Located at Fairmont San Francisco, Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar has delighted guests with its tropical décor, decadent libations and Asian cuisine since 1945. Having reigned as a swanky outpost of South Seas high style for much of its storied history, Tonga Room more recently gained a following as an icon of tiki’s pop culture heyday of the 1940s and 1950s.

Following a $1 million restoration by Gensler San Francisco, Tonga Room has rekindled the excitement of its unique and time-honored décor to recapture the glory of one of the nation’s first tiki palaces.

Highlighting the refurbishment is an updated lounge area boasting a sleek granite top bar and bar stools dressed with snow leopard accents; new luxurious “good luck red” leather banquettes that wrap around the outer corners of the lounge to create intimate venues within the signature space; and atmospheric lighting through the use of hanging globes in amber, blue, red and opal.

Tribal wall coverings in fuchsia and orange add excitement throughout the lounge and restaurant. The dining room now features eco-friendly bamboo tabletops and chic modern chinaware, setting the stage for a memorable dining experience.

Tonga Room features a top-40 band performing from a thatch-covered barge on the lagoon; a dance floor built from the remains of the S.S. Forester, a lumber schooner that once traveled regularly between San Francisco and the South Sea Islands; and periodic light tropical rainstorms, complete with thunder and lightning.