San Remo Hotel, San Francisco

...attraction for guests to the San Remo Hotel in San Francisco is the price. For anyone traveling on budget, it offers a bed and plumbing facilities at a rate that won't break the bank of someone with limited resources. I had stayed there when my British girlfriend, Jayne, came to visit a couple years ago. Even though it lacks most of the amenities offered by today's hotels, it has one other attraction newer ones don't have: ghosts. My boyfriend's, ...
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From the San Remo's website:

"In December 1906 just after the earthquake and fire destroyed most of San Francisco, the San Remo Hotel was built. It was originally called the New California Hotel. Immigrant Italians found refuge at the hotel and restaurant. Free meals and rooms were given to anyone who could help out. Sailors, poets and pensioners also sheltered in the tiny rooms. Penniless artists paid with their paintings. ... more

Let's face it. The biggest attraction for guests to the San Remo Hotel in San Francisco is the price. For anyone traveling on budget, it offers a bed and plumbing facilities at a rate that won't break the bank of someone with limited resources. I had stayed there when my British girlfriend, Jayne, came to visit a couple years ago. Even though it lacks most of the amenities offered by today's hotels, it has one other attraction newer ones don't have: ghosts. My boyfriend's, Russell's, birthday was coming up. He had never been to Alcatraz and had mentioned an interest in seeing it. After spending my last couple of birthdays with me in Arizona, I wanted to arrange something a little special for him on his. Despite the challenge to our privacy those two nights, I nonetheless found this little hotel charming and may have even witnessed some of the phenomena I had hoped to catch a glimpse of during the past summer.

From the San Remo's website:

"In December 1906 just after the earthquake and fire destroyed most of San Francisco, the San Remo Hotel was built. It was originally called the New California Hotel. Immigrant Italians found refuge at the hotel and restaurant. Free meals and rooms were given to anyone who could help out. Sailors, poets and pensioners also sheltered in the tiny rooms. Penniless artists paid with their paintings.

"The hotel came of age in 1922 and was renamed San Remo Hotel. Full course dinners were served up for fifty cents in the Depression days. Booze was served in coffee cups and saucers during Prohibition."

At first, it gave those who were displaced by the earthquake and fire a roof over their heads. After recovering from that, immigrants saw it as a transition home. When New York had Ellis Island, the West Coast had Angel Island. It appears the San Remo was next stop for those with an Italian background, especially when one considers that its construction was subsidized by A. P. Giannini of Bank of America (formerly Bank of Italy). This romantic image eventually dissipated along with the building as it deteriorated into a seedy residence hotel. By 1970, there was talk of demolishing it. In stepped the Field family, who had spent most of their lives acquiring and restoring old things. They usually took on cars and apartment buildings, so a hotel was new challenge for them. It has been restored and redecorated in a style living up to the Champagne Days of San Francisco.

I first learned of the San Remo from the book HAUNTED HOTELS, by Robin Mead. He reported that the building was haunted by a long-term female guest who died around 1980 in her room and was not found for several days. Apparently, she had worked as a madam during San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury days and still has not checked out. Mead overlooks describing the phenomena that occurs in this post-earthquake structure, aside from indicating that the staff felt spooky there. I wanted to find out what made them think it was haunted.

MY SAN REMO EXPERIENCE

Wanting to ensure that I reserved the haunted room, I called the hotel directly to make our reservation. Since Russell and I were planning on staying over a Wednesday and Thursday night, availability was no problem. What threw the staff through a loop was when I requested the room with the most paranormal activity. I was told there was no particular room that had more than others, it was all over the building. With what I knew of the building, it seemed a credible explanation. I can see how adjusting to a new country might create stress or trauma to its first occupants. They put us in the room where they had their most recent report.

San Francisco is about an hour's drive from San Jose. Since I had stayed there once before, the San Remo was easy to find in the North Beach district. MapEasy also pinpoints its location on its San Francisco map. The tricky part was the parking. I directed Russell to the same lot I had used before, which was a couple blocks away from the hotel and located in the Northpoint Centre. On checking in, we learned that in-and-out privileges were no longer permitted there. Fortunately, the San Remo had made arrangements for their guests to stay there at $10 per night. It now has a partnership with the lot across the street for $14 per night with in-and-out privileges. Russell and I never used the car before we returned home, so we ended up ahead parking where we did.

Since the front desk closed at 10 p.m. and we were working on Wednesday, timing was critical. We arrived with more than an hour to spare. The desk clerk was on the phone taking care of hotel business. There was a nice spread of brochures for local sightseeing and Russell immediately grabbed an assortment to look for ideas of what to do during the following day, before we went on our evening Alcatraz tour. After the desk clerk finished his call, checkin went smoothly. He took the credit card imprint, gave us our keys, and we went to our room at the back of the hotel.

