St. Francis Hotel
| Westin St. Francis | |
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Location within San Francisco
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| Hotel chain | Westin |
| General information | |
| Location | United States |
| Address | 335 Powell Street San Francisco, California |
| Coordinates | 37°47′16″N 122°24′30″W / 37.7877°N 122.4084°WCoordinates: 37°47′16″N 122°24′30″W / 37.7877°N 122.4084°W |
| Opening | 1904/1970 |
| Cost | US$2.5 million |
| Owner | Anbang Insurance Group |
| Management | Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide |
| Height | 60.35 m (198.0 ft) 120 m (390 ft) |
| Technical details | |
| Floor count | 13/32 |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect |
Walter Danforth Bliss William Baker Faville William L. Pereira & Associates |
| Other information | |
| Number of rooms | 629/566 |
| Number of suites | 24/35 |
| Number of restaurants | Michael Mina Restaurant The Oak Room Restaurant Caruso's Clock Bar |
| Website | |
| www.westinstfrancis.com | |
The Westin St. Francis is a historic luxury hotel located on Powell and Geary Streets on Union Square in San Francisco, California. The two twelve-story south wings of the hotel were built in 1904, and the double-width north wing was completed in 1913, initially as apartments for permanent guests. The 32-story, 120 m (390 ft) tower to the rear completed in 1972 features exterior glass elevators that offer panoramic views of the bay and the square below, making the St. Francis one of the largest hotels in the city, with more than 1,200 rooms and suites.
The St. Francis Hotel was begun by the trustees of the estate of Charles Crocker, one of "The Big Four" railroad magnates who had built the western portion of the transcontinental railway. It was built as an investment for Crocker's two young children, Templeton Crocker and Jenny Crocker. It was originally meant to be called The Crocker Hotel, but alternatively it took the name of one of the earliest San Francisco Gold Rush hotels, the St. Francis.
"Designed by Bliss and Faville, the St. Francis followed the style pioneered by architect Louis Sullivan in Chicago; its simple face was bare of the bric-a-brac and ornamental frosting that made much of San Francisco look like a baroque toy shop." The Hotel opened on March 21, 1904, and, along with the older Palace Hotel on Market Street, immediately became one of the city's most prestigious addresses.
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 badly frightened the guests, but did no structural damage to the hotel. John Farish, a mining engineer staying at the hotel, described the experience: "I was awakened by a loud rumbling noise which could be compared to the mixed sound of a strong wind rushing through a forest and the breaking of waves against a cliff...there began a series of the liveliest motions imagineable, accompanied by a creaking, grinding, rasping sound, followed by tremendous crashes as the cornices of adjoining buildings and chimneys tottered to the ground."
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Wikipedia