The Tonga Room: how a 1929 hotel swimming pool on Nob Hill became San Francisco's most famous tiki bar

Below the lobby of the Fairmont San Francisco on Nob Hill, a band plays from a thatch-roofed barge floating on a "lagoon." Every so often the lights flicker, thunder rolls and rain pours down over the water. The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar has drawn San Franciscans and visitors for close to 80 years, and the story of how it got there is half the fun.

First, a swimming pool

In 1929 the Fairmont added a 75-foot indoor swimming pool on its Terrace Level, according to the hotel. Known as the Fairmont Plunge (sometimes called the Terrace Plunge), the tiled pool drew local crowds and celebrities including actress Helen Hayes and actor Ronald Reagan.

Then, Hollywood tiki

In the 1940s the hotel hired Mel Melvin, a set director for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, to turn the pool into a South Seas fantasy. The pool became the lagoon, and a floating stage was added for the band. The Fairmont dates the opening to 1947, while other accounts give 1945. The dance floor is built from the remains of the S.S. Forester, a schooner that once sailed between San Francisco and the South Sea Islands, the hotel says. The room was redesigned again in 1967.

Saved as history

When the Tonga Room's future was in doubt around 2010, a city Planning Department report called it a "historical resource." Citing the lagoon, rainstorms and lava rock, the report said it "exhibits exceptional importance due to its rarity and as one of the best examples of 'high-style' tiki bar/restaurant in San Francisco." The late Anthony Bourdain famously called it "the greatest place in the history of the world" on the Travel Channel's The Layover. In 2024 the bar switched to new glassware, moving away from ceramic tiki mugs.

If you go

The Tonga Room is inside the Fairmont at 950 Mason St. The hotel says the thunder and lightning come about every 30 minutes. It's only open some nights of the week and can close for private buyouts, so check the bar's Instagram or the Fairmont's website before heading up the hill. Expect Polynesian-fusion food and mai tais with paper umbrellas. The cable car stops nearby on California Street.