Exclusive: The Tiki Motel's Termination & History.

While we should all be celebrating the 30th Anniversary of The Terminator this month, some sad news rains on our party. It turns out that we've lost one of cinema's greatest on-screen motels. The Tiki Motel, where John Connor was conceived in a night of passion, closed its doors for good.

Our own Christoph Peitler shares this unfortunate report:

 

"I visited the Tiki Motel in LA but there's some really bad news for all Terminator Fans! I am on a road trip here in Los Angeles, before we'll go back to San Francisco tomorrow. This Tiki Motel was a very, very important location of the trip. When I arrived at the Tiki Motel, I read all these signs, "Sorry, we are closed" and "no trespassing"!  I feared the worst."

 

"A guy was washing his car at the closed entrance. He was very nice but there was no entry for me. After I couldn't reach the owner on the phone, he gave me permission for some pictures. He told me they closed the motel only 4 months ago because the usage for addicts and prostitutes. The Tiki Motel will be TORN / PULLED DOWN and they will raise some apartments. A very sad day for me but i managed to get there before it's gone!"

 

 

I too traveled to The Tiki Motel several years ago so allow me to tell my story and share a few motel facts...some of these, I have not yet shared with TheArnoldFans before.

I asked to see inside and was allowed in without any supervision. Door 9, which led to the famous room, was the only door cracked open at the motel. Feeling as if I were about to step inside of a Terminator movie, a surreal sensation overcame me as I stood by the door that Arnold busted open while firing his gun. I sat down on the bed where I had imagined the point of conception for John Connor. The walls were grimy, and sludge could be found in the bathroom. The toilet bowl had a bad case of brown funk inside, and when I went to pull open the curtain in the back, the curtain rod came crashing down on me. This motel was very nasty but, damn it, this was the best experience ever to absorb such Terminator energy.

On my way out, I walked around the grounds and took pictures from the same angles that these scenes were shot on film. The owner, an older Russian-sounding gentlemen, was also the owner back when James Cameron and his crew did their cinematic magic. He was happy to speak with me while I interviewed him outside of the office where Sarah and Kyle checked in and asked for a room with a kitchen. After receiving a Tiki Motel "business card," which was his last printed-out piece of thin, crumpled paper, I learned that a night's stay here would cost $35.00. I also asked how much he had made for letting James Cameron film here for almost two weeks. The agreement was without compensation, but the owner hoped for good advertising from the movie's release.

At the front of the motel was the Tiki Motel sign, which was now in such bad condition that half of the plastic from the sign had been broken in by a rock or beer bottle. I asked the owner if he knew what a goldmine he was sitting on and questioned if he intended to give his motel a makeover to restore it. I had a little trouble understanding his heavily accented response but did make out that he was going to fix the sign sometime soon (it is fixed now). On my drive home, still on my Terminator high, I fantasized about buying the Tiki Motel from the owner and turning it into a grand themed motel with different Terminator paintings, props and memorabilia in every room. Room 9 would be a grand suite. I thought, "If scrubbed, repainted and repaired, what Terminator fan wouldn't want to stay here on their wedding night and conceive their own future savior child?" Unfortunately, the surrounding area was not the best location nor was it a place of heavy tourist interest. Otherwise, I would be the proud owner of a very successful "Tiki Terminator Motel."

It is time for us to CHECK OUT and say goodbye to the Tiki Motel.

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