Tonga Room

The space you are approaching occupies the former site of the Fairmont Terrace Plunge, a seventy-five-foot indoor swimming pool that debuted in 1929. During its time as a pool, the area served as a playground for celebrities like Ronald Reagan and actress Helen Hayes. Following the decline of the hotel pool's popularity in the 1940s, management hired Mel Melvin, a prominent set director for Metro Goldwyn Mayer, to convert the cavernous space into a destination restaurant. He transformed the original basin into a tropical lagoon, which remains the central feature of the room today.