A Dreamy San Franisco Staycation

It’s fun to live your city through a different pair of eyes. We rarely do we do so, when we are in our home towns, and sometimes it takes putting the miles and mountains behind you to make it happen.

I lived in San Francisco for almost two decades. Parties and tastings: I went to them every major hotel in town but I never saw the views from rooms and rarely ate in the restaurants. Nor did I ever have the experience of waking up within these hotels and starting my day in a totally new place.

Where you wake up and enter the world in the morning does a number—often a good one—on your head. So, my weekend stay at InterContinental Mark Hopkins did just that. At a hotel, you can pick up a map and pretend to be a tourist or simply reflect on a how a neighborhood you used to live in has changed.

The Hotel

The property, originally purchased in 1925 to be luxury hotel inspired by timeless Loire Valley Chateaux, purchased by the hotel InterContinetnal in 1973 and renovated in the 1980s and 1970s, sits at the top of Nob Hill just down the street from Grace Cathedral. Take a walk down the street and you are in Chinatown. The rooftop bar is an icon—Top of the Mark—is famous for welcoming American troops for their last drink on U.S. soil before they shipped out during World War Two. Thousands of soldiers often formed a line around the block.

The drink was free and poured from what was known as a squadron bottle. The last one who finished the bottle bought another—and signed it—for those who would come after him. The hotel still features a collection of these bottles in both the lobby and the rooftop bar and even today anyone can buy a bottle and donate it to the display collection.

Dining and Drinking Options

The Top of the Mark is still as stunning as it ever was since owner George D. Smith transformed the 19th floor penthouse suite into a bar with 360-degree views of San Francisco, with its 360-degree views of the San Francisco Bay, the spans of both the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge and the houses of Russian Hill and Pacific Heights nesting to the North. Tucking into a glass, or two, of rosé bubbles here is a meditative delight: thinking about how the City has changed, what it was like during the war and how jumping Chinatown must have been when new immigrants were pouring in from Angel Island in the first decades of the century.

The retro space features live music a couple days a week and sadly no longer features its over-the-top, à la carte brunch. Some of my favorite snacks here are the wild mushroom flatbread and the short rib sliders.

They are bit-sized portions and easy for sharing (because you know all your friends want to do is eat your food!) The Ahi Tuna Tartare with cucumber was also refreshing and sadly then I had no more room for that good-looking pretzel stick.

Heading downstairs, lunch the Nob Hill Club is an Oasis of tranquility. A touch of a little Moët & Chandon Brut is never a bad way to start a meal, especially in a coupe! Being so close to Chinatown made me crave perfectly crispy bok choi so I had a crisp and sublime slice of salmon over a bed of it. To make extra sure I had enough veggies I went to town with a side of broccolini.

The ruddy-toned dining room has a series of big windows that look out at the street. It is both sunny and melancholy space that feels like time stands still and is one that helped me reflect on the highs—and lows—of this beautiful city.