Kona Kai Inn, Las Vegas, Triblend Tee

Venue History

Kona Kai Inn was a distinctive Polynesian-themed motel on the southern Las Vegas Strip, located at 5191 Las Vegas Boulevard South. The property is commonly tied to the early 1960s, with some histories tracing its origin to 1962, while Vintage Las Vegas lists the Kona Kai Motel name from 1964 to 1975 before its transition into the Klondike era. Designed during America’s tiki and South Seas craze, Kona Kai offered a tropical escape on the edge of the desert. Its A-frame motel wings, island-inspired styling, lounge atmosphere, and roadside signage gave the property a memorable visual identity. Unlike the giant casino resorts farther north, Kona Kai was primarily a motel, catering to motorists and budget-minded travelers near the famous “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign. While it was not a full-scale casino in its Kona Kai years, the property did have limited gaming. After Ralph Engelstad purchased the motel in the late 1960s, he received approval in 1970 to add several slot machines to the motel’s tavern, giving the bar a small gaming component without turning the property into a major casino operation. The motel also featured food and drink operations. In the mid-1960s, its lounge and restaurant space operated under names including Talk O’ the Town, Robin’s, and later Sonny’s Restaurant/Kona Kai Lounge, reflecting the shifting personality of the property. In 1976, John Woodrum took over operations and renamed the property Klondike Inn, ending the Kona Kai identity. The Klondike later expanded into a fuller casino operation, but Kona Kai’s legacy belongs to an earlier, more intimate Strip era. Today, Kona Kai Inn is remembered as a lost piece of tiki-era Las Vegas — a small, stylish motel whose tropical theme, lounge culture, limited bar gaming, and south-Strip location captured the creative roadside spirit of vintage Vegas. In 2014, a Harley-Davidson dealership opened on the former Kona Kai Inn property and exists to this day.