I have walked by 345 California hundreds of times and never knew that there was a hotel inside – 155 rooms on floors 38 – 48.

345 Cal (aka Tweezer Towers) all 48 stories of it, was designed by SOM, built by Hathaway Dinwiddie, and completed in 1986. It stands today as the city’s 5th tallest structure after Salesforce Tower, Transamerica Pyramid, 181 Fremont, and 555 California.

The Mandarin Oriental Hotel initially occupied the top 11 floors beginning in 1986. In early 2015, the hotel was sold to Loews. In May 2019, Loews sold the hotel to investment company Westbrook Partners, which also owns the Four Seasons Hotel & Condominiums at 757 Market as well as the (new) Four Seasons Residences at 706 Mission.

This new “Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at Embarcadero” closed for renovations at the end of 2019, was set to reopen in May 2020 but COVID-19 forced the re-opening to be delayed until October 2020. It closed two months later in December, and is scheduled to reopened July 2021.

According to its website, the Hotel is taking WFH (Work from Hotel) to new heights – “We offer the space and services you need to be connected, with convenient amenities ranging from comfortable desks for remote working to 24-hour guest services and special school-week lunches.” Ok, but as yet there is no bar or restaurant: both due later this year.

BTW, those of us who are ignorant of a hotel being inside one of the city’s tallest office buildings may have a strong defense for our ignorance; the hotel entrance (and reception area) is actually around the corner at 222 Sansome where one checks in and can take an elevator to one’s room.

Note: LISA started testing its game engine last week, featuring the 39-story Jasper apartment building at 45 Lansing St. in San Francisco. The Jasper building was designed by HKS Architects, built by BuildGroup, and developed by Crescent Heights, who sold it to Northwestern Mutual in 2020. The building is managed by Greystar. A recap of the game: Jasper Building Introduction Video