Iconic Rock Star Hotel Closing After Nearly 40 Years

The Phoenix Hotel, an iconic rock spot in San Francisco that has welcomed everyone from Neil Young to David Bowie to Kurt Cobain, will be closing for good in January 2026.

The site of the two-story motor lodge, located in the city’s Tenderloin District, was purchased by the San Francisco Baking Institute last year. At the time, the culinary company, fronted by world-famous pastry chef Michel Suas, said they planned to continue working with the Phoenix. However, news soon emerged that the hotel’s lease would not be renewed. It is set to shutter on Jan 1, 2026.

Originally known as the Caravan Motor Lodge, a run-down, pay by the hour motel located in one of San Francisco’s seedier areas, the property was purchased in 1987 and revamped to attract bands coming through town to play at the nearby music venues. The plan worked, and for many years the Phoenix was regarded as San Francisco’s rock hotbed. Bowie, Young, Johnny Rotten, Radiohead, Pearl Jam, Beastie Boys, Sinead O’Connor and Red Hot Chili Peppers are just some of the many acclaimed artists who stayed there. The latter group’s frontman, Anthony Kiedis, even once referred to the Phoenix as “the most sexually, intellectually, and culturally stimulating hotel in San Francisco.”

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The stories from its history seem endless. Blondie’s Debbie Harry and JFK Jr. were once accidentally booked in the same room. Linda Ronstadt rented out the whole hotel for two weeks while dating filmmaker George Lucas. In 1993, actor Keanu Reeves reportedly irked a nearby table of IRS employees when he splashed them while jumping into the hotel’s pool.

The Phoenix’s Kurt Cobain Connection

Then, there’s the eternal link to Cobain. After the Nirvana frontman’s suicide in 1994, a note was found in his wallet. It was written on Phoenix Hotel stationary and appeared to be acerbic wedding vows about the rocker’s wife, Courtney Love.

“Do you Kurt Cobain take Courtney Michelle Love to be your lawful shredded wife,” the note read in part, “even when she’s a bitch with zits and siphoning all [your] money for doping and whoring.”

The note further fueled conspiracy theories surrounding Cobain’s death, however Love later declared that she was the note’s author. Regardless, its existence only further etched the Phoenix into rock history.

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