Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
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Linnard repurchased the hotel in 1941, only to sell it again after the war to Benjamin Swig,
an East Coast businessman. Once again, The Fairmont “rose from the ashes.” Swig hired Dorothy
Draper, the most famous decorator of the time, to give the hotel a badly needed facelift. Dorothy had
just finished her remarkable redo of The Greenbrier in West Virginia. But she had a different vision
for The Fairmont. She visualized the hotel as an enlarged copy of a Grand Venetian Palace but also
wanted to capture the charm and romance of San Francisco. Her goal was to restore The Fairmont
to its position as the center jewel in the crown of the Golden Age of San Francisco.
The “Draper touch” was a great success, attracting international attention. Its resurgence was
confirmed when it hosted the International Conference that led to the birth of the United Nations.
Once again, history was being made at The Fairmont. The plaque commemorating the drafting of
the Charter for the United Nations is on display outside the Garden Room on the lobby level, while
the flags of the original signatories fly proudly above the porte cochere.
Draper also turned the Venetian Room into San Francisco's premier Supper Club. Guests and
locals dined and danced to big-name entertainment: Ella Fitzgerald, Nat King Cole, Marlene Diet-
rich, Joel Grey, Bobby Short, Vic Damone, and James Brown, to name a few. The Venetian Room
is most famous as the place where Tony Bennett first sang “I Left My Heart in San Francisco.”
The Fairmont Plunge was recreated as if guests were aboard the S.S. Tonga , which provided a
“ship-shape” atmosphere, along with exotic drinks and Chinese food. A further facelift turned the
“ship” into the Tonga Room, with its musical boat in the middle of the pool. Patrons sit under tiki
huts while enjoying a refreshing mai tai and an exotic South Sea menu. The gleaming dance floor
was originally the deck of the S.S. Forrester , one of the last of the tall ships to sail the route between
San Francisco and the South Sea Islands.
The Fairmont stands tall in the city's history. Its Cirque Room was the first bar to open in San
Francisco following Prohibition. San Francisco's first glass elevator carries people to the Crown
Room at the top of the tower, offering a spectacular view of the city. The fabled Penthouse—The
Fairmont's most exclusive accommodation at $12,500 per night—was constructed in 1926 as a resi-
dence for John S. Drum, president of the American Trust Company.
As in the novel Hotel by Arthur Hailey (which later became a TV series filmed at The Fair-
mont), Ben Swig eventually moved into the Penthouse, high above Nob Hill, with a bird's-eye view
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