Haunted hotel guide · San Francisco, California
The Haunted Palace Hotel, San Francisco: The Lady in Red and the Pied Piper
A king and a president died here, Caruso fled the 1906 fire from here, and the staff say a woman in red still walks the halls after dark.
The Palace Hotel stands at the corner of Market and New Montgomery Streets, where it has stood since 1875. The original was one of the largest and most lavish hotels in the world; the building you see today replaced it in 1909, after the fires that followed the 1906 earthquake. It is famous for the glass-roofed Garden Court and for Maxfield Parrish’s Pied Piper mural in the bar, and it is one of the essential stops in our guide to haunted hotels in San Francisco.
It also has more ghost stories than almost any hotel in the city. A woman in red is said to visit men traveling alone, a girl in old-fashioned French dress appears in the kitchen asking for soup, and someone unseen taps drinkers on the shoulder in the Pied Piper Bar. King Kalakaua of Hawaii died here in 1891 and President Warren Harding in 1923, and some guests report a figure like Harding at the windows.
Palace Hotel at a glance
Haunted Rooms Score
- Address 2 New Montgomery Street, San Francisco, CA 94105
- Opened 1875; rebuilt and reopened in 1909 after the 1906 fire
- Most haunted spots The Pied Piper Bar, the Garden Court, the dining rooms, the kitchen and the eighth floor
- Best-known ghosts The Lady in Red; a French girl asking for soup; a shoulder-tapper in the Pied Piper; a figure resembling President Harding
- Booking the haunted room Harding’s Room 8064 is not sold as a haunted room; the public rooms where most stories are set are open to everyone
- Good to know A Luxury Collection hotel run by Marriott; indoor skylit pool; the Garden Court, GC Lounge and Pied Piper are open to non-guests
The ghosts of Palace Hotel
The Lady in Red
The Palace’s best-known ghost is a woman in a red dress who is said to glide down the corridors at night. The stories have a particular target: men traveling alone. She is said to pass through the walls into their rooms, and some versions describe the guest lying frozen in bed as she stands over him. Nobody has given her a name or a history, which has not stopped her becoming the hotel’s signature ghost.
The French girl who asks for soup
Kitchen staff tell of a girl in old-fashioned French dress who appears in the kitchen and asks, politely, for a bowl of soup. She is described as looking like a child from another century, and she is gone before anyone can serve her.
The shoulder-tapper of the Pied Piper Bar
The Pied Piper Bar, named for the Maxfield Parrish mural above it, is said to have a playful spirit who taps people on the shoulder. When they turn around, nobody is there. Given how many people pass through the bar, it is one of the most commonly shared Palace stories.
The ghost who locks the dining room
Another spirit is said to lock himself inside one of the hotel’s dining rooms and bang on the walls. Guests elsewhere describe cold spots, the feeling of being touched and the sense of someone watching them.
President Harding and the eighth floor
President Warren G. Harding died in Room 8064, an eighth-floor suite overlooking Market Street, on August 2, 1923, while on a speaking tour of the West. His death came suddenly, and rumors about its cause began almost at once. Some visitors say a figure resembling Harding walks the halls at night or stands looking out of the windows. King Kalakaua of Hawaii also died at the Palace, in January 1891, though in the original building that burned in 1906, and no ghost story is attached to him.
The most haunted rooms and places to look
- The Pied Piper Bar: Home of the Maxfield Parrish mural and the ghost who taps shoulders. Go late in the evening.
- The Garden Court: The glass-roofed court on the site of the original carriage entrance, a San Francisco landmark since 1969.
- Room 8064 and the eighth floor: Where President Harding died in 1923, and where some guests report his figure at the windows.
- The kitchen and dining rooms: Where the French girl asks for soup and a spirit is said to lock himself in.
History of Palace Hotel
Banker William Ralston financed the Palace as the grandest hotel in the West, but he did not live to enjoy it. His Bank of California collapsed a few weeks before the hotel opened on October 2, 1875. His partner, Senator William Sharon, took over the hotel and the bank’s debts. The original Palace had 755 guest rooms and a Grand Court where carriages drove straight into the building.
