The Roosevelt Hotel opened in 1930, named after the 26th U.S. president, who’d visited Seattle in 1903. Its architect, John Graham Sr., was one of the city’s most prominent: the firm he'd founded was behind iconic city structures like the Seattle Exchange Building, the Frederick & Nelson department store (now the downtown Nordstrom), and, under his son’s leadership, the Space Needle. Graham’s designs account for the hotel’s distinctive, modernist Art Deco style. The 18-story building remained Seattle’s tallest hotel for decades, with 234 rooms and an ornately furnished lobby detailed in the French modern style. In contrast to the hotels that catered to residents (the norm at the time), the Roosevelt Hotel positioned itself as a traveler-oriented hotel.

The Lanai or Lanai Room as it was called, flourished in the 1960s. It was known for its "musical fountains" seen in photo below and their cocktail menu is notable for sharing tiki mug designs seen at the Kalua Room in Seattle and commonly associated only with the Kalua Room. In 1962, both the Roosevelt Hotel (the Lanai) and Windsor Hotel (Kalua Room) were managed by Gwynne Austin. Gwynne Austin had previously managed Hawaii's Kona Inn, the Halekulani and opened Kaisers Hawaiian Village... he left Hawaii to take over the Windsor in 1954.

In 2015, Provenance Hotels purchased the hotel, and began floor-by-floor renovations, spearheaded by Seattle-based Susan Marinello Interiors. Fully refreshed, the hotel reopened in 2017 under the name Hotel Theodore, a nod to its historic namesake.

*NOTE: Exact dates on the opening and closing of the Lanai are unknown but it was definitely open from 1962-1965.

Sea and Jungle Shop sold tiki and jungle themed props from their Glendale store for decades. The last owners ran it for over 24 years, starting in 1962. They were competitors with Oceanic Arts (who opened in 1956) and later benefactors of the younger store -- although it's not clear how long Sea and Jungle were open before they were bought out by the last owners -- but they probably existed in one form or another since the 1940s.

Sea and Jungle props decorated Rick’s Cafe Americaine in “Casablanca" (1942), and carried natives over the waves in “Mutiny on the Bounty”(1962) And they adorned countless other television and movie sets. They also supplied much of the decor for Disneyland, especially the Jungle Cruise ride (opened in 1955).

The front of their site was known for giant carved tikis and in later years for a giant pink fiberglass elephant that became kind of a company mascot.

How did it all start?

It was originally opened by Victoria White and "Jungle Jim" Joslin in the 1940s-1950s. (They titled themselves "Specialists in Tropical Atmosphere" on old postcards).

The matriarch of the last family to own the business, Virginia Langdon, was 17 and enrolled at Hollywood High School, when she eloped to Hawaii with her 16-year-old boyfriend because her parents opposed the marriage. They lived there five years, developing a lifelong passion for things tropical, their daughters recall.

The couple returned to Glendale and bought Sea and Jungle in 1962. There they ran a thriving business, making occasional forays to the South Pacific and Africa to replenish stock. Their children drifted naturally into the business, but it was Beverly Achtien (Virginia's daughter) who managed the shop in recent years.

Young people liked the place because it sold wacky items, she said. So did movie stars. Comedian Pee Wee Herman once bought a lamp shaped like a giant clump of yellow bananas. John Wayne favored nautical gear. Dorothy Lamour bought decorative wall hangings for her bar.

Sven Kirsten (author of The Book of Tiki) fondly remembers visiting Sea and Jungle when he first came out to Los Angeles and buying a couple of smaller items. Now, looking back, he wishes he had bought much more, but this was before his dedication to tiki had firmly taken root and nobody knew that Sea and Jungle's days were numbered. Sven has a great vintage ad from the store in his book, Tiki Pop - page 92.

When Sea and Jungle closed their doors on June 30th, 1986, Oceanic Arts bought two truckloads of various décor for $600 from them. They even gave Bob and LeRoy their office chairs, source-books, and their Customer List. This last item helped to get Oceanic Arts started in the Movie Supply and Rental business.

Mai Kai Lounge is the bar of the Tecumseh Inn (built in 1964), on the west edge of town. The bar opened in 1971 and remained mostly untouched, until 2018-2021 when it was closed and then given a makeover.

