GREAT FALLS — The Sip ’N Dip Lounge at the O’Haire Motor Inn in Great Falls is once again getting some national recognition.
Artful Living has named the lounge as among five of the most extraordinary bars in the world. The article notes: "The Artful Living article notes: Start with an old-school motor lodge, combine it with a tiki bar, add in a swimming pool and some mermaids, and you get one of the most unusual bars in the world. This crazy combination is best described as Polynesia on the Great Plains."
The other four bars chosen by the magazine are in Switzerland, Jamaica, Hong Kong, and Wisconsin.
The Sip ’N Dip is famous for having a pool behind the bar with women (and men in recent years) swimming in mermaid costumes.
O’Haire Motor Inn owner Sandra Thares said she had no idea the bar was going to be featured by Artful Living: "Being mentioned in articles like this is a huge opportunity for us. It gets our name out there in publications that we could never afford to advertise in. It's good for us, it's good for Great Falls.”
This is not the first time the tiki bar has received national recognition; back in 2003, GQ magazine named it the #1 bar in the world worth flying for.
A lot of people know of the Sip 'N Dip thanks to "Piano Pat" Sponheim, who has entertained crowds at the lounge for more than 50 years. She has been on an extended hiatus for several months, due initially to COVID restrictions, and then a fall; she slipped and hit her head on her piano and broke her hip.
