Summary: The 1920s were in full roar when the Sir Francis Drake Hotel opened in the fall of 1928. It was one of the city’s first skyscraper hotels — “26 Stories of Luxury,” The Chronicle called it at the time, overestimating its height by five stories. It came with a grand marble lobby, radios in all 600 guest rooms — and a Prohibition-era hideaway where the select few could enjoy a drink of illegal bootleg Scotch.
