Wives and daughters of the men who awoke to find themselves millionaires
in the days of the Argonauts came to San Francisco to explore the social
thrills of the newly rich. It is easy to understand why the hotels
became the scenes of elaborate gaiety unmatched even in New York, Boston
or the older communities. Haunts of the battling giants of the Comstock
mines and the railroad magnates, the old Palace, Occidental, Lick and
Baldwin hotels reflected their effulgent period.
The Palace, built by William C. Ralston, has survived as a landmark of
San Francisco. Like Shepheard's in Cairo, the Palace is one of the
gathering places of the traveling world. The present hotel, at Market
and New Montgomery streets, occupies the site of the old Palace, whose
outer walls remained standing after the fire of 1906 and had to be
blasted with dynamite to make room for the new structure--a tribute to
the original builders. The Palace retains the outstanding aspects of the
old hotel, with added modern appointments. The Palm Court, which has
decorative columns and a glass-domed roof, is the social center of the
hotel. It is also the rendezvous of the political and business stalwarts
of the city, the Palace being a clearing-house for diversified
activities. The Rose Bowl, which has Maxfield Parrish's Pied Piper of
Hamelin, attracts the set that dances when it dines.
Perched like a Parthenon on Nob Hill, the acropolis of San Francisco, is
the Fairmont Hotel commanding a view of the Bay and the Contra Costa
hills. Its Venetian Room, its Terrace and its Ball Room are among the
features of the Fairmont in keeping with its individual environment.
Expansive lawns frame the Renaissance architecture of the building,
which seen from the Bay looks like a citadel inside the Golden Gate.
The Hotel St. Francis, fronting Union Square on Powell street, has a
thousand rooms and is one of the distinctive institutions of San
Francisco. The fire of 1906 damaged the building but left its steel
frame and granite sheath intact, and a banquet of business men was held
there to celebrate the beginning of reconstruction. When you think of
the St. Francis you think of beautiful wall arrangements. Its Garden
Court and Fable Room, where La Fontaine's diverting inventions serve as
the motifs for murals, attract the younger set for dancing and tea. The
Tapestry Room is a distinguished example of decorative treatment.
San Francisco is the greatest hotel city in the world in proportion to
population. These pages necessarily skim only the surface of this aspect
of the city's life. There are some 2,000 hotels, records of the
Hospitality Bureau of the Chamber of Commerce show, each having rates
scaled to meet the guests to whom it caters. Representatives of the
Hospitality Bureau copy the names of arrivals at the hotels from the
registers. These names are classified according to interests and given
to a Hospitality Committee made up of business men who personally greet
arrivals, bring them to the clubs, and dispense other courtesies.