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Red Lion Hanalei Hotel, San Diego, CA (hotel) |
DawnTiki
Grand Member (first year) 
Joined: Sep 01, 2002
Posts: 1673
From: next stop Hulaville!
|  Posted: 2003-09-24 10:58 am Permalink
Name:Red Lion Hanalei Hotel
Type:hotel
Street:2270 Hotel Circle North
City:San Diego
State:CA
Zip:92108
country:USA
Phone:619-297-1101
Status:operational
Description:
Built in 1966, this Polynesian Hotel sits right next to the 8 freeway. Tons o Tiki to be found here, to many for me to count. Having 2 restaurants, Sushi Bar and a lounge. The Islands restaurant is located next to the lobby and is a Tiki haven. With Tiki's from the famous Outrigger and The Luau finding sanctuary here. A huge Moai serves as the lifeguard, sitting next to the swimming pool. Great location, literally minutes from the Zoo, Old Town, the beach, Shelter Island and Sea World.
http://www.hanaleihotel.com/
[ This Message was edited by: DawnTiki on 2003-09-25 08:59 ]
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thejab
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Mar 25, 2002
Posts: 2984
From: Forbidden Island, CA
| Posted: 2003-09-24 1:27 pm Permalink
I'm glad Dawn brought up the Hanalei. I was just looking at their website the other day to see what the Islands hours are and I noticed some changes. They have a sushi bar that is "Set in an exotic atmosphere of tropical surroundings, salt-water fish tanks and cascading waterfalls".
http://www.islandssushi.com/3.html
Last time I was there was about 2 or 3 years ago and the sushi bar wasn't there. Don't worry, it sounds like the Islands restaurant is still intact:
http://www.islandssushi.com/4.html
Did they replace the boring nontiki bar with this sushi joint? Has anyone been there lately?
It looks like they also redid the lobby recently (from the pictures on the web site) but it has not been polynesian for years. Happily, the pool photo shows the moai is still there.
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DawnTiki
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Sep 01, 2002
Posts: 1673
From: next stop Hulaville!
| Posted: 2003-09-25 09:21 am Permalink
I was there Teusday and Wednesday. I really liked this property, except for being so close to the freeway. The room overlooked the pool and was next to the coi ponds, Tiki's and plenty of palm trees. Service was great at The Islands, being the only people in the restaurant we were well taken care of. The Islands Sushi and Pupu Bar "is" the bar/lounge, they just stuck a Sushi Chef behind the bar with the bartender. Not much of a Polynesian vibe, a pretty generic room (I thought). But it did have a nice big fish tank, and if you looked you could see a Tiki or two from the bar. The entrance of the hotel has a big outrigger above the door, setting the right tone, but when I walked into the lobby, it felt like any other hotel, I was a little let down. But there, just a few feet away the Tiki's were waiting. For a Red Lion Inn I was pleasantly surprised 
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wrongdimensionboy
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Mar 09, 2004
Posts: 35
From: Los Angeles
| Posted: 2004-03-14 01:12 am Permalink
Slacks Ferret and I had a lot of fun here. The restaurant had great fountains, and the koi fish, tiki hut and Easter Island head were really great. Waterfall was nice too. 10 minutes from Bali Hai.
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Humuhumu
Grand Member (5 years) 
Joined: Aug 22, 2002
Posts: 3536
From: San Francisco
| Posted: 2004-06-15 11:22 am Permalink
I stayed at the Red Lion Hanalei Hotel this past weekend, and I've updated the records in Critiki for the Hanalei Hotel, the Islands Restaurant, and Islands Sushi & Pupu Bar. There are a ton of new photos there.
I'd visited before, but only briefly to poke my head in. My overall impressions:
The hotel is nice enough, I guess, but kind of bland. The hotel grounds are pretty big, and while there are actually some great tikis here, they're pretty spread out and the place definitely doesn't feel Polynesian. My room was fine, on the large side, and service in the hotel was nice. Generally, I'm just not a fan of the bland chain hotel experience, I generally like to go either really high-end or really slum it. The garden area inside the tower is where you'll find the most tiki-fied space.
The Islands Restaurant I quite rather liked. It's lit too brightly, but it felt just like sitting in an old postcard. I especially liked the water features thoughout, including clam shell fountains that are still working, and small streams circling the small restaurant. The music was very appropriate, gentle hawaiian standards. The food was surprisingly good, I had the duck. The drinks were a disappointment. I started with a Mai Tai, which was about half pineapple juice. I then tried a Pirate's Grog, which was rather odd, and tasted not unlike a Flintstones chewable vitamin. It was bright pink, too. No self-respecting pirate would drink it. Or perhaps only a pirate would be manly enough to drink it and not care what others think.
I didn't eat or drink at the Islands Sushi bar out by the lobby -- it looked like your basic hotel lounge.
The pictures on Critiki are the good(ish) ones, and have been cropped & color corrected & all that, but there are many more pictures, as always, in my personal albums.
And also: this is my 1000th post! Yowzers!
_________________
I had it all backwards -- the best bed is the one that's stumbling distance from Tiki-Ti, or the Mai Kai, or the Lagoon Room, or the Alibi, or the Kon Tiki, or...
Critiki
[ This Message was edited by: Humuhumu on 2004-06-15 11:23 ]
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tiki5-0
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 29, 2004
Posts: 247
From: Pomona, CA
| Posted: 2004-08-16 09:09 am Permalink
we stayed here this weekend. i surprised my wife with a weekend getaway down in san diego. the hotel was nice. the courtyard was a cool place to hang out and relax watching all of the koi swim around in the ponds. the only disappointment was for being a polynesian themed hotel, the rooms resembled nothing of that. we had an extra bonus saturday night. there was a reunion of some sort, so they had a luau. there were hula dancers, fire dancer, and live music. it was by the pool, so all the passer-byers got some free entertainment. we definately plan on staying there again sometime.