The bar originally had carved Witco tiki barstools, and two tall tiki poles. The table and bar surfaces were covered with a tapa design, and the circular booths were upholstered in '70s vinyl colors: orange, avocado, aqua, blue. The backs and toe-kick areas of the booths were upholstered in green astroturf, and were surrounded by bamboo curtains and faux bamboo plants. There were two hanging rattan chairs suspended from the ceiling, with orange cushions. The lighting was dim and moody, provided by float lamps, beachcomber lamps, and white and red string lights. The building's exterior was simple, but the white walls had modern abstract shapes in relief.

Despite the ideal tiki bar setting, and the full bar, there was no menu of tropical cocktails.

As of April 2009, the bar was temporarily closed, but the owner of the bar assured that none of the decor was being removed. However, as of 2018, it was reported by area residents that the place had been gutted and tiki furnishings were now gone.

This was partly/temporarily true, but the bar did re-open in 2021 with brand-new brightly painted wall murals and much of the interior decor still intact. The floor plan seems more open with removal of some of the fake foliage and bamboo curtains. The Witco barstools are noticeably absent in new photos, so they may be sold or in the process of being restored. All of this refurbishment was part of sprucing up the property for re-sale in 2021. It was listed on loopnet.com for $895,000, and with the assertion that it has new management in place.

The "Jacuzzi Room" did have an Orchids of Hawaii hanging shell lamp and a few other pieces of tiki decor even after the initial refurbishment...but it might have been removed as part of their re-theming to a boathouse/lodge/western look for the overall site by the new owners.

As of 2024, they still advertise the "Tiki Bar" as a BYOB adult hangout that can be reserved. Their website shows a group drinking beer and eating pizza around a small table in a brightly lit room...

The C'est Bon opened in May 1966 and for a while was Park City's only hotel. It was sold in September 1978 to the Sweetwater group, who turned the building into condominiums, later expanding with additions to the sides and back. The complex is Sweetwater Lift Lodge Resort today, with the renovated C'est Bon portion taking up the Empire Avenue façade.

From a vintage postcard:

"The C'est Bon Hotel and Convention Center, nestled at the foot of Treasure Mountains, in the picturesque old mining town of Park City, Utah. Offering the finest in hospitality and superb service. Featuring the Outrigger Lounge and Beach Boy Restaurant, which are must stops on your skiing or summer vacation."

It appears their restaurant did change over the years. For a time it was "The Mandarin".

Among other entertainments, they also had exotic dancers. The best known was Shirley Price, known as “The Duchess”, who arrived in Park City in the 1960s after leaving Hawaii and Las Vegas, and made the town her home and stage. She performed her illustrious act at the C’est Bon and the Ore Haus (which stood at 1410 Empire Avenue). She was so popular that famous actors, especially Chuck Connors from the TV series “The Rifleman”, and children’s book author Shel Silverstein, came to Park City just to see her dance.

Opened circa 1957 and closed some time around 1975.

The Hukilau was located on the second deck of The Captain's Inn, on the South Shore of the Long Beach Marina.

Description of the location from the May 14th, 1961 edition of Southland Magazine:

"A WATERFALL shimmering under colorful lights . . . A broad, red-carpeted stairway, gently curved . . . Luxurious tropical furnishings. . . .

These are some of the sights which greet visitors to the new Hukilau Polynesian lounge at the Captain's Inn, 215 Marina Drive, on the south shore of the beautiful Long Beach Marina.

Located on the second floor of the greatly-enlarged Inn, the Hukilau lounge provides its guests with fascinating views of the yacht fleet, smooth blue waters and tall palms. Furnished with polished monkey pod wood tables, bamboo, nettings and other authentic tropical touches, the lounge offers delicious island appetizers, such as rumaki, pua pua, Hong Kong won ton, Hawaiian barbecued ribs and fried sui gow. The beverages, prepared by Popo, an award-winning Polynesian mixologist, include such exotic creations as Tahitian Tiki Punch, Scorpion Bowl, Montego, Flaming Virgin, Yacht Club Special, Tiger Shark and Mai Tai. They are served in bowls, cups, glasses or even statuary designed to accentuate the charms of each.

HOST GEORGE Heinrich and his large staff also supervise the activities of five other dining rooms and lounges, which brings the total seating capacity of the Inn to 325. Most of these have picture windows overlooking the yacht anchorage. The rooms include the Commodore's Lounge, where Adrian is featured at the piano bar, the Corinthian Room, Marine Room, Captain's Bar and Captain's Grill.

