Built in 1961, this complex has 42 units and is 2 stories tall.

Pop Polynesian features include a lava wall, outrigger beams, an A-frame entrance, and a pool hut (originally with large outrigger extensions, but now long since cut away).

Smaller photos below from 2002 provide contrast to larger 2025 background image.

Most recently, the building has had a severe pruning of all its palms and tropical foliage and many of the outrigger beam extensions have been cropped. This, combined with a much lighter paint job than in previous years makes the property much less "exotic", but it still survives and with the original name intact as of 2025 (see background image).

The original long and low building was Pike’s El Rancho back in the 1940’s.

Arne and Carolyn Jacobson added the A-frame and theming. They opened Arne's Royal Hawaiian Motel in 1957 and it closed in 2009.

Originally, those staying in one of the 43 rooms could enjoy color TV, a rec room, tennis court, and a swimming pool.

The rooms featured Hawaiian inspired motifs, including palm tree murals and rattan furniture.

The iconic sign and the impressive A-frame with curved beams (even more impressive in an interior view) caught the eye of many a traveler on their way to Las Vegas.

Unfortunately, after its closing, it became a focus for graffiti and vandalism.

Many hoped that someone would re-open or salvage this site, but it was not to be.

The building was leveled in 2025.

Joe Chastek was first introduced to Polynesia when he and a high school buddy stowed away to the Philippines when they were both 17. Joe was one of the first to open a club with the South Seas motif. His first pre-Tiki bar was the Zamboanga. His second was the Tradewinds. His third was Vagabond's House.

The Trade Winds was opened during the war, in December 1944. He kept the same monkey theme that worked for him at the Zamboanga.