It features a bandstand on a barge that floats in a former swimming pool, a dining area built from parts of an old sailing ship, and artificial thunderstorms.

In January 2009, the owners announced plans to close the Tonga Room in connection with a renovation and condo conversion of the hotel.

[15] In response, a group planned to file an application to make the Tonga Room an official San Francisco landmark.

[18] The hotel was sold again on November 30, 2015, to the South Korean Mirae Asset Global Investments group for $450 million.

[19] The Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel was where Tony Bennett first sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" in December 1961.

[20] A statue of Tony Bennett was unveiled outside the Fairmont on 19 August 2016, in honor of his 90th birthday, the performance and the song's history with San Francisco.

[22] In the song "Real Good for Free" on the album Miles of Aisles Joni Mitchell changes the line "I slept last night in a good hotel" to "I slept last night in the Fairmont Hotel"[23] The Fairmont makes a brief appearance in the film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, where characters Shang-Chi and his best friend Katy previously worked as valet parkers at the beginning of the film.