[ This Message was edited by: tiki5-0 on 2004-08-16 09:10 ]
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ZuluMagoo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 26, 2002
Posts: 468
From: Denver, CO
| Posted: 2004-08-19 8:57 pm Permalink
We haven't seen much from Sabu or Puamana in a while, so I decided to break out a few postcards for show and tell.
Here is a card from the Hanalei Hotel and Islands Restaurant in San Diego, CA. The place was a real gem in it's heyday.
Take a closer look and you can see the details that made this place a classic.
A lava rock waterfall and lots of tropical foilage.
Outrigger beams and a large lava rock moai on the roof. Looks like this guy had a torch on top of his head.
A nice covered walkway supported by tiki poles. Check out the port hole window on the door that leads to the lounge. Looks like this gal was dressed to go out for the evening.
This place still looked great inside and out the last time my wife and I visited San Diego (1995). Here is a link to a previous thread where I posted more recent photos. Look closely and you can still see the port hole window on the door to the lounge.
http://tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=8110&forum=1
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Sweet Daddy Tiki
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 20, 2003
Posts: 1026
From: Edmonton
| Posted: 2004-08-20 01:21 am Permalink
Hey -- I've got a postcard of the Hanalei. Found this earlier this year (I hardly ever find tiki-related postcards):
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-Sweet Daddy T.
Because crap doesn't buy itself.
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[ This Message was edited by: Sweet Daddy Tiki 2008-09-18 00:14 ]
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ZuluMagoo
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jun 26, 2002
Posts: 468
From: Denver, CO
| Posted: 2004-08-21 1:09 pm Permalink
Here are a few paper items I picked up while I was there in '95.
These next two postcards were free advertisements in the bar promoting theme nights in the lounge.
Front
Back
Front
Back
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bongofury
Grand Member (6 years) 
Joined: Oct 15, 2002
Posts: 1473
From: Ventura County
| Posted: 2004-08-29 12:16 pm Permalink
Wear a Fez and get in free! Free polynesian buffet! Surf bands and exotica! They probably don't do that anymore do they? Here are some more images, all from an oversize postcard.
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ShaTikah
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Oct 26, 2004
Posts: 35
From: Los Angeles
| Posted: 2004-10-27 01:11 am Permalink
Hah! Great pics. all! Thanks for the memories! That Taboo flyer was my friends' party. The outfits were eggggselent, also... smoking jackets, fur couts, and of course, fezzes. The lounge acts were fantastic; and the decor a dream.
I couldn't believe the day I drove by the joint and saw it under construction. I moved away before it was finished. How does it look these days?
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3616
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2004-10-27 7:18 pm Permalink
Quote:
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[i]On 2004-10-27 01:11, ShaTikah wrote:
How does it look these days?
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http://www.tikiroom.com/tikicentral/bb/viewtopic.php?topic=3267&forum=1
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DawnTiki
Grand Member (first year)
Joined: Sep 01, 2002
Posts: 1673
From: next stop Hulaville!
| Posted: 2004-10-27 7:36 pm Permalink
Gee, I just love this place. The first time I walked in it was like standing inside a picture of an old postcard. Dreamy!
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TIKIBOSKO
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 17, 2004
Posts: 297 | Posted: 2004-10-27 8:04 pm Permalink
”I couldn't believe the day I drove by the joint and saw it under construction. I moved away before it was finished. How does it look these days?”
Really great postcards, but what they don’t show of the interior was even more amazing, the Islands used to be the most sophisticated Tiki room west of the Mississippi. It was remodeled by OA in 76 (I think) and they did an unbelievable job, parts of it looked like a primitive futuristic Tiki space craft.
I haven’t been back since the last remodel (Sven didn’t have anything positive to say about it) but there can’t be too much of significance left. The exterior was completely destroyed; it’s just an awful looking strange box. The demolition crew was filling up many 33 yard dumpsters everyday for over a week. The great A-frame that was the side entrance was unceremoniously chopped up with a chainsaw, the lagoon and waterfalls that led you into the bar area, torn out. It’s the saddest destruction of a mid-century landmark I’ve had to watch unfold, because it was in such pristine condition.
There were a great many Tiki poles inside which where supposedly spared but nobody knows where they ended up. The ceiling was full of big fish floats and light fixtures, a large portion of these where auctioned off. All the exterior Tiki pole supports, exterior Tahitian cannibal carvings (originally from the Luau), giant conch shells, tons of lava, Tapa cloth wall coverings, 100’s of OA Tiki posts for the walkways, all dumped. We offered Hanalei management cash for anything they wanted to get rid of and they weren’t interested. Thankfully I happen to know a guy who snuck in after hours and hauled allot of treasures out of their trash containers.
I hate to be such a downer but when I first read this thread I thought there’s something I can contribute too, but all the old memories came flying back.
If you’re new to the area you should take a look, it’s only me who can never go back.
My very best aloha’s
Bosko
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christiki295
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Apr 09, 2003
Posts: 3616
From: LA-2547 mls east Hawaii &5500 Easter Is
| Posted: 2004-10-27 11:37 pm Permalink
Quote:
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On 2004-10-27 20:04, TIKIBOSKO wrote:
The exterior was completely destroyed; it’s just an awful looking strange box. The demolition crew was filling up many 33 yard dumpsters everyday for over a week. The great A-frame that was the side entrance was unceremoniously chopped up with a chainsaw the lagoon and waterfalls that led you into the bar area, torn out. It’s the saddest destruction of a mid-century landmark I’ve had to watch unfold, because it was in such pristine condition.
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I think I'm going to cry.
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