The tropical overwater bungalow turns 50

Washington

THE overwater bungalow - that iconic symbol of the paradisiacal tropical vacation, standing in clear blue water on stilt legs - turns the big five-oh this year. The thatched huts, often outfitted with such luxury amenities as plunge pools and glass floors to better see the fish below, are a staple on the bucket lists and Pinterest boards of aspirational travellers the world over. Yet, their origin lies in a surprisingly prosaic exercise in problem-solving.

Back in the 60s, three tanned, party-hearty California kids - Hugh Kelley, Don "Muk" McCallum and Jay Carlisle - left their 9-to-5s in pursuit of their tropical dreams in French Polynesia. Opening hotels on Moorea and Raiatea, the trio was dubbed the Bali Hai Boys, after the mystical island in James Michener's novel South Pacific. Mr Carlisle, now in his 70s, reminisces about those days. "Our Hotel Bali Hai on Moorea thrived with its beachfront property, but Hotel Bora Bora on Raiatea struggled," he says. "It didn't have any beaches."