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In the Captain Cook Restaurant (named after the legendary English explorer who visited Tahiti), bright striped fabrics were hung from floor to ceiling in the double-height bar and lounge. The restaurant also featured chandeliers shaped like nautical…

In designing the Tahara'a iinteriors, Prince took his interior design cues from the ocean, working with a palette of turquoise, dark blue, midnight blue, and sea green for the guest rooms and for the accents of the outdoor pool area—everything from…

Many “native” elements incorporated into the hotel decor, including a 25 foot tiki that stood in front of the hotel’s thatched-roofed building, had to be outsourced to Oceanic Arts in Whittier, California due to a scarcity of craftsmen (the locals…

The Tahara'a InterContinental Hotel (1964-1978) was dramatically perched on a cliff above one of Tahiti’s famed black sand beaches, with descending tiers of rooms spread out below the ridge of the hill and balcony trellises draped in…

Wall panel from the 2013 New York School of Interior Design exhibit "Designing the Luxury Hotel: Neal Prince and the Inter-Continental Brand."

In December 1968, the Tahara’a Inter-Continental opened in Pape’éte, Tahiti. The architectural firm…

When Prince was designing the Tahara'a InterContinental Hotel, which operated from 1968-1974, he was catering to an American fantasy of the South Pacific, formed by movies like Blue Hawaii and the tiki bars of the 1960s. In the more casual indoor and…

The hotel was built by architect Joseph Salerno. A pyramidal-shaped building flanked by two wings, the Siam Inter-Continental was informed by the exoticism of Bangkok’s Grand Palace complex. Salerno did not want to “copy local designs since he…

Thai motifs are found throughout the hotel. Common motifs include: the flame, the lotus, the fight between the serpent Naga and the Monkey God, the royal hunt for the mythical jeweled leopard, Thai silk, gold leaf, mirror mosaic, brass, carved wood,…

For the hotel bar, the design team worked with local artisans to produce intricately carved wooden screens that acted as room dividers, with dragon-headed nagas (snakes) taken from temple architecture. Wall fabrics were chosen in rich jewel tones…

Thai motifs are found throughout the hotel.  Common motifs include: the flame, the lotus, the fight between the serpent Naga and the Monkey God, the royal hunt for the mythical jeweled leopard, Thai silk, gold leaf, mirror mosaic, brass, carved wood,…