Every holiday season, thousands of visitors flock to San Francisco’s Fairmont Hotel to see the famous 2-story gingerbread house. The 22-foot gingerbread house is on display now, along with the stunning hotel’s typical Christmas decorations featuring a grand tree decked out with lights and ornaments.
Now’s the time to mark your calendar — and start thinking about what festive activities you’d like to catch at nearby Union Square.
The Fairmont’s gingerbread house is the stuff of legend. The 22-foot-tall structure has two levels and is decked out for the holiday season, covered in a rainbow of candy, including classic gumdrops, strands of Nerds Rope, and more sweet adornments, including iconic See’s Candies. And yes, the walls are actually real gingerbread glued together with icing.
Making this massive holiday decoration isn’t easy; the hotel typically starts planning way back in July. Each year, the life-size Victorian structure takes 520 hours to build, light, and outfit with thousands of pieces of candy. Over 8,000 baked gingerbread bricks are glued together with mountains of icing. 50 gallons of egg whites and 1,000 pounds of powdered sugar are needed just to make the icing alone, and we haven’t even gotten to the 2,000 pounds of candy used to decorate it.
If you want to fully immerse yourself in the colorful candy world, the hotel offers a swanky option to dine inside the gingerbread house. The private dining room is available to rent for holiday tea, private dinners, and Christmas dinners. Currently you can book a Christmas Eve Dinner and Christmas Day dinner in the dreamy gingerbread house.
For those of us who can’t commit to a luxe gingerbread experience, the house is on display for public viewing within the Fairmont Hotel’s lobby. The hotel will be decked out with its classic large-scale Christmas tree and miniature holiday train, perfect for getting you in the holiday spirit.
The Fairmont Hotel will also continue its popular holiday events, including a champagne bar, Santa Suites, and a Holiday Tea. Santa Suites are decorated with festive flare for the holidays, and the tea offers classic pastries inside Laurel Court. The Fairmont’s gingerbread house is free to the public and a great family-friendly display. The Fairmont is also hosting a special New Year’s Eve celebration this year in their iconic Tiki Bar the Tonga Room.
The Fairmont is one of SF’s most iconic and historic hotels. Perched atop Nob Hill, the hotel boasts beautiful views and is home to the beloved bar Tonga Room. The tiki bar is in the basement of the hotel, utilizing a pool to float a boat often filled with live performers while guests dine and drink in the creative space.
📅 Dates: Opening Nov. 23, 2024
📍 Location: Fairmont Hotel, 950 Mason St, San Francisco, CA 94108
🌐 Learn more: Fairmont Hotel website
Written by Jamie Ferrell and Dana Flynn