Today the Palace Hotel still welcomes discerning guests from around the world with gold standard hospitality and attention to detail. The valet and bellhop await your arrival to take care of your vehicle and luggage. As you walk up the marble staircase to the lobby doors, the doorman greets you like a family member. Upon request, a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne with chocolate covered strawberries will be delivered to your room after check-in. The chief concierge, Jose Lopez, bent over backwards to accommodate us during our four day stay for both visits. I have stayed at several 4 and 5 star hotels, and he was by far the most attentive and phenomenal concierge I've ever met. We were able to get a private tour of the hotel's main rooms once evening, as well as last minute tickets to see Hamilton at the Orpheum Theatre on the final night of our 2019 stay. A 2020 work conference in San Francisco with another three days reserved here was canceled due to the coronavirus. An April 2021 trip was also planned, but the hotel was still not reopened from the pandemic. We finally returned for 4 days in April 2022. I am hoping to return in 2025 or 2026 at the latest to gather final information for my book, which will essentially be a hardcopy version of this website.
Whether you want to relax with a drink in the GC Lounge, have breakfast or signature tea in the Garden Court, or just take in the history surrounding the most beautiful and historic hotel in San Francisco, the Palace Hotel is a must. It is the only hotel I will stay at while visiting the city. Right: Room card from my 2019 visit.
Below are my personal photographs of the hotel from my trips to San Francisco in 2019 and 2022. Please click on the thumbnail photograph to view the full image.
Exterior: Views from Geary, Market, and Montgomery Streets.
Lobby, Main Hall, & Staircase:
Garden Court & GC Lounge: Includes breakfast and relaxing with wine in the evening.
Market Street View Room: I highly recommend this category of room or higher for the view. We had room #742.
The Pied Piper:
Around the Palace: Includes the French Parlor Room above the Garden Court, Pool & Gymnasium, Elevators and Hallways.
Souvenirs and Keepsakes of the Palace Hotel:
For those who may wonder what is available from the Palace Hotel today to keep as a reminder of their visit, I posted what I have saved during our time there. Each day a card with a hotel photo is left at your bedside. The back is dated and gives information about the hotel, as well as the day's weather. I have kept all four cards, some of the chocolates left during turndown service, stationary, room breakfast menu, and our key cards.
The toiletries are by Le Chemin and are very high quality. If you really enjoy the scent of these, White Barn in Bath & Body Works makes a scent that smells just like them - White Tea & Sage. The gift shop in the lobby had some items from the hotel for purchase. I was able to get an engraved crystal wine glass, reproduction key fob in the form of a keychain, and the Palace Hotel book to read on the flight home.
April - 2019
April - 2022
Exterior: Views from Geary, Market, and Montgomery Streets.
Lobby, Main Hall, & Staircase:
Landmark 18 - The Palace Hotel's History Museum:
Curated by hotel manager Clif Clark, it was his passion project while the hotel was closed due to the Covid pandemic. He was kind enough to give us a tour and history lesson on several of the items in the display cases. It features many artifacts from the hotel's past from the original 1875 building up to the grand reopening in 1991 after the renovation.
Upon entry, the round table with postcards originally sat in the Presidential Suite and was used for poker games by several famous people. Another display case features information from the earthquake and fire of 1906. Perhaps the most interesting piece in the exhibit is an original bottle of 1906 Pommery Champagne that was said to have been saved from the hotel's wine room before the fire destroyed it. When it was found in the hotel archives, Mr. Clark initially did not believe it was from the hotel, being a 1906 release and the fire happening in April of 1906. After consulting with wine experts, he said at the time it was common practice to bottle champagne and immediately distribute it for sale - with the intention that the customer would cellar it until it was ready to drink. My concern is that - if it was made as they do today - 1906 was the harvest year. Which meant these grapes would've been harvested in the fall of 1906, bottled in 1907, and likely was used at the grand reopening in 1909.
The room also features a variety of china, chandelier pieces, menus, photographs, keys, and other memorabilia spanning over 100 years.
Garden Court & GC Lounge: Includes breakfast and relaxing with wine in the evenings. The side bar was now closed in the evenings, but we were able to get wine at Flatiron Wines and bring it in to enjoy. On our last night there, a high school prom was being held in the Ralston Room and the Garden Court was closed off to prevent students from entering. All of the guests thought it was closed to all, but we were told guests could still utilize it. We had the entire room to ourselves, which made for getting some great photographs that evening.
Several images during this trip feature original Palace Hotel items from my collection that I brought to photograph at the hotel. These include a 1927 gold service dinner plate, a 1930s Palace Hotel brochure, John Williams' 1919 key and fob, a 1930s room key and fob for Room 4045, and a pin tray commemorating the 1909 reopening which I donated to Mr. Clark for the hotel collection since I had 3 of them.
The Rose Room: This room was being set up for a wedding that evening.
The Ralston Room: This room was being set up for a high school prom the following night.
The Gold Ball Room:
The French Parlor:
Around the Palace Hotel: Includes the swimming pool, fitness center, Mezzanine, & Sunset Court.
The Pied Piper:
Souvenirs and Keepsakes of the Palace Hotel:
It was unfortunate to hear that the Palace Hotel gift shop closed permanently during the Covid pandemic, so there wasn't anything I was able to purchase this time with the PH crest on it as before.
They also changed up their soap and toiletry collection, so it is no longer Le Chemin - but now Asprey, London, Purple Water. It may be odd, but I tend to associate smells the most to places - especially hotels. Le Chemin will always be the fragrance of the Palace for me; you can still faintly smell it as you walk through the main corridors on the first floor. Asprey was the brand used when we stayed at the Ritz-Carlton, Washington D.C., so that is where I associate it with.
The staff still do daily room service and nightly turn-down service. Your slippers are placed out on a towel, a hotel information card is given with information for the day, and bottles of water, glasses, and chocolates are left on your bed. It is always the small things that make this hotel phenomenal!
Our Room: Junior Suite #380. I decided to upgrade our room this time to a Junior Suite. We settled into room #380 on the third floor. It was a very roomy space with a large walk-in closet. I still love the Toto seat in the bathroom, there's nothing like it! The room didn't have any sort of view, it looked out onto the building next door on Annie Street, but it was fine. Since I wrote to the hotel prior to our trip informing them of my website, upon our arrival, one of the staff brought up a cart with a charcuterie tray, chocolate covered strawberries, and a bottle of Chandon sparking wine along with a personal welcome note from the hotel manager. It was a very nice surprise!
Garden Court: Saturday Afternoon Veuve Clicquot Tea Service.
Garden Court & GC Lounge: Noticing the finer details.
Palace Hotel Christmas Ornaments, 2001
