San Francisco: Tonga Room to close?

A Letter from San Francisco:

According to my buddy Mark Orwell, editor of Travel + Leisure, one of my favorite San Francisco bars, The Tonga Room, in the Fairmont Hotel on Nob Hill, may be closing. Mark writes: “Since 1945 the Tonga Room has been a local favorite for its bamboo-heavy “Polynesian” decor, dance floor made from an old schooner, rattan furniture, floating bandstand in the room’s “lagoon,” and simulated thunder-and-lightning rainstorms. How many umbrella drinks have been emptied here? How many anniversaries celebrated? How many lonely sailors have met the girl of their dreams, her silhouette cast against the glow of a tiki torch, head swaying to the music of ukuleles and steel guitars? There have been tentative offers to buy the room’s fixtures and relocate it elsewhere. But if that doesn’t happen, it may be time to say aloha to a sentimental slice of Bay Area history.”