The Clift Royal Sonesta Serves Old World San Francisco Glamour
The Clift Royal Sonesta San Francisco is one of those hotels where the building itself is part of the experience, especially appealing to savvy travelers who want personality rather than the familiarity of a chain hotel.
The Clift Royal Sonesta sits proudly at 495 Geary Street, just off Union Square and at the edge of several distinct San Francisco neighborhoods. You are close to shopping, theaters, and restaurants, while the Tenderloin begins almost immediately to the west.
That location gives The Clift an interesting urban character. Walk east, and you are in polished downtown San Francisco; head west, and you quickly encounter some of the city’s more colorful, gritty, and historically diverse streets. Nob Hill, Chinatown, Polk Gulch, and SoMa are all within easy reach, while the Castro and Mission are a short ride away. SFMOMA, the Ferry Building, cable cars, Union Square, and many downtown attractions are also within easy reach if you feel like a good walk or a short ride-share.
Built for San Francisco’s great comeback(s)
The Clift dates to 1915, when San Francisco was still rebuilding after the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire, and was built in anticipation of crowds visiting for the Panama-Pacific International Exposition, the enormous world’s fair that put the recovering city on an international stage.
Named for the hotel’s original owner, Frederick C. Clift, a San Francisco lawyer and businessman whose family owned significant Bay Area property, the hotel was designed by architects George Applegarth and Kenneth MacDonald Jr. to withstand both earthquakes and fire. Its history is therefore tied directly to one of San Francisco’s defining traits: rebuilding and reinvention. That has become somewhat of a theme of the property! It expanded in 1926, was acquired by Four Seasons in 1978, then by Grand Heritage in 1995, then by Ian Schrager with a $50 million Philippe Starck redo in 2001. Most recently, Sonesta took over management in 2018, and it reopened in 2020 as The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel.
About that quirky design
This history helps explain why The Clift feels like a curated collection of San Francisco’s eras. Its design mixes original architectural details with playful contemporary pieces. Entering the lobby, you will notice the throne-like Big Chair, a whimsical piece of furniture in a space with soaring ceilings. Elsewhere, for example, in Frederick’s, the restaurant space, is deliberately visible original walls alongside modern furnishings and metallic accents. Light fixtures evoke successive waves of modern art, from Art Deco to Industrial to pop and psychedelic.
The philosophy is essentially old San Francisco meets modern San Francisco. Rather than stripping the building’s personality away for sleekness, the renovation uses its age as an asset—you can feel the history, especially in the corridors and common spaces. What characters must’ve roamed these halls! The Clift has been a hotel, a cultural meeting place, a nightlife destination, and, today, a contemporary Royal Sonesta property—without losing its connection to its earlier incarnations.
Rooms that are contemporary—with resonance
The 372 guest rooms and suites feature a modern aesthetic with comfortable furnishings, rainfall showers, large back-lit mirrors, Keurig coffee makers, laptop-size safes, streaming-capable televisions, and Wi-Fi. While these are standard conveniences, your room will likely feature furnishings and artwork that throw back to other times. Accent pieces, such as floor lamps, coffee tables, headboards, curtains, and more, reference the city’s bohemian, artistic, and social counterculture of the past century. Plus, many suites offer views of this eclectic city.
The hotel also has a 24-hour fitness center, including yoga equipment and a Peloton bike. Canine guests are welcome, with beds, bowls, mats, and treats available. There is no swimming pool or room service—but you are within walking distance of many eateries, wine stores, etc.
Then there is the Redwood Room
The star of the property is the legendary cocktail bar, the Redwood Room, which opened on December 6, 1933—the day after Prohibition ended in the United States—and quickly became a glamorous San Francisco destination, drawing local industrialists, intellectuals, celebrities, and night owls.
Its most famous feature and namesake is the extraordinary redwood interior. According to the hotel’s long-standing legend, the floor-to-ceiling paneling and enormous bar were carved from a single fallen 800-year-old redwood tree.
The room also has an intriguing art-history connection: the hotel rescued vintage copies of works by Austrian artist Gustav Klimt from the basement, restored them, and rehung them as part of the space’s revival. The atmosphere is deliberately cinematic—dark, glamorous, and slightly decadent, with Art Deco accents, low seating, and dramatic lighting. It is the sort of room that makes meeting for a cocktail feel like an occasion.
Today the Redwood Room combines that history with contemporary programming, including DJs and live entertainment. In 2026, the hotel has also been developing Redwood Room After Dark, with jazz vocalist Sacha Boutros helping shape a new program of jazz, swing, and sophisticated late-night performances.
A hotel with a queer sense of fun
The Clift isn’t trying to be an anonymous five-star palace. Its appeal is more glamorous, urban, and slightly mischievous. LGBTQ+ travelers have a strong reason to add it to their list of places to stay: The Clift has actively incorporated LGBTQ+ history into its cultural programming. In June 2026, its Making History Fun Again series presented “How San Francisco Became America’s Gay Capital,” an event examining the city’s LGBTQ+ history during Pride Month.
The hotel also offered a San Francisco Pride package that included a donation supporting nonprofits serving the local LGBTQ+ community. Check the website to see what’s on offer.
In other words, The Clift isn’t trying to pretend San Francisco is just one thing. Like the city itself, it is multilayered: historic, progressive, quirky, culturally adventurous—and always reinventing itself.
Follow The Clift on Instagram to see what’s on and take advantage of the many local cultural tie-ins the hotel is involved in.
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