The Haunted Palace Hotel

Posted: 11.27.2024 | Updated: 11.27.2024

San Francisco. It’s a famous city known for many things.

From the Golden Gate Bridge to Alcatraz to the 49ers to Full House, San Francisco defies labels and is hard to put in any one box. 

That same thing can be said about the ghosts that inhabit The City By The Bay. There’s quite an eclectic collection of spooky sightings and hauntings that are a part of San Francisco’s history.

One of the more unique – and historical – of the San Francisco ghosts can be found in San Francisco’s oldest hotel – the Palace. In fact, he’s so famous that we’re pretty sure you’ve heard of him, even if you don’t live in San Francisco! 

Keep reading to learn more about the Palace’s ghostly resident, and if that tickles your fancy, be sure to take an in-person ghost tour with San Francisco Ghosts to learn even more about SF’s spooky history! 

Is The Palace Hotel Haunted? 

To answer this question, we must first look at the site of this ghost – the famous Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Ghosts aside, we could have written pages and pages about just the history of the hotel itself.

The place has been around for centuries, has housed many famous people over the years, and has survived everything history has thrown at it.

Throughout all these storied years, many staff, visitors, and ghost hunters have come back with many tales, one of which seems to keep recurring throughout the years. 

So, is the Palace Hotel haunted? Like any ghost haunting, it’s difficult to say, but we invite you to read about this curious tale and make your own judgment. 

One thing is for sure, though – these tales have some strange similarities and, if true, make the Palace Hotel one of the more haunted, bizarre, and fascinating locations to visit in California. 

History Of The Palace Hotel

Just why is the Palace Hotel so famous? A strong argument could be made that the hotel’s esteemed guest list has elevated the hotel to become a historical landmark. From presidents to celebrity entertainers to kings and queens, the guestbook of the Palace Hotel reads like a “who’s who” of the 19th and 20th centuries. 

As some like to brag, “everybody who is anybody has stayed at the Palace Hotel.” That reputation is hardly a new development – it was explicitly designed to be the height of luxury when constructed in 1875. 

William Chapman Ralston masterminded said construction. Ralston was the captain of a steamboat that ferried all of the eponymous 49ers to California to hunt for gold. Despite the many people who would go broke looking for that elusive metal, Ralston made his fortune on these trips and eventually settled in San Francisco.

However, he was a man of action and wasn’t content to settle for long. He was the one who established the Bank of California, quickly becoming one of California’s wealthiest citizens in the process. He wasn’t just content to build banks either – after making his fortune, he quickly got to work building up his Versailles-inspired dream summer mansion – Ralston Hall – as well as what would become the Palace Hotel. 

Unfortunately, he’d never live to see the construction of his hotel. Ralston had over-leveraged the assets of the Bank of California, and the board of directors forced him to relinquish control over his business. Ralston would later be found dead in the San Francisco Bay. Opinions are divided on whether or not he died of natural causes on his usual morning swim or if he took his own life. 

The Ghost of the Hotel 

Ralston died just two months before the Palace was to open. After his death, hotel ownership changed hands several times before being bought by Mariott, who operates it today. 

Although Ralston isn’t the hotel’s ghost, perhaps his tragic tale was an omen of things to come for the Palace. No, believe it or not, Ralston’s death wasn’t the most famous one at the hotel. Instead, it was President Warren G. Harding. 

Harding is widely considered one of America’s worst presidents in history, once lamenting that he was unfit to assume the office. His administration was known for its corruption and incidents – most notably the Teapot Dome scandal. Teapot Dome was an incident where Harding’s administration had leased oil reserves to private companies for incredibly low rates and without competitive bidding. Although it may seem paltry compared to today’s political scandals, the upheaval from Teapot Dome rocked the nation. 

Perhaps the stress of this helped lead to Harding’s death, as he took ill during a trip from Alaska back to the mainland. The illness worsened, and he was forced to recuperate in the Palace Hotel’s presidential suite. Unfortunately, the hotel’s luxurious accommodations weren’t enough, and Harding died in 1923.

However, perhaps he found some manner of respite at the Palace after all because, over the years, many staff members and visitors of the hotel have reported seeing his ghost walk around at all hours of the day.  Perhaps he seeks to atone for what he didn’t do as President, or maybe he finally found peace in the Palace’s luxury. 

Spousal Murder?

There was some manner of suspicion regarding President Harding’s death. Officially, Harding’s cause of death was ruled cerebral apoplexy. However, some believe that it was possibly a suicide brought on by Harding’s desire to escape his many scandals. One could understand the justification – the Teapot Dome scandal is still Harding’s enduring legacy, and living with that in an era before Watergate must have been taxing. 

And there are still others who believe something even more nefarious may have been at play. According to historical records and by Harding’s own admission, Harding was quite the philanderer. His wife and First Lady, Florence Harding, seemed to know about the affairs – including an illegitimate child – and some think that she may have played a role in her husband’s death, wanting revenge for his many affairs. 

A 1930 book written by former Harding official Gaston Means posited that Florence poisoned her husband. Among the evidence he provides are several tall tales whose veracity is debatable. Further chipping away at the book’s credibility is the fact that Means’ ghostwriter disavowed it, although perhaps that may have resulted from a royalties dispute between them. In any case, the book is hardly ironclad proof that Florence was behind her husband’s death, but rumors persist to this very day. 

Haunted San Francisco 

We hope you enjoyed reading about the haunted history of the Palace Hotel. President Warren G. Harding is far from the only one of San Francisco’s ghosts that inhabit California. Be sure to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, and keep reading our blog for more real San Francisco hauntings. Book a ghost tour with San Francisco Ghosts to learn more about San Francisco’s haunted history.

Sources:

https://thepalacehotel.org

https://www.historichotels.org/us/hotels-resorts/palace-hotel/history.php

https://www.onlyinyourstate.com/stays/california/oldest-hotel-san-francisco-haunted

https://patch.com/california/san-francisco/want-meet-presidential-ghost-book-hotel-room

http://www.weirdca.com/location.php?location=105#google_vignette

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/strange-death-warren-harding