Palace Hotel, San Francisco
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The Palace Hotel is an historic hotel in San Francisco, California, dating from 1875. The hotel's construction was primarily financed by William Ralston, founder of the Bank of California. It is located at 2 New Montgomery Street, just south of Market Street and near BART's Montgomery Street Station.
The original hotel offered many modern conveniences including an intercom system and four hydraulic elevators. The most notable feature of the hotel was the Grand Court that served as an entry area for horse-drawn carriages.
Although the hotel survived the initial damage from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, it was consumed by the subsequent fires. Notably, famous tenor Enrico Caruso was staying in the hotel at the time of the quake, and swore to never return to the City. The Hotel was completely rebuilt from the ground up, re-opening largely in its current form in 1909 and resumed its role as an important landmark and host to many of the City's great events. The Grand Court was later transformed into the Garden Court to serve as a banquet area. The hotel is also notable for its Pied Piper Bar named for the large painting by American artist Maxfield Parrish that adorns the room.
The hotel served as the stage for several important events. In 1919, Woodrow Wilson gave speeches in the Garden Court in support of the Treaty of Versailles and the League of Nations. President Warren G. Harding died in office while visiting the Palace Hotel in 1923. In 1945, the Palace Hotel hosted a banquet to mark the opening session of the UN.
The Palace Hotel was renovated from 1989 to 1991. The hotel is presently operated by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
