U.S. Grant Hotel

The U.S. Grant Hotel is a historic hotel in downtown San Diego, California operating under a franchise of Marriott International. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is 11 stories high and has 270 guest rooms in addition to meeting rooms and a ballroom.

U.S. Grant Hotel
Facade of the U.S. Grant Hotel
Location326 Broadway, San Diego, California
Coordinates32°42′56.9334″N 117°9′41.5074″W
Arealess than one acre
Built1910
ArchitectHarrison Albright
Architectural styleClassical Revival, Beaux Arts
NRHP reference No.79000523[1]
Added to NRHPAugust 27, 1979

History

Fannie Chaffee Grant purchased the Horton House in 1895 and decided to tear it down in 1905. Her husband Ulysses S. Grant, Jr., (also the son of president Ulysses S. Grant), oversaw the building of the Grant Hotel, opened in 1910 and named after his father. [2] [3] Architect Harrison Albright designed the hotel.[4] San Diego voters helped finance $700,000 for the $1.5 million needed to construct the hotel after Grant lacked the funds to do so.[5] The hotel opened on October 15, 1910 and included two swimming pools as well as a ballroom on the top floor.[6]

Lobby of the hotel in 2014

The hotel's signature restaurant is the Grant Grill, which opened in 1952. It became a power-lunch spot for downtown businessmen and politicians, so much so that "ladies" were not permitted in the restaurant before 3 PM. In 1969 a group of prominent local women staged a sit-in which resulted in the restaurant abandoning its men-only policy.[7]

The hotel was refurbished in the 1980s, but fell upon hard times in the subsequent decade due to a financial slump.[8] The hotel changed hands several times during the 1990s. In 2003, the hotel was purchased by the Sycuan Band of the Kumeyaay Nation, who closed the doors for 21 months to renovate the building. It reopened in October 2006.[9] The hotel is operated by Marriott Hotels & Resorts as a part of its Luxury Collection. The official name of the property is The U.S. Grant, a Luxury Collection Hotel, San Diego.

Events

The Grant Hotel was, for nearly 35 years, until 1974, the site of the annual reunion dinner of the "Great White Fleet Association," a group of sailors who sailed on the cruise of 16 white battleships from 1907-09.[10] These dinners attracted a wide range of military officials and guests from all over the world.

The inaugural San Diego Comic-Con International, which was then called "San Diego’s Golden State Comic-Con", was held at the U.S. Grant Hotel in 1970.[11]

Guests

Famous guests have included Albert Einstein,[12] Charles Lindbergh,[12] Woodrow Wilson and 12 additional United States Presidents.[9] The hotel includes three presidential suites that have been tailored to Secret Service requirements for accommodating presidential visits.[9]

References
  1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
  2. Banning, Evelyn I. "U.S. Grant, Jr.: A Builder of San Diego". San Diego Historical Society. Archived from the original on August 9, 2017. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  3. Engstrand, Iris Wilson (2005). San Diego: California's Cornerstone. Adventures in the Natural History and Cultural Heritage of the Californias Series. Sunbelt Publications, Inc. p. 263. ISBN 9780932653727. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
  4. "U. S. Grant Hotel". sandiego.edu. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  5. Montes, Gregory (Winter 1982). "Balboa Park, 1909-1911 The Rise and Fall of the Olmsted Plan". The Journal of San Diego History. 28 (1). Archived from the original on July 19, 2011.
  6. Pourade, Richard F. (1965). Gold in the Sun (1st ed.). San Diego: The Union-Tribune Publishing Company. pp. 114–115. ISBN 0-913938-04-1.
  7. San Diego Union Tribune, September 3, 2006
  8. Warner, Gary A. "San Diego's grande dames". The Orange County Register. Retrieved 2009-02-07.
  9. Beeson, Julia (November 1, 2006). "Grant Expectations". San Diego Magazine. Archived from the original on June 20, 2014. Retrieved June 19, 2014.
  10. "Huge Navy Cruise Urged". Toledo Blade. Associated Press. 17 December 1969. Retrieved 23 March 2013.
    Alden, John Doughty (1972). The American steel navy: a photographic history of the U.S. Navy from the introduction of the steel hull in 1883 to the cruise of the Great White Fleet, 1907-1909. Naval Institute Press. p. 349. ISBN 9780870216817.
  11. Rowe, Peter (January 5, 2012). "Richard Alf, 59, one of Comic-Con's founders". U-T San Diego. Archived from the original on June 23, 2014. Retrieved June 22, 2014.
  12. Schulte-Peevers, Andrea (2003). California (3 ed.). Lonely Planet Publications. pp. 545. ISBN 978-1-86450-331-9.
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