The Hilton San Francisco Union Square is a

skyscraper A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Modern sources currently define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition. Skyscrapers are very tall high-ris ...

hotel located several blocks south-west of

Union Square Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. Opened in 1964, the innovative 18-story, 1200-room original building was known as a "motel within a hotel", allowing guests to park directly next to their upper-story rooms. Filling an entire city block, it remains one of the tallest structures representing

Brutalist architecture Brutalist architecture is an architectural style that emerged during the 1950s in the United Kingdom, among the reconstruction projects of the post-war era. Brutalist buildings are characterised by minimalist constructions that showcase the ba ...

, though it has been extensively altered since its construction. A second 46-story tower was added in 1971, while a third smaller 23-story connecting tower was completed in 1987."Parachuters jump off Union Square hotel"
Curbed San Francisco, Brock Keeling, March 1, 2017 Renovated in 2017 and still operated by Hilton, it is currently the largest hotel on the West Coast, with 1,921 rooms."Hilton San Francisco Union Square Completes $26 Million Room Renovation in Tower Two"
Hotel Online, April 19, 2017

History

Opening and unique design

The hotel opened on May 25, 1964, as the San Francisco Hilton. Built at a cost of $29 million and designed by noted architect William B. Tabler, the innovative 18-story, 1200-room structure was known as a ''motel within a hotel''"William B. Tabler Sr., Architect of Hilton Hotels, Dies at 89"
David W. Dunlap, ''The New York Times'' February 10, 2004 due to a design featuring a series of ramps in the middle of the building, allowing guests to drive their cars directly to seven of the hotel's lower floors and park adjacent to their room. Tabler's design also employed a checkerboard facade of windows and decorative panels to disguise the building's earthquake bracing. It was the 60th Hilton hotel in the company's worldwide operations. In the original building, there was no 13th floor, while the 12th to the 15th floors housed mechanical equipment. Floors 16 to 19 contained guest rooms, overlooking an inner courtyard and garden on the 16th floor, with a landscaped plaza and a swimming pool and cabana-style rooms. There was also a heated garden court and sunbathing areas. There were a number of restaurants and bars on the lobby floor, including a Cafe Bellagio. It also had one of the world's largest ballrooms at the time, which was reached by escalators from the lobby to the floor below, handling a banquet of 2000 or a meeting for 3000. Sliding partitions allowed the space to be divided into nine soundproof rooms, each with lighting and television and projection booths. Thirteen private dining rooms were on the floor above the ballroom, with the entire facility focused on conventions. On the 19th floor were two suites, each with a living room and two bedrooms, with a spiral stairway leading to a

penthouse Penthouse most often refers to: *Penthouse apartment, a special apartment on the top floor of a building *Penthouse (magazine), ''Penthouse'' (magazine), a British-founded men's magazine *Mechanical penthouse, a floor, typically located directly u ...

solarium Solarium may refer to: * A sunroom, a room built largely of glass to afford exposure to the sun * A terrace (building) or flat housetop * The '' Solarium Augusti'', a monumental meridian line (or perhaps a sundial) erected in Rome by Emperor Augu ...

for parties of 100 or more. If the suites were not spoken for, Hilton said it would rent them for $200 a day. Room rates were $12 to $23 a day for singles, and $18 to $27 for doubles. The hotel was built by Cahill Brothers, Inc. in San Francisco, with David T. Williams, Inc. of New York handled the decorating.

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

stayed at the San Francisco Hilton during their 1964 US tour, opening their tour at San Francisco on August 18 after staying the night before at the Hilton Hotel. The San Francisco Hilton's distinctive parking layout is memorably featured in the 1968 film ''

Petulia ''Petulia'' is a 1968 British-American drama film directed by Richard Lester and starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain. The film has a screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus from a story by Barbara Turner and is based on t ...

'', filmed in part at the hotel."Petulia Motel Check-In"
Reel SF, November 1, 2010

Second tower

The 46-story, Hilton Tower addition was completed in 1971, joined to the original wing by a skybridge. Due to the hotel addition's height, this makes it the tallest building in San Francisco to be located outside both the

Financial District A financial district is usually a central area in a city where financial services firms such as banks, insurance companies and other related finance corporations have their head offices. In major cities, financial districts are often home to s ...

and the South of Market District. The hotel was featured in the 1972 screwball comedy '' What's Up Doc?'', where the main characters stay at a Hotel Bristol hosting a music convention. Filming took place in the new 46-story skyscraper hotel, with the lobby, drugstore, ballroom, seventeenth floor, and partly-finished top floor all filling the first hour of the film."What's Up Doc? (1972)"
''World Film Locations: San Francisco'', author Jez Conolly, editor Scott Jordan Harris, Intellect Books, 2013, In March 1985, Hilton was refused permission to open a casino property in

Atlantic City Atlantic City, often known by its initials A.C., is a coastal resort city in Atlantic County, New Jersey, United States. The city is known for its casinos, Boardwalk (entertainment district), boardwalk, and beaches. In 2020 United States censu ...

, with the New Jersey Casino Control Commission in part citing that "reputed members of organized crime had frequented the San Francisco Hilton and had been seen coming and going at the office of Henri Lewin, a Hilton executive vice president....Werner Lewin, a Hilton vice president and general manager of the San Francisco Hilton, asked Hilton employees to destroy records because of a pending Federal antitrust investigation," which had found "associations with individuals of the most alarming type.""HILTON REJECTED FOR LICENSE TO OPERATE A JERSEY CASINO"
Donald Janson, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', March 1, 1985

Third tower and renovations

From 1985–1988, the hotel was completely rebuilt at a cost of $150 million, to designs by architect

John Carl Warnecke John Carl Warnecke (February 24, 1919 – April 17, 2010)Brown, "John Carl Warnecke Dies at 91, Designed Kennedy Gravesite," ''Washington Post,'' April 23, 2010.Grimes, "John Carl Warnecke, Architect to Kennedy, Dies at 91," ''New York Times,'' Ap ...

, with the addition of a 26-story third tower, connecting the two original towers, and rehabilitation of the first five levels of the Hilton Plaza. Tabler's original checkerboard facade was removed and replaced with a more contemporary post-modern facade to match the new wing. Between 2011 and 2017, the hotel underwent a $130 million overhaul, including noise-canceling windows and doors in guest rooms."New and renovated SF hotels ready for summer season"
''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. de ...

'', Jeanne Cooper, May 5, 2017 The renovation was finished in 2017, with updates in Tower Two. It is the largest hotel on the West Coast.

References

External links