“America has only three cities: New York, New Orleans, and San Francisco. Everywhere else is Cleveland.”

I find this quote entertaining since Cleveland is my home, of sorts. New York was my home for many years. New Orleans is my wannabe home. And as for San Francisco, I’ve not spent much time there, certainly not enough to call it home, but I have visited many times for short overnights (and a few long overnights, as well). I was just there about two weeks ago, and while the timing wasn’t right to accommodate a ghost tour, I did wander around the city and think about some of my past visits. And I’ve stayed at a haunted hotel or three. Let’s talk about these places.

Back in the year 2000, after I knew that the Y2K bug wasn’t going to disrupt all of the world’s functions, and all systems were a go, I took my first solo non-working trip to San Fran. I had spent the year traveling to different universities, as a consultant for my sorority, but had never been to California before at that time of my life, so this trip was sort of a big deal. I used my Northwest World Perks miles to get there. (Would you believe I still remember my membership number by heart? Even after they have been long-merged with Delta. Now if only I could remember more useful things, like where I put my reading glasses.)

So 23 years ago I found the least expensive lodging in the best location that I could possibly find: The San Remo Hotel, really close to Fisherman’s Wharf and every overcrowded touristy spot you could imagine. It was clean and just a step up from being considered a hostel: a private room with a sink, but a shared bathroom. I didn’t know it was haunted, but I had a really hard time sleeping and even though it was 23 years ago, I remember trembling all through the night. I also had taken a tour of wine country earlier that day and this was before I knew that red wine gave me migraines, so I wasn’t feeling very well to begin with after sampling way too many reds that day. The San Remo Hotel was built just after San Francisco was mostly destroyed by fire in 1906. The hotel was built to house some of the workers who were rebuilding the city, and it also attracted immigrants, sailors, artists, and others looking for an affordable place to rest their weary heads. Its name was changed from the New California Hotel to the San Remo Hotel in 1922, and also got some service upgrades that year. At least two or three ghosts live here today. The “Painted Lady” haunts room 33 in particular, knocking on the door, creating a cold draft, and then disappearing. It may be the Madame who once owned and ran a brothel and then died in the hotel in 1978.

Room 42 has a ghost of a little girl wearing a bonnet. A man allegedly committed suicide in that room. Could this be his daughter, looking for her daddy? No one really knows for sure. And I sure wish I could remember which room I stayed in when I was there. But I don’t even have digital records of reservations from that long ago.

A double murder occurred in the restaurant of the San Remo Hotel in 1911. During a wedding reception, a former lover of the bride showed up and began fighting with the groom. He pulled out a gun and instead of aiming for the groom, he shot two innocent men seated at a table nearby. These days, witnesses regularly report seeing a short man with dark, slicked-back hair watching the restaurant guests from a dark corner. Could he be scoping out the groom that he missed killing the first time around?

I wish I knew more. I don’t know if I’ll make my way back to this hotel again, because I value my privacy and am uncertain I could deal with a shared bathroom at this juncture of my life. But I am indeed curious about the resident ghosts there.

The next hotel I want to write about is the infamous and historic Victorians Queen Anne Hotel, which unlike many others in San Francisco, survived that horrific earthquake of 1906. It is quiet and peaceful…..unless, of course, you encounter one of the resident ghosts. I have not stayed there myself, but I have walked by and admired the beauty of the structure. And I dug up some photos of its dramatic and alluring interior.

