Famous filming location gets a facelift -- the San Francisco Fairmont Hotel's penthouse suite

                       Alfred Hitchcock's "Vertigo" movie poster

After at $20M restoration, the San Francisco Fairmont Hotel’s penthouse suite was deemed “ready for her close up” and played a leading role in the September 26 wedding celebration of Jean-Charles Boisset and Gina Gallo – a marriage that joined two of the world’s most powerful wine families.  The bride, granddaughter of Julio Gallo, is head winemaker at Gallo Family Vineyards, the upscale arm of E&J Gallo, America’s largest winery.  The groom is president of Boisset Family Estates, the third largest wine company in France.  (Be sure to page through the slideshow below to get a sense of the stunning setting for this extraordinary event.)

While those nuptials might make you hark back to the 80s television series Falcon Crest, this world-famous hotel atop San Francisco’s Nob Hill should also conjure memories of the 1983 television series Hotel, which starred James Brolin and Connie Sellecca.  The Fairmont’s opulent lobby served as the series fictitious “St. Gregory Hotel,” which provided a backdrop for a string of romantic scenarios featuring famous guest stars.  Bette Davis appeared in the show’s pilot episode as hotel owner Laura Trent and was to have been a series regular, but she was forced to withdraw because of ill health.

It was the classic Alfred Hitchcock thriller Vertigo, however, which established the hotel's appeal as a film location in 1958.  The “Brocklebank Apartments” building, the location of Madeleine's (Kim Novak) swanky home in the film, sits at 1000 Mason Street across the street from the Fairmont.  The building looks almost exactly the same today as it did when the movie was shot in 1957, although the price to live there has increased substantially.  Hitchcock usually stayed at the Fairmont when he visited San Francisco, and many of the Vertigo cast and crew stayed there during filming. 

The renovated penthouse suite includes three bedrooms with baths, a formal dining room capable of seating 60, a living room, a library and a terrace that offers an absolutely stunning view of the city and the San Francisco Bay.  The current rack rate is $15,000 per night, but that includes a fully stocked gourmet kitchen, a personal staff (butler, housekeeper, chef, masseuse and personal trainer) plus the use of a Ferrari California.  Tom Klein, regional vice president general manager of the hotel, offers, "It's a giveaway at $15,000 a night."

You don't have to be rich to have some fun at the Fairmont website, though:  when making a reservation, clicking on the “Title” field drop-down list produces choices such as First Lady, Her Excellence, Princess, Queen, Sultanah, etc.  “Kind of a Big Deal” seems to be missing, however, so it’s anyone’s guess what the newlyweds used.