Mark Hopkins Hotel facts for kids
| InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco | |
Quick facts for kids  The Mark Hopkins Hotel, 2009 |
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| Hotel facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 37°47′30″N 122°24′37″W / 37.791558°N 122.410364°W |
| Address | |
| Opening date | 4 December 1926 |
| Architect | Weeks & Day |
| Management | InterContinental Hotels Group |
| No. of restaurants | Top of the Mark Nob Hill Club |
| No. of rooms | 380 |
| of which suites | 39 |
| No. of floors | 19 |
| Footnotes | |
| Official name: Site of the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art | |
| Reference #: | 754 |
| Reference #: | 184 |
The InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco is a fancy hotel in San Francisco, California. It sits right at the very top of Nob Hill, a famous area in the city. This hotel is managed by the InterContinental Hotels Group. This group runs more than 5,000 hotels and resorts around the world. The Mark Hopkins is special because it's the oldest InterContinental hotel in the United States.
On the 19th floor, there's a cool restaurant and lounge called the Top of the Mark. It has glass walls and offers amazing views of the city. The InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel is also part of Historic Hotels of America. This means it's recognized as an important historic building by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Contents
A Look Back: The Hotel's Story
From Mansion to Masterpiece
The story of the Mark Hopkins Hotel began with a man named Mark Hopkins Jr.. He was one of the people who started the Central Pacific Railroad. Mark Hopkins chose the highest point on Nob Hill to build a dream home for his wife, Mary. The huge mansion was finished in 1878, but sadly, Mark Hopkins had already passed away.
Because the mansion's tower was the tallest spot in San Francisco at the time, a famous photographer named Eadweard Muybridge took a panoramic photo of the city from there in 1877.
A New Purpose and a Fire
After Mary Hopkins Searles passed away in 1891, she left her mansion and a lot of money to her second husband, Edward Francis Searles. In 1893, Edward donated the building and its grounds to the San Francisco Art Association. This group, now called the San Francisco Art Institute, used it as a school and museum. It was known as the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art.
The Mark Hopkins mansion was strong enough to survive the big 1906 San Francisco earthquake. However, it was completely destroyed by the massive fire that swept through the city for three days after the earthquake.
Building a Grand Hotel
After the fire, a mining engineer and hotel investor named George D. Smith bought the Nob Hill site. He removed the old Art Association building. Then, he started building a luxurious new hotel. The San Francisco architectural company Weeks and Day designed the 19-story hotel. It looked like a mix of a French castle and Spanish style.
One of the hotel's banquet rooms is called "The Room of The Dons." It holds a special piece of California history. Nine large panels, seven feet tall, decorate the upper walls. Artists Maynard Dixon and Frank Von Sloun painted these panels in 1926 for the hotel's opening. One panel shows Queen Calafia and her Amazons against a golden sky. Queen Calafia is where the state of California got its name!
A Meeting Place During Wartime
During World War II, the Top Of The Mark lounge became a very popular spot. Servicemen heading to the Pacific and their loved ones would meet there before the soldiers were sent overseas. It was a place for goodbyes and special memories.
Changing Hands and Lasting Legacy
Over the years, the hotel was sold a few times. In 1961, George D. Smith sold it to Kratter Corp. for over $10 million. The next year, it was sold again to a San Francisco financier named Louis Lurie.
In 1963, famous singer and actor Gene Autry took over the hotel with a long-term lease. Later, in 1967, Loews Hotels got a 99-year lease on the hotel.
In 1973, the family of Louis Lurie signed a long-term agreement for InterContinental Hotels Corporation to manage the Mark Hopkins. In 2014, Woodridge Capital Partners and Oaktree Capital Management bought the hotel.
The Mark Hopkins became a very important social center for San Francisco. It has won awards and is highly rated for its excellent service.
Important Status
A special bronze plaque was put up by the California State Park Commission on October 20, 1961. This plaque marks the spot as California Historical Landmark #754. It shows where the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art used to be. The Mark Hopkins Hotel is also listed as a San Francisco Designated Landmark. This means it's recognized as a very important building in the city's history.
See also
In Spanish: Mark Hopkins Hotel para niños
