There you would be greeted by vast coconut palms, hung with thousands of lights, glittering streamers, and swathes of people enjoying the fineries of life.
There was a feeling that the Cocoanut grove would be there forever; how could it not be? Such a beautiful establishment couldn’t fail in its popularity, its casinos alone bringing in more revenue than the oppositions entire premises.

Howard Hughes once remarked that “a man who is tired of the Cocoanut Grove is tired of life,” and it was true. The place exuded so much charm and class that even when one was there, they were looking forward to their next visit.
So what went wrong? Established in the 1930’s, the hotel and casino had enjoyed three decades of nonstop success. How did the ‘Grove eventually decline?

It was a humid summer night in 1966, during the California Presidential Primary, when Robert ‘Bobby’ Kennedy held his last speech. The Primary was a success and everyone was celebrating in one of the vast reception halls.
Less than fifteen minutes after the candidates entry to the hotel, he was shot dead by a fanatical rival, just as his brother had been in Dallas three years before.

Understandably, this tarnished the reputation of the hotel, as one of America’s favorite sons and the dead-cert next president was slaughtered right there.

Nowadays the Cocoanut Grove hotel and casino lies derelict. There has been some interest in renovating it, but it is in too much disrepair and will cost too much money to develop.
The hotel and casino, much like its heyday, has passed into history, never to be relived.