TONGA ROOM & HURRICANE BAR — Attraction in San Francisco

TLDR: Worst dining experience I've ever had. BEYOND BAD VALUE: AN OUTRIGHT SCAM. Blatant false advertising, exorbitant pricing, shameful quality, and utterly unhelpful staff.

My two friends and I booked the Tonga Room's 2024 New Year's Eve Luau Experience @ $159/person, plus mandatory 20% gratuity, for a total bill of $613.57 after tax. (See images #1&2, attached). This was a prepaid booking, so full payment was required in advance. The event description stated the following, verbatim:

"About this experience: Kick of 2024 in a tropical paradise. Enjoy a New Year's Eve celebration dinner, live music, dancing and California's best Mai Tai! This year's offering includes a buffet luau of Polynesian inspired classics! Join us for this all-ages event celebrating 2024!" (See image #3, attached).

That was the extent of information provided prior to booking, advertising the event on Open Table.

In our Uber to the Fairmont Hotel, we decided to look at our reservation on Open Table, and noticed that additional fine print had appeared (which was not displayed prior to payment), stating that all guests who remained in the Tonga Room past 6pm would be charged an additional cover fee for the live music (though the specific fee was not mentioned). Our reservation was for the first seating at 5:15pm, which meant that we would have only 45 minutes to enjoy our dinner before being charged an additional, unspecified fee to remain in the space. Moreover, the description for this prepaid event (above) clearly stated that the event included live music. Strike #1.

Upon being seated in the Tonga Room, we were presented with a drinks menu showing a price for each drink. Confused, we asked the staff if drinks were included in our experience, and we were told that all drinks were charged separately, even though the description for our prepaid event (above) clearly stated that the experience included "California's best Mai Tai". Strike #2.

We also noticed that the only food in the entire space was a skimpy selection of seven, sad-looking buffet dishes tucked away at the back of the room -- the kind that would have been disappointing as a complimentary continental breakfast at a motel. But serving this as a $200/person dinner at a five star hotel? Unacceptable. My party could have enjoyed a full tasting menu at any number of the city's fine dining restaurants for this price. Each dish looked like gloppy, reheated Chinese takeout. Hardly the advertised "buffet luau of Polynesian inspired classics". Strike #3.

In disbelief, we decided to leave our table, having not even touched the water. We immediately went to the front desk to speak with the manager, Andrew, addressing each of the above points. Andrew told us the event description never stated drinks were included. Okay then, let's review the Open Table listing: "Enjoy a New Year's Eve celebration dinner, live music, dancing, AND CALIFORNIA'S BEST MAI TAI." True, it didn't explicitly use the word "included" regarding drinks -- but it ALSO didn't explicitly state the "New Year's Eve celebration dinner" was "included", either. So then, using Andrew's logic, what exactly WAS our $613.57 SUPPOSED to include??

After sharing our concerns with Andrew, he told us in a witheringly patronizing and passive-aggressive manner, "I empathize with your misunderstanding." Sorry, Andrew, this is not a misunderstanding -- it's a blatant misrepresentation of actual services provided for the money we paid you.

We were told a full refund was "not up for negotiation". Since our conversation was going nowhere, we decided to leave the premises and file a dispute for the charge on my credit card, since the service for which my party paid was misrepresented by the hotel and not provided as advertised.

AVOID THE TONGA ROOM LIKE THE PLAGUE. This place falsely advertises the services/food/drink included in its prepaid fees, and preys on consumers' numbness to inflated city prices as an opportunity to charge fine dining fees for reheated,...

