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Hoopla for the Hut: Trying to Save a Hilton Head's Fave Hotel Bar

Where: 1 South Forest Beach Drive [map], Hilton Head, SC, United States, 29928

Trouble is brewing for Hilton Head's most loved and best known bar, the Tiki Hut. Since 1977 the Holiday Inn's Tiki Bar has been the place to get your fruity cocktail, chill on the beach, and live la vie de Jimmy Buffet. Its friendly service, live music, and sense that when you're there, you're drinking on the beach is what has given it such long-lived popularity.

But all this may come to an end. Renovation is the word in the hotel world so what could be replacing the area's fave bar? A barbecue pit. Wait a minute, this doesn't seem like an upgrade. But, the problem is deeper, the entire Holiday Inn may go:

It's still unclear when the owners of the hotel will start their plans to level the five-story Holiday Inn and turn it into a condominium complex -- converting the Tiki Hut into a barbecue pit in the process. But they are pushing the proposal along quickly, say town planners.

For Lori Cassidy, a 10-year Hilton Head resident whose license plate on her Toyota Prius translates to "Island Time," and for other fans of the Coligny Beach mainstay, losing the Tiki Hut would be like watching their own homes washed away by a vindictive ocean.

Cassidy isn't alone, a petition with around 650 signatures is currently in effect to attend a "Hoopla for the Hut" on October 8th. From there, only time will tell whether or not the hut will beat the pit.

Related Stories:
· Need Headline [The State]
· Holiday Inn Hilton Head Reviews [TripAdvisor]