This property sits on an exceptional 12 hectare estate, located at the top of the Tahara’a Cliffs, and the viewpoint offers a spectacular panoramic view of Matavai Bay, and in the distance; Papeete and even the full view of Moorea.

Built in 1967, opened in 1968, and closed around 1989. It was designed by architect Neal Prince, who designed many hotels internationally. Tahara'a InterContinental Hotel was a subsidiary of Pan Am Airlines.

The Tahara'a was less of a Tahitian hotel and more of a Westerner's dream of what a Tahitian hotel should be. It was over the top in almost every way and was THE Tahitian hotel in the 1970s and 80s until its close in 1989.

In addition to the wonderful hillside, with a wonderful view of the Moorea Bay, the hotel offered the largest guest rooms of any hotel in the South Pacific, at the time. Each guest room was air conditioned, with a dressing room, bathroom and spacious terrace.

It had around 201 rooms and many amenities, including the Captain Cook Restaurant and a coffee house/café decorated with pufferfish, cork floats strung across the ceiling on old sailing rope, and many more tikis and artifacts supplied by the famous (at least to tikiphiles) Oceanic Arts in Whittier, CA.

Neal Prince designed the interiors of the hotel. During this time, no one on the island had the skills or the know-how to carve tikis. Thus, Prince hired Oceanic Arts to produce his sketches. Among many other pieces of décor, the owners, Leroy Schmaltz and Robert Van Oosting, produced the 21-foot tall signature hotel tiki for Prince. When that massive tiki was delivered, the plan was for it to be placed in the lobby of the hotel. However, due to the weight and height of the tiki, it was not able to fit. So, they telephoned Prince and inquired what to do with it. Mr. Prince asked where the tiki was at that moment, and Ed Crissman (another carver who worked for Oceanic Arts at the time) noted that it was currently located in the front of the hotel, to which Prince replied, "Great, then leave it right there!!". And so, it remained… an icon of the hotel for many years until the hotel eventually closed. 

There are reports that this giant tiki remains standing today, even though the hotel has been closed and the property has been abandoned for many years.

Some wonder why this property was abandoned and the answers remain murky. The hotel announced in 1983 after a worker's strike that it could no longer afford to stay open. At one point later in its life it was named the Hyatt Regency Tahiti. In 1989 it was purchased for $30 million by the Japanese company, EIE, who planned to renovate it with $8 Million earmarked for that purpose. It does not appear that those renovations ever took place.

It is listed for sale by Sotheby's Real Estate with no set asking price and has been for several years.

*Not to be confused with the current InterContinental Resort & Spa which features a Tiki Bar and is close to the airport. The new InterContinental location is quite luxurious and well-reviewed, but perhaps the newest and most exclusive hotel in Tahiti is just down the way from the abandoned Tahara'a -- Le Tahiti by Pearl Resorts (formerly the Radisson Plaza Resort Tahiti).

Wan-Q started out life in 1946 as a fairly average Chinese restaurant, but at some point in the 1960s (at least as early as 1962), owner Benny Eng was caught up in the Pop Polynesian movement and converted his restaurant into a unique tiki establishment with a full menu of tiki cocktails in addition to his already excellent Cantonese menu of food.

Benny outfitted his restaurant with rattan, bamboo, Tikis and waterfalls. And of course there was the exotic tinseled glory that was Wan-Q’s exterior which included a thatched A-frame roof, tapa cloth details, Chinese jade tiles and float lamps.

Wan-Q was replaced for a time by the Sugar Shack (live music venue circa 1994), which kept the exterior (including the sign) mostly intact. Several other restaurants also occupied the space since then. Today the location houses another Chinese restaurant called Fu’s Palace.

Barney West (1919-1981) was a tiki carver during the golden age of midcentury Polynesian Pop.

West, a native of Seattle, came to the Bay Area as a boy when his parents moved to Oakland. His father was chief engineer for the steam schooner Wapama which is now part of a San Francisco waterfront museum. During World War II, West joined the Merchant Marine and served as a steward on Liberty ships in the South Pacific. During his 15 years at sea, West became interested in the native art of Easter Island, Tahiti, Bora Bora, and Hawaii, an infatuation that later had a great influence on his art. West moved to an ark on Corte Madera creek shortly after the end of World War II. To set himself up in the woodcarving business, he drove spikes and laid heavy rails for a railroad crew. West’s first wood carving came from redwood pilings he floated to his home from San Pablo Bay. His first major customer was restaurateur Trader Vic Bergeron who purchased many pieces of West’s early art.

After establishing himself as a wood carver, West opened a studio in Sausalito ("Tiki Junction") on land lent to him by Zack’s by the Bay owner (Zack’s became Margaritaville, then Paradise Bay, now Salito’s Crab House), Sam Zakessian in 1963. The tiny studio soon became engulfed by tikis and other assorted tropical carvings and vegetation. West began his carving career with conventional carving tools but soon progressed to a chain saw. He shipped in mammoth redwood logs by rail and shipped his commissioned works on flatcars all over the country. West’s art can be found in London, Hawaii, and Cuba. West’s business thrived well in Sausalito and at one time he had five apprentices working with him.

Opened in Spring 2020.

From the Breakers Roar Facebook page:

"Breakers Roar is an authentic nautical Caribbean Tiki Bar located on the waterfront of Christiansted, St Croix USVI. Featuring 30 unique and flavorful Tiki cocktails made from local juices, rums and spices."