The hotel welcomed a long list of famous guests. King David Kalakaua of Hawaii fell into a coma in his suite and died there on January 20, 1891. In April 1906 the Palace survived the earthquake itself but was destroyed by the fires that swept downtown that afternoon. The tenor Enrico Caruso was staying there and reportedly swore never to return to the city.
A temporary Palace opened later in 1906, and the current nine-story hotel, designed by Trowbridge and Livingston, opened on the same site on December 19, 1909. The old carriage court became the Garden Court, and Maxfield Parrish painted The Pied Piper of Hamelin for the new bar. President Harding died in the hotel in 1923. Sheraton owned the Palace from 1954, and Japan’s Kyo-ya bought it in 1973.
The Garden Court was named a San Francisco landmark in 1969, and the whole building followed in 1984. The hotel closed in 1989 for a restoration and seismic retrofit of about $150 million and reopened in 1991. In 2013 the owners took down the Pied Piper mural to sell it at auction, and the public outcry was loud enough that it was restored and rehung that August. Today the Palace is part of Marriott’s Luxury Collection.
Tips for a haunted stay
- Have a late drink under the Pied Piper mural and see whether anyone taps you on the shoulder.
- Look up at the Garden Court’s glass ceiling, ideally at afternoon tea or brunch, even if you are not staying.
- Ask for an upper-floor room on the Market Street side if you want to be near where Harding died. Room 8064 itself is not sold as a haunted room.
- Watch for San Francisco City Guides walks. They have run Halloween ghost walks of the Palace in past years, free with donations welcome.
- Pair the Palace with a night at the Queen Anne Hotel for two very different San Francisco ghost stays.
More haunted hotels nearby
- Queen Anne Hotel: Miss Mary Lake’s Victorian school for girls
- Claremont Hotel, Berkeley: across the bay in the Berkeley hills
- Alcatraz: the island prison’s ghost stories
- Haunted places in San Francisco: more ghost stories across the city
- Haunted hotels in California
- Haunted hotels in San Francisco
Stayed in one of these hotels? Tell us what happened
We collect first-hand accounts from guests and add the best ones to our guides, with your first name and the date of your stay. We read every story before it’s published.
Frequently asked questions
Is the Palace Hotel in San Francisco haunted?
The Palace is one of San Francisco’s most famous haunted hotels. Stories include the Lady in Red, a French girl who asks for soup in the kitchen, a shoulder-tapping spirit in the Pied Piper Bar and a figure resembling President Harding.
Did a president die at the Palace Hotel?
Yes. President Warren G. Harding died in Room 8064, an eighth-floor suite, on August 2, 1923.
Who is the Lady in Red at the Palace Hotel?
She is an unnamed woman in a red dress said to walk the halls at night and enter the rooms of men traveling alone. No historical identity has been attached to her.
Is the Palace Hotel the oldest hotel in San Francisco?
The Palace opened in 1875, which makes it one of the city’s oldest hotels by name, but the current building dates from 1909 after the original burned in 1906.
Can you visit the Pied Piper Bar without staying at the Palace Hotel?
Yes. The Pied Piper, the Garden Court and the GC Lounge are open to the public.
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the hotel’s own website, historic records and news coverage. Ghost stories are reported as guests, staff and local historians tell them. Read how we rate haunted hotels.
- Wikipedia: Palace Hotel, San Francisco
- Only In Your State: The oldest hotel in San Francisco is also the most haunted
- Inside Guide to San Francisco Tourism: Haunted places
- Kyo-ya Hotels and Resorts: The Palace Hotel
- Funcheap SF: Ghost Walk at the Palace Hotel
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About the authors
The Haunted Rooms Team runs public ghost hunts and overnight investigations at historic venues across the United States. We research every hotel in our guides using hotel histories, local archives, news coverage and the accounts of guests and staff, and we review each guide regularly so you are not booking a hotel that has closed or changed its name. Spotted something out of date? Let us know.
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