[Tikievents] Hanalei hotel remodel (Tiki Oasis update)

[Otto <otto@tikinews.com>]

Some of you may have heard that the Red Lion Hanalei Hotel in San 
Diego is remodeling
The good news is that they are not changing management so we have the 
same friendly, helpful staff that serviced the event this year and 
they are excited to do it again next year

Here are all the details I know.

As you know the Hanalei is the site for Tiki Oasis 7 which is 
happening Aug 16 - 19, 2007
It has been a historic Tiki site containing artifacts from Stephen 
Crane's Luau restaurant which have been housed in the Hanalei atrium 
since the early 80s
It is also the site of a formerly stellar example of Tiki restaurant 
design executed by Oceanic Arts. The restaurant is called The 
Islands. It was drastically remodeled inside and outside around 1996 
so it was far from untouched.

It is with much sadness that I inform you (direct from the highest 
source at the Hanalei) that much of The Islands is currently getting 
remodeled from now til April 1, 2007 and the hotel will be renamed

The Islands, the good:
the GM said, "Its going to be more TROPICAL than TIKI."
The indoor foliage is staying, some bamboo elements are staying. The 
glass floats are most likely staying. The large boat stays. The 
Monkeypod tables are being refinished to the tune of $38,000 - that's 
a big investment in tables! auxiliary rooms are being opened up to be 
part of the entire restaurant to increase seating. The outdoor deck 
is being expanded to accommodate seating. The menus for the sushi 
bar, The Islands, and the bar will remain untouched. The bar will 
serve drinks in Tiki mugs!

The Islands, the bad and the ugly:
The entire waterway from lobby and into the restaurant is going away. 
(They are keeping the Tiki railings) The rock wall waterfall is going 
bye bye and windows overlooking the pool and deck are saying "hello". 
The Dragon Room is gone. The artifacts on the walls in the lobby, 
side rooms and The Islands are removed and most likely will be on 
exhibit for us to view during Oasis 7. I have not worked out these 
details so don't ask me questions about this. More travertine 
flooring will be added around the sushi bar to update it and make it 
blend with the lobby. The entire hotel will receive a paint job 
inside and out (most likely a shade of beige)

The Hotel name:
I do not know what exactly the new name will be but it will not have 
the word Hanalei in it. This was mandated in order to raise the 
status of the property.

The rest of the hotel:
the railings from The Islands will be moved into the atrium so in 
effect they are adding decor to that area. They have spent $20,000 on 
additional landscaping so the hotel will still look like a tropical 
jungle everywhere you go.
They added new palapas to existing outdoor palapa areas so there will 
be fresh new thatching.
The rooms will be remodeled and the standard room rate is increasing 
BUT this will not effect our event as I have contracted those rooms 
already. So essentially you will be getting the rooms for cheaper 
than the standard rate!

Here are the details from a hotel/business perspective:
The GM at the Hanalei was told that the renovations had to take 
place. The property was audited by the parent company and evaluated 
and one recommendation was to consolidate the restaurants into one 
larger full-service one with increased seating. The Lobby space is to 
be altered to be more useable - a small conference room will be 
carved out of it. All rooms are getting better mattresses and 
interior upgrades. The room and conference room upgrades will bump 
the property into a higher class offering in order to allow it to 
stay competitive with immediate neighbors (and to set it further 
apart from the Motel 6 offerings nearby). Hanalei is a business 
conference oriented Hotel, not a book-by-the-night model.

Ironically, the reason I have hosted Tiki Oasis at this historic site 
and the previous site is to draw attention to them so they retain 
their Tiki decor.
I am committed to continue to work with the Hanalei despite the 
remodel of The Islands. They still have the atrium full of Tikis, 
waterfalls, lush tropical plants, tropical landscaping around the 
entire hotel, the bar serves tropical drinks in Tiki mugs, and 
although The Islands is gutted it still retains some decor elements, 
the name, and some Polynesian food offerings.
The proximity of the Hanalei to the Bali Hai allows us to support 
that historic site too.



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Otto von Stroheim
tikioasis.com
tikinews.com