THIS is a 1996 PHOTO of the TIKI GARDEN Area to the WAKIKIAN HOTEL  in WAIKIKI HONOLULU HAWAII with the TAHITIN LANAI Restaurant and the PAPEETE BAR featuring RESTAURANT DECORATIONS.

PHOTO WAS TAKEN in 1996 right after the closing.  I luckily broke in with Sven Kirsten ( we waded into the water and just walked around the fencing ) and got to take a bunch of final photos. The security guards found us but they were ok with our documenting the environment.

The Tahitian Lanai and Papette Bar was located in the Waikikian Hotel on the beautiful island of Oahu. 

Spence Weaver opened the restaurant after falling in love with a dancer he met while on vacation in Tahiti. 

And, it worked - she later became his wife. 

Weaver brought on Bob Bryant, founder of San Francisco’s Tiki Bob’s. 

With decor flown in from Tahiti, palm trees and pareu-clad “maidens”, the restaurant tried to give the guests an authentic South Seas experience. 

Diners could sit poolside surrounded by tiki torches, in private huts, or in the main dining room. 

Exotic Polynesian drinks were served along side a menu of traditional Tahitian dishes, although they were also known for the eggs benedict.

The Tahitian Lanai, and the Waikikian Hotel, opened in 1956 and closed 40 years later.

The Tahitian Lanai, and its Papeete Bar, were located in the Waikikian hotel, right on the beach at Waikiki on Oahu.

They opened on October 1, 1956. 

Spence Weaver, of Spencecliff Restaurants, operated the restaurant, and Bob Bryant, founder of Tiki Bob's in San Francisco, was hired to manage the restaurant.

Bob Bryant said of the Waikikian and Tahitian Lanai, "Before leaving the Mainland for the first time, everybody has his own dream of what Hawaii and Tahiti will be like. 

In designing this hotel-restaurant complex, we tried to fulfill those ideas. 

We tried to make this a 'dream Tahiti' instead of just a duplicate of the real island."

The restaurant housed 40 tikis, including a large Marquesan that was purported to be at least 200 years old, and a number of black velvet Leeteg paintings.

Diners could sit poolside surrounded by tiki torches, in private huts named after Tahitian Royalty (like the Queen Pōmare IV Hut or Prince Hinoi Hut), or in the main dining room.

The Waikikian closed in 1996, and the items from the hotel and restaurant were sold in an auction that took place at the Tahitian Lanai.

THESE PHOTOS WERE TAKEN RIGHT BEFORE THE AUCTION

PHOTO is 4 X 6

ITEM is in good vintage condition.

Please SEE PHOTO to determine Condition.

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