One striking trait about this building is how many windows it has. I fail to see the logistics for them as many just opened into hallways. The idea came to me that maybe this had originally been two buildings merged into one, but the thought to ask escaped. The doors to the vacant rooms were left open, showing that each one was decorated a little differently. The hallways and stairs had a nice maroon print wall-to-wall carpet and the walls were painted white and partially covered with beautiful wood paneling. Plants are arranged in areas where plumbing is exposed to view. Much of the framed art on the walls consisted of material related to the San Remo's or San Francisco history.

I had to agree with Mead that the decorators made the most of what they had. In describing what the guest's experience is like, he was spot on. The hallways are narrow and the rooms small. Although the folks inside the hotel were respectfully quiet, there is not much insulation from sound. People given rooms along the outside parameter wall were most likely to be disturbed by street noises. It was Fleet Week and the roar of the jets soaring overhead came in loud and clear. Fortunately, that occurred during the afternoon. The construction noises of an apartment building a couple of blocks away could be plainly heard.

Room 35 was small, like all of the others. Small is not necessarily a Bad Thing. It had two windows, one facing the apartment building next door and the other opening into some sort of fire escape route. All of the furniture were antiques. It had a full-size bed with little nightstands on either side. A little basket on one of the nightstands gave us a couple of chocolate buttermints in a San Remo wrapper and a small box of raisins. Up against the walls was a chest of drawers and wardrobe, both on the small side. A wicker knick-knack shelf hung beside the wardrobe with a straightback chair underneath it. The hardwood floor was painted green with three small throw rugs covering its pathways. The walls were white and bedspread and seat cushion had muted green prints. A portable radiator stood next to the dresser.

The San Remo has three plumbing bays located throughout the premises. The one closest to us had two toilets, two shower rooms, and a single sink vanity off to the side. My biggest complaint is the design of the shower rooms on the lower level. No space is provided to disrobe inside of them or set aside things that should stay dry. On the other hand, not all of the showers suffer from this poor logistical design. I highly advise guests staying at this hotel to explore the other plumbing bays to find one they may find more accommodating. A couple upstairs do have a changing room and stool. Another had a big clawfoot bathtub that I loved. I was able to fully submerge myself without having to bend my knees. Since it was well after the chambermaids' quitting time, I had to clean it first, but that bubble bath was worth it.

For the most part, despite being a communal plumbing facility, I found the San Remo to be quite clean. Even Jayne, who is a meticulous housekeeper, gave it her seal of approval on this aspect. Coming from her, that's significant. I saw no change in management on that regard.

Extra towels hung outside the showers on warming racks for any guest who wanted them. Inside the rooms we were provided two bath towels and two washcloths. The warming rack was a nice touch, but the towels had little fluff and felt a bit rough. Toiletries provided in the room on our arrival were two little bars of sandalwood soap in a complimentary San Remo soap box. A couple of individually sealed disposable cups were also available. One thing it glaringly missed was tissues, but I usually pack some so my grooming processes went undisturbed.

What amenities the San Remo offers are communal. A couple of pay phones could be found on the lower level. One was even a booth-size room with a door that a guest could close for privacy. Maps of the surrounding area are pinned to the walls nearby. There is a room for viewing a TV with a cable hookup and built-in VCR. Both guest floors have a massage chair that overlooks the street in front. One of the details I missed during my first stay was the small laundry room with two sets of coin-operated washers and dryers. Across from the washers were vending machines that sold hot drinks, sodas, snacks, laundry products, and miscellaneous items.

Aside from the vending machines, there are no dining facilities on the premises. The ground floor can accommodate a restaurant, but it is only available for private functions. Mead mentioned a bar that is no longer operating. The restaurant area was used for filming scenes for the TV series NASH BRIDGES while in production. Since San Francisco is a cuisine city, this really is no big handicap. The closest restaurant is a taqueria that serves breakfast, but there is an IHOP that is reasonably close by, too. The front desk does provide a list of nearby places it recommends for breakfast.

The San Remo is ideally located for seeing San Francisco's most sought-after attractions. It is within walking distance of Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, the Blue & Gold Fleet's docks for going to Alcatraz and Angel Island, the Bay & Taylor cable car turnaround, and the Lombard Street block that is "the crookedest street in the world" (I'm skeptical). Chinatown and the Golden Gate Bridge are also easily accessible from this location.

My second biggest complaint about staying there was the chambermaid service. Having worked as one once, I am fully aware that they are the most underappreciated of a hotel's staff and yet the one the guest relies on most. I usually make it a point to leave them a small tip on a daily basis, because if a guest waits until the end of the stay he may well be giving it to relief maid who hadn't touched his room until the day he departs. Besides, she's human. When a guest thinks of her, she's likely to be more conscientious when a guest makes such a gesture. As I left my tip after the first night, it was accompanied by a note requesting extra pillows. When we returned to our room late that afternoon, the room had been made up, but there were no extra pillows and no note explaining if she had any problem finding them for us. Although I had no difficulty obtaining them from the front desk, it really put me off that my request was ignored. The following day, her tip was reduced from $5 to $2.