The Hukilau lounge, open from 4 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday, is reserved Mondays and Tuesdays for special parties (to 80 persons.)"

After 1975, the building was a Charthouse restaurant for many years prior to it becoming the Crab Pot Restaurant (current business as of 2022).

This location was opened by Captain Dug Picking in the 1960s. A former Merchant Marine, Captain Dug found himself landlocked in Carson City and established a tiki bar serving Polynesian food and tropical drinks.

The restaurant was decorated with tikis and sailing paraphernalia: fishing nets, ropes, anchors, nautical flags, seashells. It boasted a “Shark-Infested Men’s Room.”

The following is from a former employee and was posted on Tiki Central:

"Dug would address all adult males as, 'Governor'.

He loved telling stories to the clientele, and I remember them bellying-up to the bar just to hear a good story. I never heard him repeat one. He did have a little fun with the tipsy, 'know-it-all' clientele: he kept a bridge compass near the middle of the bar area and a nautical map behind the counter. He would bait and bet the uninitiated by telling him that Carson City was farther West than Los Angeles. (He explained to me later that, since Los Angeles is actually on the Pacific and Carson City is east of the Sierras, we create a spatial error. After a few flabbergasting moments, out would come that map and the incredulous client would have to buy rounds.

He said that he and Victor Bergeron went 'way back,' and told ever-growing, ever more embellished stories of their years of carousing and drinking their way around the Pacific Rim, and how he got the best of Victor sometimes and sometimes not.

I got to watch Dug earning his fame with his 'Blue Mai Tai,' from-scratch Pina Coladas, grogs and flourish drinks (he cheerfully did five and seven-layered Pousse cafes on-demand.) He didn’t water-down or scrimp on anything for the guests. Nothing in the place was inexpensive, and, conversely, nothing was cheap. …except for the endless tape loop of Hawaiian music that he had wafting through the place every night."

Starting in 1974, Dug also created a series of liquor decanters themed after Nevada brothels. These decanters have turned out to be very popular with collectors. At least a couple of the decanters focused on Dug's West Indies for the first two years (a clipper ship design the first year in '74 and a sailboat with man and woman the second year in '75).

This location was sold by Dug in the late 70s or early 80s because of financial problems brought about because of his investment in another location that failed -- the Windjammer.

Dug's West Indies persevered for a time as just "The West Indies" but it eventually closed. Today the site is home to a Burger King fast food restaurant.

Luau is a Chinese restaurant in the Zona Rosa section of Mexico City. The building has a large Chinese pagoda facade, and the interior is decorated in an Asian style, with dragons and porcelain pieces. There don't appear to be any specifically Polynesian elements in the decor, but there are "tiki adjacent" elements present like their green ceramic Chinese tiles (utilized by Trader Vic's and other tiki locations) and a nice indoor koi pond made with what looks like lava rock. But in keeping with the seemingly incongruous Polynesian name, tropical drinks are served, and tikis have appeared in advertisements.

From their website:

"In 1957, Mr. Fong, an immigrant of Chinese origin, decided to rent a small space of just a few meters, in a house located on Calle de Niza in the Zona Rosa of Mexico City, to sell Chinese-Cantonese food using the original recipes of the family and naming the restaurant Luaú a word of Hawaiian origin that means "Banquet".

The delicious flavors of said foreign food soon caught the attention of Mexicans and the Chinese themselves, so the restaurant had to expand little by little until it became the restaurant it is today, with more than 1000 square meters, 2 lounges and a capacity for 200 diners, and with more than 100 dishes on the menu."

Trade Winds was erected by developer Martin "Bud" Smith, and opened March 4th, 1964. It quickly became the hot place to be in town.

The restaurant had a lagoon leading up to a soaring A-frame entrance; inside were a series of themed rooms, including a central gazebo-shaped structure, the Samoa Hut/Tiki Temple. The predominant theme was Polynesian, but some of the rooms included an East Indies room, a Sadie Thompson room, and a Zanzibar room, all designed by 20th Century Fox designer Fred Moninger, and decorated by Ione Keenan. There were many tikis, carved by Richard M. Ellis. There was a Polynesian floor show.

