All US presidents have slept here

The Fairmont San Francisco Hotel exterior-PETER MUIRURI

US: No it is not the White House, it is the mother of all Fairmont hotels, started by two girls 113 years ago. A fortnight ago, I stepped into one of the world’s oldest hotels, the Fairmont San Francisco, situated in the picturesque Nob Hill in the heart of the city. Tired from a 19-hour journey from Nairobi, it was all too easy to lock myself in my room and doze off.

Resisting the plea to take it easy by the hotel’s Communication Director Melissa Farrar, I just had to dig in and uncover the story of a hotel that has accommodated every president of the United States since William Howard Taft who ruled from 1909 to 1913.

A hotel of superlatives, it is here that leaders from 50 nations sat for an international conference that led to the birth of the United Nations.

But how did this grand hotel come to be?

It all had to do with one James Graham Fair, an Irish immigrant to America and one of San Francisco’s wealthiest men in the 1800s. Known as ‘Bonanza Jim’, Fair had struck it rich in the Nevada silver mines and would later serve as Nevada senator before his death in 1894.

But Fair did not build the hotel that came to bear his name. In an effort to honour their father and establish a lasting monument to his business acumen, his two daughters, Tessie and Virginia began construction of the hotel in 1902 as a “gathering place for princes and princesses of the world.”

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And as a tribute to their father, their hotel would combine both his family name, Fair, and Mont — the location on Nob Hill on which it stood.

But as it turned out, the rigours of running a world class hotel proved too much for the Fair daughters who sold it to the Law brothers, Herbert and Hartland on April 6, 1906. In return, the Law brothers gave the girls two buildings within the city.

Then the unexpected happened. Barely two weeks after the sale, San Francisco was hit by one of the most devastating earthquakes in history.

It all but flattened everything in its path. Over 3000 lost their lives while 300,000 were displaced. Due to the ensuing fires that burned for several days, 80 per cent of the city was buried in ashes.

But the Fairmont stood – albeit bruised. Undeterred, the Law brothers went on to restore the city’s icon, using the services of Julia Morgan who later became America’s most decorated female architect.

A year later, Fairmont was back in business. Due to its strategic location and chequered history, anyone who had good money wanted a piece of Fairmont.

In 1908, just two years after the fire, Fairmont was again in the hands of Tessie, Fair’s daughter.

She had the privilege of hosting both President Theodore Roosevelt and William Taft. In 1924, Fairmont changed hands again, this time to D.M. Linnard who sold it five years later to George Smith before Linnard repurchased it again in 1941.

With further renovations here and there, the hotel was ready to host the international conference that led to the birth of the United Nations in 1945.

Walking along its long corridors, one is awestruck by its vibrant colours.  Some of these were conceived in the 1940’s by Dorothy Draper, a renowned decorator back then. Her work in the hotel’s Venetian Room was an instant hit with kings, queens and presidents who came calling.

In May 1999, Fairmont went into one of the most expensive hotel refurbishments of all time at the cost of US$85 million (Sh7.9 billion at current exchange rates).

Today, the ‘tiny’ family hotel started by two courageous girls 113 years ago has grown into a global chain, Fairmont Hotels and Resorts, with 88 properties around the globe. In Kenya, the group is represented by Fairmont Norfolk, Fairmont Mount Kenya Safari Club and Fairmont Mara Safari Club.