During the 1890s , James Graham Fair bought the land where the Fairmont San Francisco now stands , the first hotel to bear the Fairmont namesake . The nearly completed structure survived the earthquake of 1906 . Although heavily damaged by the subsequent fires , the hotel was renovated under the eye of architect Julia Morgan and finally opened in 1907 . In 1926 , the Penthouse Suite was created with three secret passageways to access it . In 1945 , the Fairmont San Francisco was acquired by Benjamin Swig . Beginning in the 1960s , the Swig family developed Fairmont into a small chain of luxury hotels throughout the United States . Operating as Fairmont Hotels Management , the hotel chain acquired , and built a number of hotel properties . The chain acquired the Roosevelt Hotel in New Orleans in 1965 , initially renaming it the Fairmont Roosevelt , and then Fairmont New Orleans . The Fairmont San Jose was opened by the hotel chain in 1987 . The company assumed management of the Plaza Hotel in New York in 1995 and purchased the Copley Plaza Hotel in 1996 , renaming it The Fairmont Copley Plaza Hotel . By 1998 , the company managed seven properties in the United States
earthquake of 1906
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts