Palace Hotel, San Francisco facts for kids
| The Palace Hotel | |
Quick facts for kids  The Palace Hotel on Market Street in San Francisco, 2008 |
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| Hotel facts and statistics | |
|---|---|
| Location | United States |
| Coordinates | 37°47′18″N 122°24′07″W / 37.7884°N 122.4020°W |
| Address | |
| Architect | Trowbridge & Livingston |
| Management | Marriott International |
| Owner | Kyo-Ya Hotels & Resorts |
| No. of restaurants | The Garden Court Pied Piper Bar & Grill |
| No. of rooms | 556 |
| of which suites | 53 |
| Total floor area | 592,000 sq ft (55,000 m2) |
| No. of floors | 9 |
| Footnotes | |
| Designated: | 1969 |
| Reference #: | 18 |
The Palace Hotel is a very famous and historic hotel in San Francisco, California. It's located right in the middle of the city, where Market and New Montgomery streets meet. People sometimes call it the New Palace Hotel to tell it apart from the first Palace Hotel. The original hotel was built in 1875 but was destroyed by a big fire after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake.
The current hotel building opened its doors on December 19, 1909. It stands on the exact same spot as the first one. The hotel was closed for two years, from 1989 to 1991, for a major makeover and to make it safer against earthquakes. This nine-story building is over a hundred years old and takes up most of a city block. It's close to the BART train station and across Market Street from Lotta's Fountain.
The Palace Hotel is part of Historic Hotels of America. This is a special program that recognizes important historic hotels across the country.
Contents
The First Palace Hotel (1875–1906)
The first Palace Hotel was built by a San Francisco banker named William Chapman Ralston. He used a lot of money from his bank to pay for the huge $5 million project. Even though his bank had problems in 1875, the hotel still opened on October 2, 1875. Ralston's business partner, William Sharon, ended up owning the hotel after Ralston's bank collapsed.
With 755 guest rooms, the first Palace Hotel was the biggest hotel in the Western United States at the time. It was also San Francisco's tallest building for over ten years, standing 120 feet high. The hotel had a beautiful open area in the middle called the Grand Court. Carriages would drive into this court, which was surrounded by seven stories of white balconies. Later, this area became a fancy lounge called the "Palm Court."
The hotel had many modern features for its time. It had large elevators called "rising rooms" that were made of redwood. Each guest room had its own bathroom and an electric button to call for staff. Rooms could be connected to make bigger suites or apartments for people staying a long time. Each room also had a large bay window looking out onto the street.
In 1890, Mōʻī (King) Kalakaua of Hawaii visited California on a ship called the USS Charleston. He was there for important talks between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the U.S. Government. King Kalakaua, who was not in good health, stayed in a suite at the Palace Hotel. After traveling, he became very ill in Santa Barbara and was quickly brought back to San Francisco. He fell into a coma in his hotel suite on January 18, 1891, and passed away two days later.
The first Palace Hotel was known for its amazing features. It had an intercom system and four huge hydraulic elevators. The most famous part was the Grand Court, where horse-drawn carriages would enter. This area was changed into the "Garden Court" with many palm trees just before the 1906 earthquake.
The famous writer Andrew Carnegie once wrote about the hotel: "A palace truly! Where shall we find its equal? There is no other hotel building in the world equal to this."
The hotel survived the first shaking of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake on April 18, 1906. However, by that afternoon, it was completely destroyed by the fires that followed the earthquake. A famous singer named Enrico Caruso was staying at the hotel when the earthquake happened. He had performed in an opera the night before. It's said that he stood in his nightshirt, holding a signed photo of President Theodore Roosevelt, and asked for special help. He later said he would never return to San Francisco.
The "Baby" Palace Hotel (1906–1907)
While the ruins of the first hotel were being cleared away and a new one was being built, a temporary hotel was quickly put together. This small, 23-room hotel was called the "Little" or "Baby" Palace Hotel. It was built about eight blocks west of the main site. This simple two-story building opened on November 17, 1906, just seven months after the earthquake and fire had ruined the city.
