Trader Sam's in California is a hotel bar and is definitely an all-night kind of place. In my opinion, Grog Grotto is going about it all wrong - opening at 4 and closing at 12 is extremely limiting. I realize it's only been a week and that all other resort bars are 4-12, but this hurts business. Half of the open hours are family-friendly, which is okay but then starting at 8 you only have 4 hour instead of 6 for the adults. Also when you start telling people at 430 that the wait is 2 hours, it chases people out and away for the rest of the evening. It's equivalent to a closed sign for those who aren't dedicating their remainder of the evening trying to get in.
As another user stated, the staff has a lot to improve upon. Although I could praise a few by name, the rest had a very ****ty attitude (read: spoiled, entitled, etc) and they need to figure out their routines and refine and mature them. It's a competition for who can get the most attention. Everybody I went in with felt very awkward and wondering if we were supposed to laugh at things or not. To illustrate:
Enchanted Tiki Bar
One skipper calls attention > announces why > hits the effect > others chime in
Grog Grotto
One skipper calls attention > others chime in > nobody sure quite yet what is going on > hits the effect > guests' and bar's flow is interrupted > others still compete to throw in as many one-liners and puns as possible > finally over
A Florida resident described it to me as "when I went to California there were a few 50 year old men behind the bar. I feel like here are a bunch of young kids running around."
A tiki bar should be slow and lax. An occasional effect is great and adds excitement here and there, and to contrast it is the return of the chill exotica music. You hardly have that same experience so far at Grog Grotto. I hope it turns around and they work out the kinks - there's a lot of potential. Don't get me started on the new drinks though - I'll post elsewhere regarding those disappointments.