For anyone looking for a little more luxury, the San Remo does offer one special room, the Penthouse. It is the one room the San Remo offers with most of the amenities many Americans expect, except a phone. It can be found on the roof and is also a bit on the small side, but several windows give guests staying there a fantastic view of the city. It has a TV, coffeemaker, small refrigerator, and private bathroom. There is also a sundeck available for penthouse guests.

Without the fussing over phone calls, internet usage, or room service, checkout was a breeze. The only additional fee we had was for parking, which was added to our bill. Our ticket was validated and we were on our way back to San Jose.

THE GHOST STUFF

While we were checking in, the desk clerk immediately recognized us as the people who had asked for the haunted room, then wondered aloud why we were put in room 35. Most of the reports he heard took place upstairs in room 42. When I said that I'd take that one, he told us it was already taken. He asked me what I knew of their ghosts and I repeated what I remembered of Mead's account. "So room 35 IS the one you want. That was the madam's room." After digging through some of the office paperwork, he eventually ran across a copy of a log the management was keeping of paranormal occurrences in the building. How kewl. One incident was even dated as recently as February of 2003.

The info the ghost sheet gives differs in some details from Mead's. While he documents the Madam died in 1980, the hotel staff claims that occurred during the late 60s and she supported herself by working as a madam. Some of the logistics of this story need to be straightened out. Madams usually own, operate, and live in their brothels, so why would she be staying at the San Remo if that was how she was making her living? Presumably, she was down on her luck at the time and out of the business, but folklore is not necessarily a precise and accurate art. It is said that "several staff members have seen glimpses of her 'floating' in the hallways and [she] has been known to flick lights on and off."

Another apparition has also been seen in the San Remo. Early in the morning, there have been several sightings of a tall, distinguished-looking sailor man walking down the hallway and disappearing near the front desk.

One guest in an upstairs room took a series of 10 shots of his partner when they were alone in their room. When he later reviewed the photos, he noticed the faded image of a little boy standing behind his friend.

Although my first stay at the San Remo was uneventful, a couple of odd things happened while I was there the second time. I can't verify they were true phenomena, but I'll describe them.

I needed to make a pit stop Thursday afternoon when the hotel had few people in it. The plumbing bay was dark and empty as I entered a toilet room and locked the door. When I finished my business, I turned around to watch the refuse clear out. We had to hold the cord for a few seconds to ensure it flushed properly. As I was watching the action, a loud, single rap hit the door. "It's taken!" I yelled in response. When I turned back to leave, the door was ajar. Thinking it a little bizarre and wondering if I had unlocked it myself, I looked outside and no one was there waiting. The toilet room across the way was open and no one was there. As I thought about it, I'm one of those people who is very conscientious about locking the door behind me when I use a public restroom. I never found urinating and defecating the most dignified activities someone would be caught doing. The whole thing struck me as bizarre, then halfway back to our room I suddenly remembered that the hotel was supposed to be haunted.

The second occurrence took place after I had the impulse to buy a scented candle. I asked Russell to start burning it while I was taking my bubble bath. When I returned, there was no aroma of strawberries and cream and Russell claimed the candle wouldn't stay lit. There was no draft, so that was not the reason. The wick looked too short, but he said that he shaved the wax around it and it still wouldn't stay lit. At that point, I remembered the hotel had insisted on no smoking and would charge a $200 cleaning deposit if smoking was detected. It wasn't worth taking the chance my candle would be confused for that. However, when I lit it at home, it had no problem burning.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The San Remo Hotel has 62 rooms available to let. Rates currently range from $55-$85 per night, depending on how many guests are in the room and the time of year. The Penthouse rate is $155-$175. With the exception of the Penthouse, all toilet and bathing facilities are shared, separate from the bedrooms. The front desk is open from 8 a.m. to 10 or 11 p.m., depending on the day of week. Check-out time is 11 a.m. No smoking or pets allowed. Hairdryers are not automatically provided, but can be requested from the front desk. This is a historic hotel, so no handicap accommodations are available. The restaurant area is available for private functions.

I find this to be a quaint little hotel for guests working within a budget. If one comes cheaper than this in San Francisco, I'd be wary of the value the guest would receive for his money. This one is clean and attractively decorated. Anyone looking for serious pampering should go to one of the posh, big chain hotels. For anyone interested in ghosts, though, the San Remo has something the Sheraton doesn't.

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Originally posted on Epinions.com October 15, 2003.
 

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