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Fairmont San Francisco

Coordinates: 37°47′33″N 122°24′37″W / 37.7924°N 122.4102°W / 37.7924; -122.4102
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Fairmont San Francisco
Map
Hotel chainFairmont Hotels and Resorts
General information
LocationUnited States
Address950 Mason Street
San Francisco, California
Coordinates37°47′33″N 122°24′37″W / 37.7924°N 122.4102°W / 37.7924; -122.4102
OpeningMain: 1907; 117 years ago (1907)
Tower: 1962
OwnerMirae Asset Global Investments
ManagementFairmont Hotels & Resorts
HeightTower: 99.06 m (325.0 ft)
Technical details
Floor countMain: 9
Tower: 29
Design and construction
Architect(s)James W. and Merritt J. Reid
Ira Wilson Hoover
Julia Morgan
Other information
Number of rooms591
Number of suites>11
Number of restaurantsCaffé Cento
Laurel Court Restaurant and Bar
Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar
Website
www.fairmont.com/sanfrancisco
Fairmont Hotel
Architectural styleBeaux-Arts
NRHP reference No.02000373
SFDL No.185
Significant dates
Added to NRHPApril 17, 2002
Designated SFDL1987[1]
[2][3][4][5][6]

The Fairmont San Francisco is a luxury hotel at 950 Mason Street, atop Nob Hill in San Francisco, California. The hotel was named after mining magnate and U.S. Senator James Graham Fair (1831–94), by his daughters, Theresa Fair Oelrichs and Virginia Fair Vanderbilt, who built the hotel in his honor.[7] The hotel was the vanguard of the Fairmont Hotels and Resorts chain. The group is now owned by Fairmont Raffles Hotels International, but all the original Fairmont hotels still keep their names. As of July 2014, room rates begin at $409 per night.

It has been featured in many films, including The Rock. Exterior and interior shots of the hotel were used as stand-ins for the fictional St. Gregory Hotel in the television series Hotel.

The Fairmont San Francisco was added to the National Register of Historic Places (#02000373) on 17 April 2002.[8] It is a member of Historic Hotels of America, the official program of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.[9]

1906 Earthquake

Damage to the fifth floor from the 1906 earthquake

The hotel was nearly completed before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake. Although the structure survived, the interior was heavily damaged by fire, and opening was delayed until 1907. Architect and engineer Julia Morgan was hired to repair the building because of her then innovative use of reinforced concrete, which could produce buildings capable of withstanding earthquakes and other disasters.

United Nations

In 1945, the Fairmont hosted international statesmen for meetings which culminated in the creation of the United Nations.[10][11] The United Nations Charter was drafted in the hotel's Garden Room and a plaque at the hotel memorializes the event.[12]

Tonga Room

Among the hotel's attractions is the Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar, a historic tiki bar, which opened in 1945 and was remodeled in 1952, and 1967. Elements of the bar were also "updated" in 2009. 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.[13] In response, a group planned to file an application to make the Tonga Room an official San Francisco landmark.[14] The plans were delayed and Tonga Room is still open today (despite many rumors of its temporary closure).

Ownership change

On May 9, 2012, funds managed by Oaktree Capital Management, L.P. and Woodridge Capital Partners LLC, a Los Angeles-based real estate developer and investor, bought the property for 200 million dollars.[15] They acquired the Mark Hopkins Hotel across the street in 2014.[16]

The hotel was sold again on November 30, 2015 to the South Korean Mirae Asset Global Investments group for $450 million.[17]

The Venetian Room at the Fairmont Hotel was where Tony Bennett first sang "I Left My Heart in San Francisco" in December 1961.[18]

The Fairmont Hotel was used in the establishing shots for the fictional St. Gregory Hotel in the 1983 television series Hotel. The hotel on which the original novel was based is now The Fairmont New Orleans.

The Fairmont is mentioned in the 1989 novel by John Weir The Irreversible Decline of Eddie Socket[19] where the mother of the eponymous character suggests to her son:

Ride all the way to California (Street), which is where you get off, and go to the Fairmont Hotel. Look in the lobby. It's nice. Have a drink. Have a whiskey sour. It's a terrible drink, but that's what you have at the Fairmont.

The Fairmont Hotel is also used by James Bond (007) in the John Gardner novel Brokenclaw published in 1990. The hotel is mentioned on page 16 in Chapter 3.

See also

References

  1. ^ "City of San Francisco Designated Landmarks". City of San Francisco. Retrieved 2012-10-21.
  2. ^ "Fairmont San Francisco Tower". CTBUH Skyscraper Center.
  3. ^ Fairmont San Francisco at Emporis
  4. ^ Fairmont San Francisco Tower at Emporis
  5. ^ "Fairmont San Francisco". SkyscraperPage.
  6. ^ Fairmont San Francisco at Structurae
  7. ^ Woodbridge, Sally B.; Woodbridge, John M. (1992). San Francisco Architecture. San Francisco: Chronicle Books. p. 62. ISBN 0-87701-897-9.
  8. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2007-01-23. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  9. ^ "The Fairmont Hotel San Francisco, a Historic Hotels of America member". Historic Hotels of America. Retrieved January 28, 2014. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  10. ^ "Charter of the United Nations - Photo Resources". United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law. Retrieved 10 August 2011.[dead link]
  11. ^ Craig, Christopher; Elan Penn (2006). San Francisco: A Pictorial Celebration. New York: Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. p. 48. ISBN 978-1-4027-2388-9. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  12. ^ Samara Diapoulos (23 August 2009). "Moments in History". The Fairmont San Francisco. Retrieved 10 August 2011.
  13. ^ Jesse McKinley (April 3, 2009). "Order a Mai Tai and Save Paradise". The New York Times. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  14. ^ John King (September 8, 2009). "The Tonga Room a Landmark? Not So Fast". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
  15. ^ Nadja Brandt (May 9, 2012). "Fairmont San Francisco Hotel to Be Sold for $200 Million". Bloomberg News.
  16. ^ Vincent, Roger (February 21, 2014) "L.A. investors buy famed Mark Hopkins hotel in San Francisco" Los Angeles Times
  17. ^ http://www.hotelnewsresource.com/article86736.html
  18. ^ "The Fairmont Hotel Celebrates the 50th Anniversary of Tony Bennett's First Performance of "I Left My Heart in San Francisco"". 2011. Retrieved 3 January 2015.
  19. ^ Weir, John (1989). The Irreversible Decline of Eddie Socket. New York, NY: Harper & Row, Publishers. p. 181. ISBN 0-06-016162-0.
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