Thursday's The Smallest of the Big Four: The Huntington Hotel

To most San Franciscans, and history buffs, The Big Four refers to the railroad barons who each had their own mansion on Nob Hill. For the record: Leland Stanford, Collis P. Huntington, Mark Hopkins, and Charles Crocker.

But if you work in the hotel business in San Francisco, it refers to the four major hotels which crown Nob Hill. One of them is the Fairmont Hotel. The other three carry the namesake of their past denizens: The Mark Hopkins Hotel, The Stanford Court, and the lesser-known Huntington Hotel.

Because it is a third the size of its fellow Nob Hill counterparts in no way means the Huntington Hotel hasn't left an impression over the years. Like all hotels in the city, it was shuttered during the pandemic in 2020. Unlike most hotels though, it never reopened.

Resting atop Nob Hill the ubiquitous Huntington Hotel sign was ablaze every night since 1922, with few exceptions: When black-out conditions were required during World War II, the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, and the pandemic of 2020. When the sign went out, it symbolized the world-wide tragedy. It also brought home how my beloved hospitality industry went dark during that dark year.

That is until this year. In the Spring of 2026, the Huntington Hotel will once again welcome visitors.

Opened in 1922, the Huntington Hotel was designed by Architect Charles Peter Weeks and engineer William Peyton Day. And yes, their firm was known as Weeks and Day. Despite the ironic name, the firm built some of San Francisco's most iconic structures such as the Treasure Island Administration Building, the Mark Hopkins Hotel, the Brocklebank Apartments (where Kim Novak lived in Alfred Hitchcock's 1958 thriller, Vertigo), and the Sir Francis Drake Hotel where I got my first job as a hotel concierge.

Though not as well-known as the neighboring the Mark Hopkins and Fairmont hotels, the Huntington did receive their share of notables who crossed its threshold. Movie stars from the Golden Era of Hollywood such as Lauren Bacall, Marlene Dietrich, and Claudette Colbert were some of their famous guests. Writer Truman Capote also frequented the hotel. Even after the tragedy at the infamous Altamont Speedway Music Festival, the Rolling Stones stayed there. The Huntington also welcomed royalty when Princess Margaret and Lord Snowdon from Great Britain checked in, in 1964.

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This multi-year, multi-million-dollar endeavor to reopen the Huntington is shouldered by Greg Flynn, founder and CEO of Flynn Properties. What makes his involvement unique is that he is a San Francisco native, so he has a history of seeing that lit sign shine across many foggy nights in his lifetime. Included in the renovation are upgrades to their restaurant The Big Four, and their premier spa cleverly titled The Nob Hill Spa. When I was a hotel concierge, The Big Four and The Nob Hill Spa were always at the top of my lists for my guests.

The Big Four was more than just an upscale restaurant; the plethora of historical photos and artifacts that adorned the walls rivaled any historical museum. Which is too bad because San Francisco has no history museums within our city limits, if you can believe it. The Big Four also had the best French fries in the city, and for being an old school restaurant on Nob Hill the prices were surprisingly reasonable.

There are many high-end hotels which offer spa services, and for the most part they are all pretty good. You can get a pedicure or massage at a dozen fancy hotels in the city and leave with a spring in your step, and so too at the Nob Hill Spa. But why was it at the top of my rolodex? You know what they say about first impressions; you only get one.

As Bart Simpson said, "Set your faces to stunned."

When you enter the spa from the hotel's quaint lobby, splayed in front of you is their pool and lounge area in the foreground, but framed by the city's skyline in the background behind 100-foot floor-to-ceiling windows.

Despite my eternal allegiance to the Huntington's amenities, I also have a somewhat personal connection to it. 

After 15 years as the chief concierge of the Donatello Hotel, I moved on to find greener pastures in San Francisco hospitality.  Within a week I interviewed for a concierge position at the Huntington and the Millennium Tower (Yes, that Millennium Tower), as well as the Nikko Hotel as their chief concierge.

The Nikko passed on me, and I decided to take the offer from the Millennium Tower.   When the Huntington Hotel interviewed me, I let them know of the other offers I was considering.  When I informed them I was going with another company, the team couldn't have been more supportive.

Both professionally and personally, the Huntington Hotel has a special place in my heart.  When it finally reopened on March 1^st 2026 the horrors the pandemic unleashed upon the hospitality community, and the planet writ large, will make it feel a little like 2019 again.  And cherish The Huntington Hotel’s sign once again lighting the night's foggy sky.

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