One-Minute Hotel / Beacon Grand, San Francisco
The grandest of grande dame hotels gets her groove back with a delicious refurb that makes her fit for a queen. Or queens, plural.
So, where are we?
Downtown San Francisco, Powell to be exact, one of the hilly bits, right near the Sak’s Fifth Avenue and Macy’s of Union Square with cable cars ringing by and an historic feel of glory-days Frisco. Do people still say Frisco? We think they should.
And where we’re staying...?
At Beacon Grand, The Sir Francis Drake as was, arguably the most famous hotel in San Francisco history, the one that had Beefeaters outside (apparently it started as a tribute to the UK during the early days of World War II). It’s a big deco monolith of a thing, meaty and handsome and right where you want it to be.
What’s the style?
Having had a multi-squillion-dollar refurb, it reopened in 2022 to gasps of approval. The proportions were already delicious – and huge! A grand staircase (they certainly don’t skimp on the ‘grand’ around here) leading to a huge aircraft hanger of a reception then more stairs up to a bar that opens to a library that opens to a restaurant that opens to a salon, all with ceilings so high you could trot giraffes around and they wouldn’t even have to stoop. Colours are Farrow & Ball gorgeous – milky teals, sages – while the grandeur of the public rooms (just look at the fancy all round those windows!) is off-set by retro-contempo furniture (you know, where mid-century meets 70s meets now!) that is sleeker than a greased-up otter.
And the rooms?
Those colours and that eye follow you right up to your room, where you might find panelled walls done in navy blue with brass accents, a bathroom with retro-metro tiling, Persian-style rugs, quirky wallpapers. It’s the perfect balance between respect for the building and modern convenience. And it’s gorgeous.
Is there a story?
So much of a story! Opened in 1928, it was the last word in luxury with reviews at the time describing it as ‘a glittering new monument to the progress, hospitality and undying beauty of San Francisco’ and ‘twenty-six storeys of luxury’ with 10,000 locals stopping by on its opening weekend just to drink in the future. And oh the parties it has seen from the discontinued Starlite Room on the roof, to the ‘snake pit’, named for the writhing revellers in the ‘30s.
And to eat?
The weekend brunches with everything from Avocado Toast to Maine Lobster Benedict and bottomless mimosas (we won’t ever let our mimosas put their bottoms on. We mean ever!) are a destination as are the Winemaker’s Dinner Series with their farm-to-table menus and their pairings but there’s always a bite to be had in the gorgeous bar, where they have broken up the huge spaces with sofas so you can enjoy some privacy as you gawp at everyone coming up the stairs.
So, to sum up...
Sometimes there’s not a lot you can do with a grande dame. They’ve had it. But with such gorgeous bones and some clever nip-and-tuck experts, this lady has been transformed into a beauty for the 21st century with all the sophistication of a by-gone age but all the sizzle of now.