Some time in the 1960s, Hop Louie (of Latitude 20 in Torrance, Minnie's in Modesto and the Islander in Stockton) took over the restaurant. In the late '70s, it became a Don the Beachcomber.

In later years, it became Coconut Joe's Warehouse Restaurant, and then later still around 1981, it became Hawaiian Cowboy (some of the decor was removed to make room for a mechanical bull and a BBQ pit. About a year later, it became an ice cream parlor, and in 1984, the building was demolished. The site is now a road.

Opened in 1960. A charming tiki restaurant, where employees and customers alike are treated like family. The Omni Hut's creator, Jim Walls, started the Omni Hut after taking up cooking as a hobby and second job while stationed in Honolulu as a pilot before World War II. The military took him all over the world, and he picked up culinary tricks wherever he went, and it when it came time to retire, he decided to open a restaurant. He chose this location in Smyrna, near Ft. Stuart, and opened a restaurant called "Chinese Cuisine," which soon became the Omni Hut. Walls also owned the nearby Mahi Mahi for a short time. The Omni Hut suffered a fire in 2000, but luckily the restaurant was able to reopen with the decor largely intact.

The Omni Hut did not have a liquor license, but customers were encouraged to spike their own drinks - the Omni Hut had a "Hawaiian Tea" drink that was perfect with a little rum added. They served a Fiery Pu-Pu Platter, and a Volcano ice cream dessert which arrived on fire.

To celebrate 50 years in business, the Omni Hut had two special souvenir mugs created by Tiki Farm.

The Omni Hut closed its doors for good on Friday October 12th, 2018.

The Tonga Room is a great example of an old, classic Polynesian restaurant. It can be found in the basement floor of the upscale Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco. The Tonga Room has gone through several incarnations over the years, themed initially upon opening on September 18th, 1945 as a cruise ship (the S.S. Tonga), then in the '50s as a Mondrian-esque Chinese restaurant, then finally in the '60s the current theme of a Polynesian paradise took hold. Before becoming a restaurant, the space was the hotel's swimming pool.

The bar area of the restaurant has some impressive nautical theming, complete with a large ship's mast and sail, and plenty of rigging. There are two long dining rooms. The left dining room lies beneath a peaked-roof A-frame structure of impressive scale, with gorgeous carved details. The right dining room includes tables clustered under smaller round thatched huts, each one filled with large, colorful float lamps. Around the entire restaurant there are no shortage of old carved pieces tucked in between tropical foliage.

The dining rooms and the bar wrap around the real star attraction: a water-filled lagoon (the remains of the room's swimming pool origins), with a small tapa-lined boat with a thatched roof, where a band plays. Every thirty minutes a thunderstorm erupts, and rain falls into the pool. Unfortunately, this grand spectacle is also where the Tonga Room experience goes sadly sideways: while earlier in the evening the soundtrack is appropriate Hawaiian music, the house band plays dance hits of the '80s. The band starts playing at 8pm, at which time a cover charge is added to all bills (adding insult to the injury). The more low-key Happy Hour buffet at the Tonga Room, which goes from 5-7pm Monday-Friday, is quite popular.

In early 2009, the Fairmont announced plans to add a new tower of condominiums; this plan would have displaced the historic Tonga Room. This led to a fight against the removal of this unique piece of San Francisco history. The end result was positive: the Tonga Room is now protected under special landmark status by the City of San Francisco. The owners could still choose to close the Tonga Room, but every artifact within must be painstakingly cataloged, tracked, and preserved, and hopefully that daunting task will stave off any dreams of converting the space. The hotel has since changed ownership, and the new owners have no interest in the old condo plan.

In 2013, the menu was revamped; the tropical drinks being served are now much truer to the traditional recipes, and prepared with more care. Tonga Room's management has said that this new menu has led to a dramatic increase in bar sales, giving hope that this new trend towards a higher quality experience at the Tonga Room will continue.

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.

Tikehau Lounge opened its doors on November 16, 2023.

Tikehau Lounge specializes in locally sourced, fresh ingredient cocktails, and a unique twist on Pacific island pupus (appetizers).

The lounge is conveniently situated within a brief 5 to 10-minute drive from luxurious resorts such as the Grand Wailea, Four Seasons Resort Maui at Wailea, and the Wailea Beach Resort – Marriott, Maui.