On November 25 , 1890 , Mōʻī ( King ) David Kalakaua visited California aboard the U.S.S. '' Charleston '' with business between the Kingdom of Hawaii and the US Government . Kalakaua , whose health had been declining , stayed in a suite at the Palace Hotel . Traveling throughout Mexico and Southern California and reportedly drinking excessively , the monarch suffered a stroke in Santa Barbara and was rushed back to San Francisco . Kalakaua fell into a coma in his suite on January 18 and died two days later on January 20 , 1891 . The official cause of death as listed by US Navy officials was that the king had died from Bright 's disease ( inflammation of the kidneys ) . Financed primarily by Bank of California co-founder William Ralston , it offered many innovative modern conveniences including an intercom system and four oversized hydraulic elevators called lifting rooms . The most notable feature of the hotel was the Grand Court that served as an entry area for horse-drawn carriages . The area was converted to the palm filled " Garden Court " a few years before the 1906 earthquake
1906 earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
Palace Hotel, San Francisco