Benjamin Franklin was San Mateo's biggest hotel

The property formerly belonged to Christian deGigne, member of an international banking family. The 6,575 acre plot extended from Third Avenue to today's Fourth Avenue, and from El Camino Real to 180 feet west from Ellsworth. A 10- foot strip of the Third Avenue frontage was deeded to the city to widen the street with the understanding that it would always provide diagonal parking.

The grand opening was held June 23, 1927, with a dinner for 100 guests in its spacious banquet room. All celebrities who visited San Mateo in those early days stayed there in one of nearly 100 rooms. Originally a three acre garden extended along present day Fourth Avenue up to El Camino Real. Most of the local service organizations have held their meetings in the banquet room.

At some time near 1955, the hotel was acquired by the Max Best family, and around 1960 United Airlines began using the facility for its layover crews. A game room was installed for the benefit of the UAL employees. The hotel and Greenwillow Restaurant continued to serve the general public as well. In 1966, a $2.6 million renovation took place.

The Best Family sold the hotel to Seattle- based Westin Hotels in 1985. Westin was owned by United, which by this time was using 80 percent of the Benjamin Franklin rooms. Westin also owned San Francisco's St. Francis Hotel, but that hotel catered to the general public.

In 1986, the Benjamin Franklin closed for four months for another renovation. They restored the classical nature of the interior using salmon color with turquoise accents. Each guest room had its own thermostat and featured a queen size bed. The restaurant was reopened under the name Benjamin's. The main attraction was the two story lobby with its massive fireplace at one end and the view overlooking the pool and sun deck. That area had also been recently improved. The exercise room on the second floor was not quite ready when the hotel reopened in September. Exterior work was slated for the following year. This coincided with the Downtown Beautification Project by the City of San Mateo that was under way.

In April of 1989 the hotel was again sold to San Francisco based Empire Group. The hotel rooms were still to be occupied primarily by the United Air Line crews. Then in August of 1989, after 61 years, the Rotary Club was told it would have to find another meeting place, as the future of those facilities was uncertain.

The restaurant did reopen, now called Lark Creek. Banquet facilities again served the public. However, with the loss of the UAL arrangement, it seems that the landmark Benjamin Franklin Hotel approaches another crossroads.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears twice a month on Mondays in the San Mateo Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 777 Hamilton St., Redwood City. <