:

"The idea for the Luau Tiki Bar was born from a passion for making drinks, a concept bar in pure exotic style that aims to convey the idyllic atmosphere and mixing style of the typical bars born in the American tiki era in the mid-1930s."

This outside tiki bar was launched during the summer of 2018 to compliment the already thriving Casa Di Amore Italian restaurant.

The themed environment features a private hut, seating around a fire pit, a life-size deep sea diver, and a throne embraced by a giant octopus, the “Tikipus,” created by locals 3 Specialty Design Services.

Frank Kerwin's restaurant, The Seacomber, “America’s Tropical Showplace,” opened at 22725 Pacific Coast Highway on April 4, 1946.

This pre-tiki showplace included dining and cocktails within The Royal Hawaiian Room, the Coral Sea Cocktail Bar, the Princess Pupule Room, the Marine Deck and the Grand Salon.

Kerwin, a former boxing announcer and sports promoter, had previously managed the Club New Yorker in the basement of the Hotel Christie on Hollywood Boulevard, and The Merry-Go-Round cocktail lounge in the CBS Radio Playhouse on Vine Street.

This venue must have lasted at least through 1950, since newspaper ads proclaim the opening of a sister location on November 1, 1950, when Frank Kerwin opened the Wilshire Seacomber at Wilshire and San Vicente.

It is not clear when these two locations closed.

Today, the original Malibu location is home to a McDonalds.

Opened @2021.

The owner's name is Jae Heon Kim. He used to work at Trader Vics in London for 6 years before opening his own bar.

Mahalo is in the very busy and thriving Itaewon District with tons of foot traffic. Entrance on ground floor, but stairs lead up to a second and third story area.

Opened in February of 2024 in Calgary's Chinatown by Nhi Tran and Tanner Ennis.

This is the same team behind Paper Lantern (a Chinatown speakeasy opened mid 2020).

While Paper Lantern is considered a "Tropical Bar", Prosperity is "Full Tiki" although they state that they have tried to avoid pitfalls of over-sexualization and cultural exploitation that many point to as disturbing elements of the Tiki Aesthetic. Basically, this seems to mean they have stayed clear of actual tiki carvings or artwork depicting sexy hula girls, but most other expected tiki elements are fair game.

The new spot is on the site of the Golden Inn, which closed its doors in 2022.

The main area is lined with bamboo walls and large roomy green curved booths.

Swag lamps line the perimeter, and continue into the bar area, along with thatching and other natural materials to complete the island look.

The tiki cocktail menu is relatively short, but profiles many classic standards that Tiki fans are sure to love.

This resort was originally just referred to as "The Fijian", or technically, "The Fijian Yanuca Island Resort".

On June, 25, 1966 the formal laying of a foundation stone for the first 36 of the 108 lagoon wing rooms was officiated by Sir Derek Jakeway, the last Governor of Fiji before Independence.

It was built in 18 months at a cost of F$1.7 million.

A year later on October 22, 1967 the resort was officially opened by Ratu George Cakobau, the Paramount Chief of the Kubuna Confederacy.

When opened, it had the 108 rooms, a pool, the Lagoon Restaurant, Golden Cowrie Restaurant, Black Marlin Bar, and about 130 staff. It's original logo symbol was a conch shell.

Eventually, the resort was sold in 1974 to Malaysian-Chinese business magnate Robert Kuok. Kuok had introduced a luxury hotel brand in 1971, named Shangri-La, after the fictional utopia in which inhabitants enjoy unheard-of longevity. Robert Kuok is a highly respected businessman in Asia - a legendary Chinese entrepreneur, commodities trader, hotelier and property mogul. Kuok's wealth is rooted in palm oil and shipping. At age 94 Kuok's personal wealth was $18.9 billion according to the Forbes’ 2018 The World’s Billionaires list. With the change in ownership, the resort came under the management of the Kuok owned Shangri-La International Group and the davui conch shell was replaced by the Shangri-La logo. Over the years Shangri La invested heavily in the resort

In 2017, the resort celebrated its 50th Birthday as the Golden Lady in the Fijian tourism industry.

The Resort has grown from 108 rooms to 442.

It is home to five restaurants, six bars, a spa, a nine hole golf course, three pools and most recent addition – Fiji’s largest inflatable water park – all combined, these facilities makes the resort, the largest single hotel in Fiji.

Of the six bars, The Black Marlin, has been here in one form or another since the very beginning and is the most iconic.

From their website:

"Every last detail of Black Marlin Tropical Bar has been carefully considered from the high ceilings featuring classic Fijian architecture and intricate local 'Masi' decorations to the colonial Caribbean feel of the private room. Whether you’re looking for a private corner to enjoy a rum-inspired cocktail or a vibrant tropical bar for a boogie, Black Marlin has it all. With over 100 rums on offer, including two varieties created exclusively for the resort, Yanuca Island small batch rum, take your pick from the many tiki classics."

Although The Black Marlin is wholly remodeled from what the original bar looked like (see photos below), they have attempted to give it a more classic tiki bar feel, including of course, several large carved tikis at the back of the bar, cocktails served in tiki mugs, and a huge emphasis on rum.

The Black Marlin is not to be confused with the sleeker, brightly lit, and more modern looking Golden Cowrie Lounge also on premises. Or the Bilo Bar, or the Beach Bar & Grill, or other poolside bars also on premises.

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.