The "Baby" Palace Hotel was only open to the public until July 1907. After that, the Palace Hotel Company rented the nearby Fairmont Hotel for ten years. The "Baby" Palace building was then used by The Olympic Club as a temporary clubhouse. Within ten years, the "Baby" Palace Hotel was replaced by a brick apartment building that still stands there today.
The "New" Palace Hotel (Opened 1909)
The "New" Palace Hotel was completely rebuilt from the ground up and opened on December 19, 1909. It quickly became an important San Francisco landmark again, just like the first one. It hosted many of the city's biggest events. While the outside looks simpler than the original, the inside of the new "Bonanza Inn" is very elegant and grand. The "Garden Court" (also called the "Palm Court") is in the same spot as the Grand Court of the old hotel. It has been one of San Francisco's most famous hotel dining rooms since it opened.
Another famous spot is the "Pied Piper" Bar. It's located just off the shiny marble lobby. The bar is famous for a huge, 16-by-6-foot, 250-pound painting called "The Pied Piper" by Maxfield Parrish.
The Ralston Room, named after the hotel's co-founder William Ralston, is also near the main lobby.
The hotel has been the setting for several important events. In 1919, President Woodrow Wilson gave speeches in the Garden Court. He spoke about the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. In 1923, President Warren G. Harding passed away suddenly at the Palace Hotel. He was in Room 8064, a suite on the eighth floor that looks out over Market Street. In 1945, the Palace Hotel hosted a special dinner to celebrate the start of the United Nations.
The Palace Hotel was sold to Sheraton Hotels in 1954 and became the Sheraton-Palace Hotel. In 1959, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev spoke at a dinner there during his visit to America. The Garden Court was named a San Francisco Landmark in 1969. In 1973, the hotel was sold to the Japanese Kyo-Ya group, but Sheraton continued to manage it. The entire building was declared a landmark in 1984.
The Sheraton-Palace Hotel closed on January 8, 1989, for a huge $150 million restoration project. It reopened on April 3, 1991, as the Sheraton Palace Hotel. Later, in 1995, the hotel dropped the "Sheraton" name and became simply the Palace Hotel again. In 1997, the ending of the movie The Game, starring Michael Douglas, was filmed in the hotel's Garden Court.
In 2006, there was a plan to add a very tall residential tower, but it was never built because of a big economic downturn.
On March 23, 2013, the hotel's owners controversially removed the famous Pied Piper mural to sell it. Many people were upset about this. Because of strong public opposition, the owners changed their minds. The painting was cleaned, restored, and put back in the bar with a celebration on August 22, 2013.
In 2015, the hotel had another big renovation. Its guest rooms, pool, fitness center, lobby, and the Garden Court were all updated. It also became part of the Marriott hotel chain. In 2016, the Palace was named the Best Historic Hotel in its category by Historic Hotels of America.
2024 Hotel Workers' Strike
On October 20, 2024, workers at the Palace Hotel, who were members of the UNITE HERE union, joined other hotel workers in San Francisco in a strike. The strike continued for several weeks. On December 24, 2024, the workers and the hotel agreed on a four-year labor deal, which brought the strike to an end.
Gallery
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The "Grand Court" of the original Palace Hotel around 1895
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The Reception Desk of the original Palace Hotel around 1895
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The "Conservatory Floor" (7th floor) of the original Palace Hotel around 1895
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The Bar of the original Palace Hotel around 1895
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The "Overland Railroad" ticket office at the Palace Hotel, around 1890
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President William McKinley visits the original Palace Hotel in 1901
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The Garden Court at the new Palace Hotel
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The Ballroom at the new Palace Hotel (1920)
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The "Pied Piper" mural by Maxfield Parrish in the "Pied Piper Bar" at the new Palace Hotel
See also
In Spanish: Palace Hotel (San Francisco) para niños
