Nob Hill

About Nob Hill

Nob Hill is a residential and hotel district at the summit of the hill. Several of the city’s grand hotels are clustered here, on land that held the mansions of the late-19th-century railroad and silver magnates before the 1906 earthquake and fire destroyed most of those buildings.

What to See & Do

The Fairmont San Francisco at 950 Mason Street has a marble-and-gilt lobby open to walk through. The InterContinental Mark Hopkins at 999 California Street has an exterior glass elevator. The Top of the Mark, on the 19th floor of the Mark Hopkins, has served drinks with a 360-degree view of the city since 1939. There is a dress code (no athletic wear, no flip-flops).

Grace Cathedral occupies the western edge of the hilltop at 1100 California Street. The cathedral has a tiled indoor labyrinth modeled on the one at Chartres, a Keith Haring altarpiece in the AIDS Interfaith Memorial Chapel, and a regular schedule of services and concerts.

Huntington Park is across California Street from the cathedral. The fountain at its center is a replica of the Fontana delle Tartarughe (Turtle Fountain) from the Piazza Mattei in Rome.

The Pacific Union Club at 1000 California Street occupies the former James C. Flood Mansion, the only one of the railroad-era hilltop mansions to survive the 1906 fire (brownstone is more fire-resistant than wood). The club is private.

Where to Eat & Drink

The Tonga Room & Hurricane Bar in the basement of the Fairmont serves Polynesian-style food and runs an indoor thunderstorm across the pool at the center of the room every 30 minutes. A live band plays from a barge on the pool.

The Top of the Mark serves drinks and small plates with the panorama. Dress code applies.