The room above looks like a great space for a seance, doesn’t it? So who are the ghosts? Built in 1890, the Queen Anne Hotel was originally one of the most exclusive girls’ boarding schools in the bay area. The headmistress of the school, Miss Mary Lake, was a bright and educated grammar school teacher, whose dream was to run her own school. During her tenure, Mary allegedly had an affair with James “Slippery Jim” Fair, the Senator who funded the building of the beautiful Victorian mansion. The Irish immigrant went west to strike it rich as a miner, but he was a ruthless and unkind man who treated his employees terribly. The only person who hated Fair more than his employees was his wife, Theresa Rooney. The pair had wed in 1862 in Calaveras County when Fair was a young miner and Theresa a boardinghouse keeper. Fair was always a womanizer; he was described as superficially charming , but the philandering got worse and worse. In 1883, Theresa filed for divorce. Mary Lake denied the rumors of an affair, but a local newspaper published an article titled “Cupid and Mr. Fair,” and that kept the rumor alive until Miss Mary’s death. In the afterlife, her ghost still tends to her students, tucking them into bed and unpacking their suitcases, and doing her best to make them feel at home in the hotel. The majority of the reported hauntings have occurred in Room 410, which was once Mary’s office. Other guests have reported the sensation of someone touching them, and even stroking their hair, but no one is close to them when it occurs. Different people have witnessed and captured shadow figures throughout the hotel. On one of the floors, guests can find the Bishop’s chair. Some people report when they sit in the chair and put their arms on the armrests, it feels like someone places a hand on their arm in a comforting manner. Sounds like Miss Mary once again, offering students warmth and assurance that they are safe. (Although in this day and age, I’m not sure that personal touch would exactly fly in a school setting.) Mary had died on her 55th birthday in New Jersey, and when news of her death reached San Francisco, there was an outpouring of grief from her former pupils. “She was possessed of a keen wit and a warm, magnetic personality which endeared her to the hearts of all who had the good fortune to know her intimately,” stated her eulogy. “Though her pupils during all the years of her teaching were counted by the hundreds, she never forgot one.” That passion is what keeps the soul of Mary Lake at the Queen Anne, ghost hunters presume, forever staying in the building that housed her life’s dream to run a boarding school.

Then we have Mary Ellen Pleasant, the self-proclaimed voodoo queen of San Francisco, who lived right across the street from the Queen Anne Hotel in the 1800s. Could she have something to do with the paranormal activity at the Queen Anne Hotel? Maybe. A secret fraternal society also met in this hotel for awhile, and rumor has it that they, too, dabbled in the paranormal. Interesting stuff. I need to do some more digging and make a visit next time I’m in the city by the bay.

Since I usually stay in Union Square, I have walked past this next hotel many times, but I couldn’t even figure out where the entrance was to go inside and capture some photos, let alone figure out all the mysteries behind its doors. Built in 1908 as the Golden West Hotel, the Hotel Union Square is one of the most historic hotels in San Francisco. It keeps a lot of dark secrets within its luxurious walls. During prohibition, there was a 10,000-square-foot speakeasy built underneath the hotel called The Golden Bubble. This elegant space’s original features still stand today, but it’s now used as a storage area. Oh, if those walls could talk…..there is reportedly a lot of strange activity in that area ranging from the typical bumps in the night to shadow figures to disembodied voices being heard. And if you stay in Room 207, it is allegedly haunted by a female spirit. She is gentle, but she is known to open and close doors and to hide objects from guests. Then we have Florence Cushing, who hurled herself from the seventh floor of the hotel in 1911. She left a suicide note stating that she wasn’t afraid to die. Her drop was long and unforgiving. She was depressed and unhappy and is in search of something in her afterlife. . .joy and contentment, perhaps?

Last we have the gorgeous Westin Hotel, which is also in Union Square, with its stories of the 12th floor, which is renowned in ghosthunter circles for being particularly haunted by the spirits of three departed former guests. One is a harmless, joyful woman, who lived for years at the hotel and died peacefully in her sleep. She probably won’t bother you. But the other two might. The ghost of Virginia Rappe, a young, beautiful actress, roams the floor tearing her hair out. Her death was one of the most infamous in the city at the time, as she was a guest at famous silent comedian Fatty Arbuckle’s hotel room and died during a wild party, allegedly after Fatty assaulted her. And then we have Al Jolson, often called “the luckiest man in show business,” known for his work as “The Jazz Singer”. Al also met his fate in this hotel. In 1950, Al’s luck ran out playing gin rummy with his manager. During the middle of the card game he had a heart attack, leaving him dead at the hotel.

Later, on September 23, 1975, an FBI employee named Sarah Jane Moore fired two shots at President Gerald Ford as he was leaving the St. Francis Hotel. It is probably the most famous event in the hotel’s history, and probably one of the many stories that contribute to its dark past. I snapped this photo on a bright Sunday afternoon, and it looks so pretty and peaceful. But if you venture beyond its doors and up to the 12th floor, you may get a different vibe.

I am barely scratching the surface here with San Francisco’s dark history and haunted hotel scene. Like everywhere else I visit, I need more time. Like an entire afterlife to finish all of these stories……