Tiki Bars in Palm Springs: Where to Drink Rum in the Desert

The four current tiki rooms

Palm Springs tiki splits cleanly by what you actually want. Bootlegger Tiki is the cocktail-first room. Tonga Hut Palm Springs is the one where you can eat a full meal. The Reef Palm Springs puts you inside a genuine 1960s Polynesian resort. Toucans Tiki Lounge keeps the decor but is really an LGBTQ+ drag and dance bar.

Bootlegger Tiki

A tiny red-lit room behind Ernest Coffee on North Palm Canyon, on the site of Don the Beachcomber's last Palm Springs bar. Drinks are made properly - fresh juice, split rum bases - and there is no food. It holds around forty people, so winter weekends fill fast after nine and early evening is the reliable window. The bar relaunched with a new cocktail menu in 2026 and does not publish hours on its own site, so check before you go.

Tonga Hut Palm Springs

The desert branch of the long-running North Hollywood tiki bar, in the middle of the downtown walking strip on North Palm Canyon. It is a lounge and restaurant, which makes it the practical choice when the group wants dinner and rum in the same stop. Hours are not published officially - confirm by phone.

The Reef Palm Springs

Inside Caliente Tropics Resort, the mid-century Polynesian motel that hosts the annual Tiki Caliente weekend. This is the most committed setting in the valley and the least walkable from downtown, so treat it as a destination rather than one stop on a crawl. The official site keeps a current menu but no posted hours.

Toucans Tiki Lounge

Uptown on North Palm Canyon, with thatch, carvings and a tiki name - and a nightly programme of drag shows, DJs and dancing. Go for the show, not for a rum flight. Its official site runs an event calendar instead of standard hours.

Seasonal and annual tiki

Tiki Caliente returns to Caliente Tropics as a multi-day rum-and-music weekend; dates come from the organiser rather than the hotel, so check the official event listing before booking a room. In summer, the Omni Rancho Las Palmas in Rancho Mirage has converted its outdoor bar into a limited-run Tiki Social pop-up - it is seasonal, so verify it is operating before driving out.

How to plan a tiki night

Downtown is the only walkable cluster: Bootlegger Tiki, Tonga Hut and Toucans all sit on North Palm Canyon within a short ride of each other, while The Reef needs a car or rideshare. None of the four publishes reliable hours on its own website, which is unusual and worth planning around - call the venue the same day, especially between July and September when independent bars cut hours.

For a wider view of the drinking scene, see the best bars in Palm Springs and the cocktail bar guide. If you are staying downtown, the Palm Springs without a car guide covers what you can reach on foot.