‘The greatest place in the history of the world’ is how the late chef Anthony Bourdain described the fabulously kitschy Tonga Room at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.

A set designer from the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios created this tiki extravaganza in 1945 and, to everyone’s delight, he really went to town on the décor.

The hotel’s indoor swimming pool was transformed into a blue green lagoon and the remains of the SS Forrester, a schooner that plied the waters from San Francisco to the South Seas, serves as a floating stage for entertainers.

There are lava rocks, wood carvings, tikis and other nautical details while ‘tropical rainstorms’ featuring thunder and lightning blow through precisely every hour and add to the island atmosphere.

Expertly-made mai tais, fog cutters and zombies are served  – glasses have recently replaced tiki mugs- and you’ll find the usual mix of Polynesian-inspired food.

It’s all great fun and rather impressive that this crown jewel of SF’s tiki culture is still a hit nearly 80 years after it was first created.