Perched atop Nob Hill, the Top of the Mark has relaunched its 100 Martini Experience, a cocktail-by-cocktail journey through the InterContinental Mark Hopkins San Francisco's 100-year history that comes with a newly designed passport and no deadline to finish it. The hotel opened on December 4, 1926, and the revived program marks that centennial with one martini representing each year since, according to the seed facts behind this story. Individual cocktails run between $22 and $26, and the menu officially relaunched on May 25.
A Century of Cocktails, Mapped Onto the Menu
The centennial list was curated by Top of the Mark General Manager Clayton Cagle, a former bartender at the lounge who helped build the 100-item menu, according to the Mountain Democrat. Each drink nods to a slice of San Francisco culture, from Martini No. 46, the “Geary Boulevardier,” to Martini No. 80, the “Santana Smooth Sidecar,” as reported by SFGate. Other entries lean into local flavor and wordplay, including the Golden Martini, made with Ketel One Orange or Tanqueray Orange, Aperol, Amaro Montenegro and bitters, plus Martini No. 31, the “Spiced Trade,” built from Zuzu marmalade, passionfruit puree and prosecco, and Martini No. 59, “Caught Red Handed,” made with SF Don Fulano Blanco, St. Germain, falernum, pomegranate and lemon juice. The Top of the Mark team also pairs the cocktails with hors d'oeuvres for guests working their way through the list.
Guests start the challenge the moment they order Martini No. 1, collecting a stamp in their Top of the Mark 100-Martini Passport for every cocktail, in any order they like. The program has no time limit, and those who fill all 100 stamps qualify for prizes, with the exact form of the reward determined by IHG and hotel management. Returning patrons who still hold onto original Martini Passports from previous years can pick up their stamp tally where they left off rather than starting over, according to Beverage Information Group.
From Penthouse Suite to Glass-Walled Sky Lounge
The rooftop bar itself wasn't part of the hotel's original 1926 design. The 19th floor operated as an 11-room luxury penthouse suite, once leased for $1,250 a month to copper mining magnate Daniel C. Jackling, before hotel owner George D. Smith spent $110,000 converting it into the glass-walled Top of the Mark in May 1939, per Wikipedia. That transformation turned what had been a private residence into what the hotel now calls an iconic rooftop cocktail destination above Nob Hill, with sweeping San Francisco skyline and bay views that have drawn dignitaries, celebrities and locals marking milestone moments ever since.
The hotel's own footprint traces back further still. The InterContinental Mark Hopkins sits on the former grounds of a 40-room Victorian mansion built for railroad magnate Mark Hopkins, who died in 1878 before he ever moved into the finished estate. That mansion later housed the Mark Hopkins Institute of Art before it was destroyed in the fires that followed the 1906 earthquake, according to SFGate. The hotel that eventually replaced it, designed by the firm Weeks & Day, which also designed San Francisco's Chronicle Building and Oakland's Fox Theater, opened two decades later and was designated San Francisco Designated Landmark No. 184 in 1987.
Wartime Traditions That Still Echo at the Bar
During World War II, the bar's northwest-facing window earned the nickname “Weepers' Corner,” where wives and sweethearts gathered to watch naval ships carrying servicemen pass Alcatraz and slip under the Golden Gate Bridge toward the Pacific Theater, a detail documented by CBS News. The same era gave rise to the Top of the Mark's “Squadron Shot” tradition, in which departing officers would buy a bottle of spirits and leave it behind the bar so their unit could drink for free until it ran dry, with the last person to empty it obligated to buy the next bottle. The custom was revived by a Naval lieutenant in 2009 and continues today, according to PubClub.
The hotel's history stretches beyond its rooftop bar as well. Its Room of the Dons ballroom houses nine seven-foot-tall murals painted by California artists Maynard Dixon and Frank Van Sloun for the hotel's December 1926 opening, depicting early California history against gold leaf, per Historic Hotels of America. In 1945, those same ballrooms hosted preliminary meetings among international diplomats before the signing of the United Nations Charter in San Francisco, a milestone Hoodline detailed in its earlier coverage of the hotel's expansion plans.
Centennial Programming Beyond the Bar
Jennifer Dunn said the return of the 100 Martini Experience celebrates memory, nostalgia and the enduring spirit of Top of the Mark, part of a broader centennial push that includes curated guest experiences, historical tributes, special events, culinary programming and storytelling initiatives. As part of that programming, the hotel also introduced a Centennial Celebration Package that bundles overnight accommodations, Champagne on arrival and a $100 food and beverage credit redeemable at Top of the Mark or the Nob Hill Club, according to InterContinental Hotels & Resorts.
