Queen Anne Hotel

Built in 1890 as Miss Mary Lake's finishing school for girls, this Victorian mansion in Pacific Heights eventually became a boutique hotel. The period antiques and ornate woodwork make it one of San Francisco's most charming places to stay.

The Queen Anne Hotel's elegant Victorian facade conceals one of San Francisco's most beloved ghost stories. Built in 1890 by Senator James Graham Fair--the "Slippery Jim" of Comstock Lode silver fortune fame--the grand mansion was constructed to house Miss Mary Lake's School for Girls, an elite finishing school for wealthy young women of Gold Rush-era San Francisco. Mary Lake, born in 1849 to prominent lawyer Judge Delos Lake, ran the institution with deep devotion, teaching up to 100 students at a time subjects ranging from literature and etiquette to piano, painting, and household management.

The school's downfall came through scandal and tragedy. Local newspapers, particularly the San Francisco Chronicle, published articles including one titled "Cupid and Mr. Fair" suggesting Mary and the Senator were secret lovers--possibly even secretly married. Though Mary paid $400 monthly rent (hardly an arrangement for a secret wife) and Fair claimed he funded the school out of friendship with her father, the rumors persisted. When Fair died on December 28, 1894, he left the building to his daughters, who promptly evicted the school. The Panic of 1896 dealt the final blow. "The truth is I undertook too much," Mary told the San Francisco Call on the school's last day in June 1896. "For the past two years I have supported the school I loved out of my own private resources. They are now exhausted." Heartbroken, Mary relocated to Montclair, New Jersey in 1902 to live with her half-sister, dying on her 55th birthday in 1904--nearly 3,000 miles from the school she loved.

The building survived the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and cycled through various incarnations: the mysterious Cosmos Gentleman's Club (about which little is known), twelve years as the Episcopal Diocese's Girls Friendly Society Lodge, and decades of decay. In 1980, a preservation effort began, with 50 specialists working to restore the mansion. It reopened as the Queen Anne Hotel in 1995 with 48 rooms decorated in Victorian splendor.

That's when the hauntings began in earnest. Room 410--Mary Lake's former office, now called the Mary Lake Suite--became the epicenter of activity. Guests staying in this room report eerily consistent experiences: waking to find blankets gently pulled over them as if someone ensured their comfort, discovering suitcases mysteriously unpacked with clothing neatly arranged in drawers, and sensing a warm, protective presence hovering near their bedside. One particularly striking account involves a guest who had been feeling ill--they awoke to find a cool cloth resting on their forehead, something neither they nor their companion had placed there. Another guest reported waking on the floor with blankets neatly tucked around them, as if carefully moved and swaddled.

A TripAdvisor reviewer captured the experience: "I half awoke one night to experience a feeling like someone was tucking me in and gently pushing on my collarbone. I thought it was a strangely comforting feeling." The hotel's staff confirms these aren't isolated incidents. According to management, "It's very rare that someone experiences our friendly ghost outside of Room 410. Only truly gifted people seem to experience her at all."

But Mary doesn't confine herself to her former office. Staff and guests report seeing a figure in period clothing wandering the hallways, often glimpsed in mirrors only to vanish when they turn around. She's been seen viewing herself in reflective surfaces and playing piano in the lobby late at night. The temperature drops noticeably around the grand staircase and front desk area. Late-shift employees speak of footsteps echoing down empty corridors and doors softly closing when no one is there. Some report feeling their hair or clothes tugged by unseen hands.

The Queen Anne Hotel has attracted numerous investigators over the years. Several ghost-hunting groups have captured EVPs around Room 410--YouTube is filled with amateur investigators recording in the famous suite, including one video featuring what researchers describe as "supremely creepy auditory little girl singing sounds." The hotel's history was explored in an episode of the Travel Channel's "Haunted Hotels." Over two dozen Yelp reviews mention hauntings.

What makes Mary Lake's ghost remarkable is her kindness. Unlike the hostile spirits that haunt many locations, Mary seems to have continued her life's work--caring for those under her roof. She's been credited with tucking in guests, supplying champagne to their rooms, turning down beds, and even singing softly at night. Hotel management has declined suggestions of exorcism, and guests frequently request Room 410 specifically hoping to encounter "one of the friendliest and most conscientious ghosts around."