One of my favorite hotels
One of my favorite hotels – The St. Francis, San Francisco, CA
The Grande Dame Of San Francisco Union Square Hotels
At the turn of the century, the guardians of the Charles Crocker family announced plans to buildThe Westin St. Francis. Their vision was to make San Francisco the “Paris of the West,” and their stunning Union Square San Francisco hotel would be their flagship. After studying all of Europe’s grand hotels – from those in Berlin, Vienna, and Monaco to Claridge’s in London and The Ritz in Paris – construction on the original St. Francis began. Two years and $2.5 million later, on March 21, 1904, the doors of The St. Francis opened. By seven o’clock that evening, a line of carriages and automobiles stretching three blocks waited to approach her brightly lit towers. The hotel became so popular that within six months, the owners announced plans to add a third wing, two floors of apartments, and a ballroom. The St. Francis had become the center of the city’s social, literary, and artistic life.
Source: http://www.westinstfrancis.com/our_history/
In a former life, I spent many a nights in the St. Francis, always requesting the original tower, not the faux nice one in the back…
DAM
August 20, 2009 at 9:44 am