Had heard about this place on the Travel Channel's - 'Anthony Bourdain's-'The Layover-San Francisco' and hiked up Powell Street from Union Square to the posh Nob Hill neighborhood to check out this historic hotel, and home to the infamous Tonga Room: Hawaiian Restaurant and Bar. To give just a little backstory on the history of this amazing building I was interested in its original owners the Fair sisters, who have a Rhode Island connection where I live. (See this info later in the review.) The Tonga Room is located in the hotel's basement, or what they call the 'Terrace Level.' The 75-foot pool was added in 1929 and dubbed the Fairmont Terrace Plunge. In 1945 the hotel hired well-known Metro Goldwyn Mayer's set designer Mel Melvin to create a tiki-style themed experience. It does not disappoint. The pool is surrounded by bamboo railings and Tiki tables and kitschy art work and accents. You feel like you're in a 1950's Hawaiian bar.... or quite possibly on the set of Gilligan's Island. Riggings on the perimeter of the dance floor create the feeling of being on a schooner, and apparently the dance floor was constructed of wood from the S.S. Forester, a schooner that once sailed back and forth between San Francisco and Hawaii. Every half hour or so rain falls from the ceiling creating a humid air reminiscent of the South Pacific. Thunder erupts from somewhere in the corner of the room A fruity Scorpian or Lava bowl is a must if you're going to really take the plunge. Not cheap, but well worth the experience. The glass wear is of course voodoo themed & coconut shaped and 1950's style! Heard mention of a $10 dollar cover we decided to wait for a table at no charge, and then somehow they said just told us to head into the bar at no cost. Let's get back to the history of this amazing property. Built in 1902 by female architect Julia Morgan, the first female graduate of Paris's E'Cole Des Beaux Arts the lobby of this property is on par with architecture in Europe. According to the Fairmont's web site. ...'It was already completed, and the interior furnishings had been delivered and were awaiting their various places in this Palace on Nob Hill. The hotel had just been sold on April 6th, less than two weeks before the conflagration that was to all but level the City. The story however, goes back earlier than that. Tessie and Virginia Fair were the daughters of James Graham Fair, one of San Francisco's wealthiest citizens. 'Bonanza Jim' had struck it rich in a Nevada Silver mine, and his daughters were determined to construct a grand monument to their father, who had passed away in 1894. In 1902, construction began on The Fairmont Hotel, but by 1906, it had become too much of a burden for the Fair sisters, and they sold it to the Law brothers, Herbert and Hartland, in exchange for two existing office buildings at Mission and New Montgomery streets. How could anyone know that the 'great San Francisco fire,' as locals referred to the disaster of the earthquake and what followed, was just days away.' While the Fairmont was shaken by the great quake, it faired better than much of SF that was devastated by fire. The sisters not only honored their father with the flagship for the Fairmont properties 'FairMont' atop this most scenic hill in SF, they also took some of his fortune and built Rosecliff Mansion built by McKim, Mead and White on Bellevue Avenue in Newport, RI. Both were prominent society members on Bellevue Avenue. They both married well to New York society members Hermann Oelrich's, and William Vanderbilt III. Oelrich of steamship fortune, and Vanderbilt heir to Steamship and Railroad fortunes. If you like history and Scorpion bowls in an interesting setting, don't miss the Tonga Room! Got a lot of this history info...

I live in San Francisco and have been here twice - once 30 years ago and once last night. I’ll start with the good things first. The food and drinks were actually pretty good (island-themed). The environment is nice - tiki huts with occasional rain. This is what I remember from 30 years ago and it’s kitschy and nice to hear the rain. Our server and the hostess were all super professional and nice.

Ok, on to the reasons this is only 2 stars for me. The first time I went (30 years ago) I have fond memories of talking with my friends and listening to the rain inside - super soothing and pleasant. There is a band now but the band is WAY WAY WAY overplaying the size of the space. It was incredibly loud. I actually went back to the car to get earplugs for us because there was no way we could stay there without them. This is from someone who likes Omnia and other clubs in Vegas and who has gone to Burning Man a number of times. I like loud music but it also has to fit the venue. The other thing is the choice of music. Had it been Hawaiian themed it could have been nice but it was more Linda Ronstadt themed than Hawaiian. The band did finally take a break and we were so thankful but then 15 seconds later they put on really really loud recorded music. It was such a bummer - was really looking forward to this. It quite literally drove us out and we decided to get dinner elsewhere, which was unfortunate. The band mentioned they’re only there 4 nights a week so I asked at the front desk what happens the other 3 nights, hoping to find a time when we might return — “we’re closed.” Ah. Oh well.

I will say this. The band did play their hearts out — just way too loud and not the right choice of music for the venue. It’s also quite possible we’re not the target demographic (I.e., people who want to eat dinner and talk in a nice tiki atmosphere) because it seemed like there were more birthday and bridal shower groups than a random distribution would allow for.

One other note - the food is expensive for what it is. Generally $25 per drink and $40-ish for pretty normal entrees that would be $25 anywhere else. $62 for a beef and shrimp “surf-n-turf” entree. Being from SF, I eat out a lot - Perbacco, PABU, State Bird Provisions being recent ones - but these prices made me hesitate given this was supposed to be a fun kitschy night out.

So - still want to get your island themed tiki fix? Head to Pagan Idol instead. Sorry Tonga Room, I really wanted...