New and Venerable Institutions: Phoenix Hotel

Courtesy photo.
The Phoenix Hotel is San Francisco's rock-and-roll guesthouse, a reputation it earned for its popularity among music world visitors. Built in 1955 as the Caravan Lodge, the hotel in the Tenderloin was a stomping ground for Hollywood celebrities in the 1950s and 60s. Renovated in 1987 by its new owner, Joie de Vivre Hospitality, the Phoenix has more than 250 original works of art in its rooms and courtyard. The best known of these is Francis Forlenza's pool-bottom mural, "My Fifteen Minutes/Tumbling Waves." 

Detail I
Detail II
Detail III: Backflip


Copyright 2002 Hank Donat
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