My Husband and I spent our honeymoon night at the US Grant hotel 17 years ago on October 2^nd, 1993. I recall that I was so excited from the joy of our wedding, I asked him to walk with me from end to end of the lobby while we were still in our wedding clothes – wanting to bask in the feeling of being married; to show off my beautiful gown and most of all, to parade with my handsome new husband in front of all the lounging guests. Of course, he was busy checking us in, so my tuxedo’d brother-in-law got “the honor” of being my stand-in husband/escort for my little pramanade of glory!

We returned to the Grant after it’s renovation on our 15^th anniversary for dinner, bringing our boys as guests. The staff was so accommodating, making it one of the most special dining experiences our kids ever enjoyed.

This year, I have booked a room as a surprise for my husband. We will relive that magical night we enjoyed so long ago…your hotel remains one of my favorite spots on earth and will always be such a special place for our family!

Denise F. Bohdan

I like a place with some history to it, but when my husband-to-be and I picked the US Grant as the place to spend our wedding night in the spring of 1993, I had no idea I would be returning to somewhere my great-grandfather had been almost 50 years before.

Nobody really knows why he up and moved across the country from Youngstown, Ohio to San Diego in the middle of World War II. He had no family out West, and was already 75 years old, a grandfather and widower when he made the move.

My Dad did some genealogy research on the family, and uncovered a letter my great-grandfather wrote addressed, “Dear Family” on US Grant Hotel stationery, dated Oct. 4-44, but it does little to shed light on the mystery. Mostly he talks about previous family history and what happened to different relatives. Dad is led to believe that he had some sort of job at the hotel — labor was scarce during the war years — and may have even lived there as well.

But mostly he remains an enigma. He died only two years after arriving, leaving no indication of what prompted him to leave everything familiar for new ground at his age.

But I didn’t know any of this 17 years ago when my husband and I were getting married. We only knew we wanted our stay to be somewhere romantic with a sense of history. What are the odds we would pick the one place with a connection to the only other relative of either of ours ever to live in San Diego? Seems it must have been fate, and maybe good luck, too, since we'll be celebrating Anniversary No. 18 this spring. Hmmm... maybe another visit to the Grant is in our future.

-Louise Julig

My great grandfather William C. Northway had asked Cobler for his autograph and he replied on your staionary (enveope and stationary).  Envelope has US GRANT HOTEL SAN DIEGO CALIFORNA EUROPEAN PLAN ABSOLUTELY FIRE PROOF, JAMES H. HOLMES, Managing Director.  There is a pen and ink photo of the Hotel on it.

Here is our story…My sisters and I found 184 letters written to our mother from our father during World War II. He was in the Navy, and he courted her with his letters. Through these letters, over about a year period, we learned about our Dad and the quite a bit about what life was like for a sailor during WWII. He talked in detail about each port, how long they were there, etc. Near the end of the war, their ship sailed into San Diego and my dad and his buddy stayed at the US Grant Hotel for several days.  Our Dad will be celebrating his 85^th birthday in September.  We are planning a Fall trip by train to San Diego (from Los Angeles) where we plan to rent a car, visit the Maritime Museum and stay, this time all of us, at the US Grant Hotel.  We still have the post card from the hotel he sent to her in 1945…the hotel looks the same.

In case you are curious, our parents married in June of 1946 and were married for 56 years. Our mother had always told us to be sure to read every single letter…she saved every single one…and the US Grant stood out at the end of his time in service.

Judy Hamilton-Cantu 

In August 2007 I embarked on a trip Southern California that was to be filled with new and exciting adventures. Being from the Midwest (specifically Ohio), I was so excited for all that this trip would hold, having never been to San Diego or California! So I packed my bags, headed west and arrived in Los Angeles. The first adventure was to see a theatre performance where one of my childhood friends had garnered a lead role. From there, I would drive with another friend to San Diego to spend the weekend and take in all that the city had to offer.

I've only recently started visiting the US Grant, but since my first trip in October 2009, it has become my favorite hotel in San Diego, and I am writing this from a Signature Suite thanks to your excellent treatment of Starwood's Preferred Guests.

San Diego had become a very important city in my life. And on one of my many
visits I was, as always, staying at the U. S. Grant Hotel. I had just left my
room and was in the elevator on my way to The Grant Grill for dinner. A
gentleman, (I would soon learn the man was Frank Rhodes) noticing the
lapel pin I was wearing he asked what it signified. The pin was small and round, red
enamel and gold, and showed a figure of a man one arm around the
shoulder of a boy with his other arm outstretched, showing the boy the way. I
told him it was the emblem of the Big Brothers of America and that I was a
Big Brother. He said "What's a Big Brother"? I suggested that if he wanted
to learn more to join me in the Grill and I would explain further. Over
drinks I described the Big Brother/Little Brother relationship. I told him
that a Little Brother is a boy usually between the ages of seven or eight to
fifteen, living at home with his mother without his father. This kid
usually does not have many friends and although, sometimes bright, is not
doing well in school. A Big Brother is a guy usually between the ages of
eighteen and sixtyfive, wanting to do more than just writing a check to a
good cause. As a Big Brother he can give of himself, as a friend, to a kid
that really needs him. To do things together that both of them enjoyed
doing. I told him that I was a Big Brother with the Jewish Big Brothers in
Los Angeles where there was also The Catholic Big Brothers and the Big
Brothers of Greater Los Angeles. Both Frank and I began thinking the same
thing. Three Big Brother agencies in L.A. and not even one in San Diego.
That didn't make sense and something must be done about it. After dinner I
called my business partner, Ben Townes, well connected and influential in San
Diego. I asked him if he would introduce me to men who could help me start
a Big Brother agency in San Diego. He did, and this experience resulted in organizing the Big Brothers of San Diego which is today Big Brothers Big Sisters of San Diego County.

Jack A. Levin

In January 1946, on my first of hudreds of subsequent visits to San Diego, as always, I checked in at the U.S. Grant Hotel. The following morning I went to the hotel coffee shop for breakfast and on the counters and tables there was a small paper tent sign that stated the following. "San Diego has less rain than Los Angeles. San Diego has less fog than Los Angeles. San Diego doesn't get as hot as Los Angeles. San Diego doesn't get a cold as Los Angeles". I think there were a couple more items extolling the merits of San Diego over Los Angeles but I don't remember what they were. In the next thirty five years of visiting San Diego and staying at the U. S. Grant Hotel I have learned that all the stated virtues San Diego has over L.A. are true.

Jack A, Levin