Occidental Hotel
Occidental Hotel was a luxury hotel and restaurant in San Francisco. It opened in 1861 on Montgomery Street between Bush and Sutter. The building was Italianate and four stories tall, built in three stages and completed by 1869. Architects were Caleb Hyatt, with later work by Thomas Johnston and William Mooser. It stood high above the street near the Masonic Hall and could be seen from far away. The hotel’s foundation used rocks from Angel Island and it had wood floors reinforced with iron bands. Guest rooms were elegant, and flowers and fruit were often delivered on arrival.
Famous visitors included Mark Twain, Robert Louis Stevenson, Lillie Hitchcock Coit, and Ralph Waldo Emerson. The hotel was a popular gathering place for writers and politicians. Bartender Jerry Thomas, known as a pioneer of American mixology, is said to have invented the Martini at the Occidental and earned about $100 a week there in 1863.
On April 18, 1906, the day of the San Francisco earthquake, the Occidental was damaged and then destroyed by the subsequent fire. The remaining structure was demolished afterwards. The Occidental Cigar Club in San Francisco’s Financial District later named itself after the hotel.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 01:43 (CET).