The Secret Room.

Some of you may know that my husband is a concierge at the Sir Francis Drake hotel in downtown San Francisco. Well, the other night I received a private tour of the mysterious prohibition room in the dark corridors of the hotel.

Please join me on my little journey...

The "Drake" opened in 1928. A stunning Art Deco hotel lavished with ornate carving and chandeliers. The Drake housed vaudeville and screen stars. It was, and still is, a breathtakingly beautiful hotel.

Throughout its history, The Drake has been known as the "party" hotel, with the fabulous Starlight Room overlooking the City and the early prohibition days.

My private tour started with a ride up this elevator--the only elevator that takes you to the prohibition room. Before entering, my escort, Wei asked me if I wanted a cocktail. I saved it for later.

Wei, who loves giving the tour, escorted me into the speakeasy. It has its own floor located between the first and second floors of the hotel, and is accessible only with a special turn-of-the-key on the elevator.

Upon entering, Wei turns on a phonograph and plays a 1920s record. I was just in awe.

The prohibition room is staged with mannequins and antique memorabilia to bring you back in time. I definitely felt like I was back in the 20s.

The owners of the hotel wanted to make extra income by selling and distributing alcohol to its guests, thus, this room was part of the original building plan. It was a very discreet operation that only a few people actually knew about. A lot of the Drake employees didn't even know that alcohol was being distributed.

Talk about clever. The bottles were covered in brown paper bags, hidden in luggage, and delivered in trucks via the hotel garage. The bellman worked with the prohibition room operator for a seamless operation. If there was a raid, they pushed an emergency button and 'locked up.' There were several attempts to raid the hotel, but it never happened.

All of the rooms had dumb-waiters, so you could discreetly slide open the door and serve the guests. Celebrities knew that when they stayed at the Drake, within about 10 minutes of their arrival, there would be a bottle of alcohol in their room.

What an amazing little tour! Thanks Wei!

If you happen to visit The Drake in the near future, pay a visit to my husband Leif (& little Vito) at the concierge desk, tell him who you are, and have a drink on him!

Cheers!

A Trip Back in Time

Tonight on 60 minutes they did a segment on the mysterious film, "A Trip Down Market Street." The 11-minute reel of film, shot from a cable car on Market Street in San Francisco, captures a city full of life and promise, which was destroyed only days later in the great earthquake of 1906.


I have watched this film numerous times in amazement. For the first time it's been captured in high definition exclusively for 60 Minutes. It's fascinating to watch the people coming and going, waving to the camera, no traffic rules. A city that in two days would be ablaze from a most devastating earthquake. The faces in this gem of a film had no idea of the fate awaiting them in a couple of days...

Thanks to California archivist, David Kiehn, who took it upon himself to figure out the film's origins. Amazing. If you have 11 minutes of time, be sure and watch this video above from 60 minutes. It's fascinating!