The Tropics, Hotel Phillips, 106 West 12th, KCMO

The Tropics Lounge opened sometime during World War II and was located on the third floor (they counted the basement level as #1, so the third floor today is more like the second floor or mezzanine level). Here's a quote from the hotel's history flyer:

After dinner, the gentlemen would retire to the third floor to the popular lounge called the Tropics. The sound of thunder was piped in and the lights fluttered and went out. A mechanical hula girl would emerge from behind the bar and dance in a grass skirt while it rained behind the bar.

It was quite a place!

Here's the exterior of the hotel today, pretty much unchanged from when it opened in 1930.

And the vintage menu, courtesy of Mimi Payne and Arkiva Tropica.






The hotel has undergone several remodelings over the years and the location of the Tropics Lounge is difficult to determine. Today it exists only in postcards and memories.