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While filming Kiss Them for Me with Jayne Mansfield in San Francisco in 1957, Cary Grant stayed there. On at least one occasion, when he wasn’t hosted by socialite Whiteny Warren, Truman Capote booked a room. During their whirlwind visit in November 1965, Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon—with 75 pieces of luggage in tow—occupied several of its upper floors. The Rolling Stones took refuge there briefly in the aftermath of the 1969 Altamont Free Concert. And, since the 1950s, other names in its guestbook have included Claudette Colbert, Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart, Marlene Dietrich, Lee Radziwill, and Luciano Pavarotti.
Now, following a six-year closure, the Huntington Hotel has reemerged with as much, or more, Golden Age glamour that made it one of San Francisco’s crown jewels for almost 95 years.
Douglas Friedman
Ken Fulk, who designed the interiors for the newly reopened Huntington Hotel, is a longtime fan of the property. “It’s always been a place that’s comforting and tasteful,” he says.
Named for the railroad tycoon Collis P. Huntington, the 12-story Georgian-style building was, for two short years, known as the Huntington Apartments before being transformed into a luxury hotel by Eugene Fritz in 1924. Subsequently owned and operated by Fritz’s daughter Dorothy—and then his grandchildren until the hotel’s sale in 2011—the historically significant property has seen its fair share of changes over the last century, including several owners and a brief name change. Now, thanks to San Francisco-based Flynn Properties, hospitality management leader Highgate, and local design impresario Ken Fulk, old-world character and style have returned to the tony Nob Hill perch.
But, despite its reputation as a hideaway for the rich and famous, Fulk points out, “San Francisco has never really chased celebrity, and we value things over just typical star power.” The property’s unveiling this spring—with its 143 resplendent guest rooms and spacious suites—is part of a renaissance that eschews larger, sleeker, and more modernist alternatives in a city renowned for its hospitality. “We do have these other sorts of grande dame properties, but I think the promise of the Huntington, apart from being a storied place, is that you almost live like a local,” Fulk says. “On arrival, it feels more like your grand residence’s doorman is greeting you and less like having to make your way through an expansive lobby to a concierge desk. There’s an intimacy about it and I think that’s the reason people have been so excited to see it reopen.”
The living room of the Penthouse at the Huntington Hotel.
Douglas Friedman
A one-bedroom suite at the Huntington, which recently reopened.
Douglas Friedman
The hotel’s debut also meant the return of the Big Four, one of the city’s most beloved dining destinations. Known for its classic dishes (everybody loves the chicken pot pie), the restaurant marks its 50th year with a light refresh from Fulk, and an updated menu from executive chef David Intonato that reflects a modern take on old-school favorites (try the Louis Wedge topped with royal red shrimp). “It’s the clubhouse of the city in many ways; it’s quietly cosmopolitan,” explains Fulk who’s already dined several times there with the city’s reigning grande dame, Denise Hale. “Quaint isn’t the right word, but it’s a spot that feels like you’ll walk into the room and know half the people there.”
The chicken pot pie at the Big Four, the hotel’s restaurant.
Douglas Friedman
A view of the swimming pool at the Huntington’s Nob Hill Spa.
Douglas Friedman
Over the decades I’ve spied local luminaries like Nancy and Paul Pelosi, former mayor Willie Brown, the late art collectors Norah and Norman Stone, Danielle Steele, Alexis and Trevor Traina, Vanessa Getty, and John Waters cozied up for lunches or dinners. I’m also happy to report seasoned patrons and newcomers alike will thoroughly enjoy the Big Four’s top-notch cocktail menu and wine list. My most recent drink there was a welcome shot of nostalgia: In April 2006, during the filming of CBS’s Dynasty Reunion: Catfights & Caviar, the show’s original costumer, Nolan Miller, and I stopped in for our requisite Grey Goose martinis, and he regaled me with stories of cast and crew closing the place down in the 1980s when they’d occasionally film on location at Filoli, the estate in Woodside, California, used as the exterior of the Carrington Mansion.
Douglas Friedman
San Francisco’s Huntington Hotel, in the smart Nob Hill neighborhood, has been a favorite of locals and visitors (including Princess Margaret, Cary Grand, Truman Capote, and the Rolling Stones, among others) for nearly 95 years.
Just above the lobby, to the left up a few steps, Fulk has also conceived Arabella’s, an intimate, 25-seat, reservation-required cocktail salon that extends the boutique hotel’s 100-year-old story. Named for Collis’s second wife, Arabella Duval Huntington—at one time the wealthiest woman in America—the space was designed as an inviting, exclusive spot to experience imaginative craft cocktails, and as a dramatic juxtaposition to the Big Four’s “brass and plaid” feel. “It’s almost like a private train car and, until the doors open, you don’t quite know who’s inside,” says Fulk. “But once you’re in, it’s the perfect spot to canoodle or gossip with a friend over the perfect cocktail.”
Then there’s the reopening of the property’s 9,000-square-foot, three-level Nob Hill Spa, a thoroughly modern luxury operation complete with 12 treatment rooms, sauna and steam rooms, an indoor swimming pool, and an outdoor terrace with gorgeous city views where, Fulk adds, “You can spontaneously show up and see friends who’ve had the same idea to play hooky in middle of the day. I think that’s the beauty of that address, and it’s always been a place that’s comforting and tasteful. In a world that sometimes feel abrasive or caustic, The Huntington is an anecdote.”