Last Rites is a "Polynesian Noir" bar that opened in San Francisco's Duboce Triangle/Castro area in June 2018. The bar goes deep on story: the setting is the fuselage of a crashed plane deep in a jungle, with drinks served in "scavenged" bottles cut into glasses. Beyond the plane are vine-encrusted stone ruins, decorated with huge stylized skulls. The team behind Last Rites, owners Justin Lew and Ian Scalzo, have been active in the San Francisco craft cocktail scene for many years, and they have enlisted bar & restaurant designer James Lagoc and fabricator Brian Sullivan to shape the space. Drinks are a departure from classic tiki, while retaining the experimental use of flavors.

Luau Lounge opened inside Players, a video game arcade on Pier 39 at Fisherman's Wharf, in 2012. The bar and restaurant overlooks San Francisco Bay, with large windows to take in the view. The decor includes tapa cloth, beachcomber lamps and tikis, but with full daylight on one side and a riotous arcade on the other, the mood is not one of escape despite some nice decor, including some Eugene Savage Matson Menu art on the far wall.

There is a full restaurant menu, and the tropical drinks menu on their website skews to the sweet and fruity end. However, that online drinks menu appears to date to 2013-2015 and the newer one from 2019-2022 is much improved. Both are shown below...

The Tilted Tiki was opened in November 2016 by Chris and Patti Goetzke in downtown Stillwater, Minnesota, just east of Minneapolis -- in the historic Grand Garage building.

The Grand Garage was built in 1882 and later renovated in 1924. The beautiful, historic building ushers you into downtown Stillwater. It was originally The Chicago House, then occupied by Stillwater Motor Company and converted to its current use in 1970. A number of different shops, restaurants, and even a salon, call the Grand Garage home.

Its location in the Grand Garage makes the Tilted Tiki's decor an unusual blend of tropical thatching and lauhala and more traditional wooden trim and stained glass accents.

They serve a selection of tropical drinks, and small plates of food.

Taha'a Twisted Tiki opened in December 2013, in the Grove neighborhood of St. Louis. The decor was simple, and there was an outdoor patio. There was a menu of tropical drinks available, served in tiki mugs, and a Volcano Bowl.

*NOTE: Blue menus shown are circa 2015.

Closed @ December 2024 - eviction was approved after the building's owner filed suit in September 2023 seeking past-due rent and possession of the space.

The Jungle Bird opened October 23rd, 2016 in Midtown Sacramento. The bar and restaurant is owned by Melissa and Tyler Williams (of Sacramento's Tank House) and Buddy Newby. The decor includes lauhala and bamboo, with a few large tikis. There is an outdoor patio. A full menu of tropical drinks, including many classics, is available. The small food menu has a mix of old school Polynesian and modern Asian-Pacific fare, including a Pu-Pu Platter.

Note: No association with Jungle Bird bar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, which made the Asian Top 50 bars list in 2018-2019. That bar is more of a rum bar than a tiki bar. However both started in 2016 and the "Jungle Bird" name seems to hold steady across the globe!

False Idol opened September 3rd, 2016 in San Diego's Little Italy neighborhood. It is owned jointly by Martin Cate of Smuggler's Cove and Consortium Holdings (owners of neighboring Craft & Commerce).

The ceiling is crusted with lit glass floats. The walls are covered with panels carved by legendary tiki artist Bosko. One particularly large and noteworthy vintage tiki (seen below) and attributed to Mexican artist Deme Chavez (carved from South American hardwood in the 1950s) stood proudly in the Hanalei Hotel garden atrium for decades but now has a new home at False Idol.

Reservations are strongly recommended and can be made up to a month in advance.

Owner Kyle Boyd opened Tiki Maya Bar in early 2016, when he took over a floundering bar located on his property. The bar sat right over the water in the Caribbean Sea, with a thatched roof that was ready to get the complete tiki treatment. Boyd grew up in Dallas and had fond memories of his time spent at the Dallas Trader Vic's, and hoped to transform this Caribbean getaway into a Polynesian one.

However, for one reason or another, this never really came to fruition and by all accounts the bar closed some time after Summer 2018 -- with no recent reviews as of 2021 on TripAdvisor or Google Reviews or other review sites online. Its website was also taken down and its Facebook page abandoned.

The Tiki Maya House beach rental stands on shore nearby and its website is functioning and shows pictures of the bar also.

Perhaps the bar property is in transition and will re-open in some fashion soon...

Pagan Idol opened in San Francisco's Financial District on February 24th, 2016. The bar is owned by the Future Bars group, which owns a variety of craft cocktail bars around the San Francisco Bay Area.

Pagan Idol has a front bar, which is designed to look like the inside of a wooden ship, complete with porthole views of swimming fish, and blown glass tentacle light fixtures.

Red-lit stairs lead to the back bar, which is where the full-on Polynesian Pop experience can be found. A second bar is lined with zebrawood and backed by lava windows. Overlooking the bar is a massive tiki carved by Crazy Al Evans, and a large outrigger canoe hangs overhead. A tangle of ropes and fishing floats decorates the bar. The walls are lined with Tongan tapa cloth designs.

Just beyond, the room opens up, and a night sky of twinkling stars hangs overhead, with a volcano waterfall and two cozy booths. Looming over this room is a second large tiki, this one carved by Ivan Lee Mora. Periodically, the volcano "erupts" and a fog creeps along the starry sky, adding to the moodiness of the room.

The soundtrack is all Exotica and hapa-haole music. The drink menu is all original tropical drinks, but a full array of classic tiki drinks can be ordered off-menu.

In the 1950s, this same location held Tiki Bob's Mainland Rendezvous.