During the 1920s, at the height of Prohibition, the owners of the York Hotel very quietly (and illegally) opened the now-renowned Empire Plush Room. Theatergoers found their way through a maze of subterranean passageways -- some of which still exist -- to reach the secret cabaret. San Francisco socialites gathered nightly to enjoy illegal spirits and watch the era's top entertainers perform. "Lester" played the piano for all of them. Many talk of wanting to leave this world doing the thing they love best. Lester got his wish. The talented and much-loved musician dropped dead one night while playing the piano. Well, yes, it was a showstopper. About 80 years later, many believe that the show goes on for Lester. Tracy Walker, the bar manager, feels his presence. Brian Morris, who runs the sound and lights for the cabaret, has seen a shadowy figure and heard the tinkle of an old tune when no one was there to play. No one human, anyway.
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Who knows how many specters haunt the historic Hotel Union Square. Concierge Tom Steele says guests like their accommodations so much that some never check out. Most recently, a young Scot traveling with his grandmother confided to Steele that a female ghost appeared to him in Room 207. "She's friendly -- too friendly. I was up most of the night closing the bathroom door, then reclosing it. She wanted to come out and wake up my grandmother."
Hotelier Yvonne Lembi-Detert tries to avoid 207. "I turn my back there and things appear out of nowhere," she says. "Nothing scary -- the last object was a Kleenex -- but it still spooked me." On the other hand, guests often request 207. Some at the hotel connect the mischievous ghost to Lillian Hellman. A boozer, a lover, a fighter, the volatile playwright was not one to go quietly into the night. (She's said to have propositioned a young dinner companion the night before she died at age 79.) It is said that much of Hellman's glamorous and celebrated affair with mystery writer Dashiell Hammett played out at the hotel when they visited. Hellman is thought to have inspired Nora Charles in his book "The Thin Man." Before Prohibition, guests entered the hotel's bar by means of a slide on Powell Street. Lively days -- so lively that present-day guests report bodies sleeping it off in the hotel hallways. Of course, on closer investigation ... no one's there. Maybe the best explanation for the continued popularity of ghosts is their implied optimism. A spirit has literally been there and back. And who can ignore that kind of challenge?
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