Classic Movie Buffs Can Stay At The Historic Hotel Featured In Hitchcock's Iconic 'Vertigo'

A San Francisco hotel with a hundred years of history behind it still draws movie lovers, thanks to its appearance in Alfred Hitchcock's classic psychological thriller, "Vertigo." The Hotel Julian, as it's currently known, served as a filming location and set model for the scenes late in the movie where Jimmy Stewart's protagonist catches up with Kim Novak's femme fatale in a neon-lit residential hotel. If the "Julian" part doesn't trigger any recognition — even among film buffs — it might be because the hotel has undergone several name changes over the years, most recently rebranding after a full renovation in 2024.

It first opened as the Hotel Glen Royal in 1925, according to The Hitchcockian Quarterly. When Hitchcock brought the "Vertigo" production there in 1957, it was known as the Empire Hotel. That name adorned its sidewalk entrance canopy, as you can see in the movie before the camera tilts up. Yet the large blade sign above the canopy had the two words flipped, somewhat confusingly labeling it the Hotel Empire. At the time, San Francisco had another Hotel Empire, so calling this one the Empire Hotel helped distinguish it from the competition, despite the conflicting signage outside.

Later, the Empire Hotel became the York Hotel, and then, the Hotel Vertigo, in a direct homage to Hitchcock's movie. It adopted the latter name just a few years before "Vertigo" ranked as the greatest movie of all time in a 2012 poll by the British Film Institute's magazine, Sight & Sound. Even with those bragging rights, the name didn't last long. Now, the property on Sutter Street, right between San Francisco's Union Square and Nob Hill neighborhoods, has reinvented itself again as the Hotel Julian. That's not to say it's entirely devoid of nods to "Vertigo," however.

The Hotel Julian offers a more subtle evocation of "Vertigo" than its immediate predecessor did. When you check in, don't expect to see Hitchcock's movie playing behind the front desk, as it once did at the Hotel Vertigo. What you'll see there now instead is a big blue mosaic of Carlotta Valdes, the doomed young woman whose portrait Madeleine (Kim Novak) visits at the Legion of Honor in "Vertigo." Carlotta's face covers the entire wall, with her eyes peering over the desk at guests in the hotel's reception area.

The original Carlotta portrait, painted by John Ferren, is a lost movie prop, so this mosaic may be the next best piece of art depicting her in San Francisco. For the character's tragic backstory, Hitchcock was possibly inspired by a real-life 1957 incident where a woman named Helen Zurfluh leapt from the hotel roof, just months before filming began. Today, the Hotel Julian also has a bar called Carlotta's, where you can sip cocktails with "Vertigo"-inspired names and dine on flatbreads or sweets like Ernie's Famous Sundae. The real Ernie's, the restaurant with red wallpaper where Jimmy Stewart's character, Scottie, first sees Madeleine, has long since closed.

Looking straight down on the Hotel Julian's staircase from several floors up also conjures a sense of "Vertigo." For the interior shots of the hotel hallway and Madeleine's room, Hitchcock built a studio set modeled on the fourth floor and Room 401. You can request that room at the hotel, though it has a different décor now, and the set reversed its layout, putting the door on the left. Alas, the building's most recognizable onscreen feature — that blade sign reading "Hotel Empire" — is no longer there to throw green neon light on anyone through the window.

Like "North by Northwest" (which took moviegoers from Manhattan to Mount Rushmore), "Vertigo" almost doubles as a Hitchcock-led travelogue as it roams San Francisco's streets. The Hotel Julian serves as a good home base for travelers, but it isn't the only place in town with a "Vertigo" connection. You can still stroll by the Palace of Fine Arts, admire other art in the Legion of Honor, or stage a photo op outside the chateau-style Brocklebank Apartments.

The entrance to Muir Woods National Monument has a cross-section of a redwood trunk, where you'll see dates in human history recorded within tree rings, just like in the movie. Muir Woods is only a 16-mile drive from San Francisco, or you can catch a weekend shuttle from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal. That said, the towering trees seen in "Vertigo" are actually located in Big Basin Redwoods State Park, which Hitchcock filmed as a stand-in. For travelers, this hidden gem California state park may be even more majestic than Muir Woods.

The Presidio of San Francisco is another Northern California park that's a must-visit for history buffs and Hitchcock fans. Here, you'll find a tucked-away beach with incredible Golden Gate Bridge views. You'll also find Fort Point National Historic Site, the spot beneath the bridge where Scottie saves Madeleine from drowning. Stand back from the brick fort at the right angle, and the view of the bridge looks the same as it did in some of Hitchcock's wide shots. When you get up close, there's now a fence alongside the fort that blocks off the spot where Madeleine jumped in the water. If you work up a sweat chasing "Vertigo" locations, it's probably a better idea to just shower off in her room at the Hotel Julian.