Clift Hotel Will Debut Bee Sanctuary, Cocktail Herb Garden This Spring

Clift Hotel, located in San Francisco, has announced that it will be celebrating the arrival of spring with the debut of a new rooftop Bee Sanctuary and Cocktail Herb Garden, along with the launch of a spring-themed Decompression Hour menu.

Honey
Photo by Freeimages.com/Maria Clara Moraes

In 2015, Clift Hotel brought 100,000 bees, including 10 queens, to its new rooftop “suites.” Local bee keeper Roger Garrison was responsible for positioning the box hives to mimic the city grid below, in representation of a miniature San Francisco complete with tiny sky scrapers and the gold dome of City Hall. Today, the honey bee population has reached 800,000 and annual production of up to 70 pounds per hive of honey is expected by Summer 2016. 

The harvested honey will be used by Clift's Executive Chef, Thomas Weibull, to create a menu of items set to be served in the hotel’s Redwood Room, as well as room service dishes, breakfast selections and banquets. Also, some honey will be packaged as gifts, while a portion will be donated to local medical centers in need of local honey.

In addition to the launch of the rooftop Bee Sanctuary, the property has also curated a garden of all-organic herbs and citrus trees with cocktails and mixology in mind, situated in the hotel courtyard on the second floor. No fertilizers or pesticides are permitted when growing the plants, which are cared for regularly by Clift’s director of food & beverage, Nijad Fares, along with chef Thomas. The hotel’s mixologist Tony Kim and his team at Redwood Room have already begun to infuse local spirits such as No. 209 Gin with home grown herbs, flowers, lemons and limes. The organic herbs will also be incorporated into select menu items. 

In late March 2016, Clift Hotel’s Redwood Room will debut a new Spring Menu for Decompression Hour, offering some of the newly created signature cocktails featuring the property’s herbs and honey, along with light fare. Select beers and wines will also be available.  

Reservations for the Decompression Hour are not required, and the Decompression Hour is available Monday through Thursday from 5 to 7 p.m. 

Also in March, Clift Hotel is launching a new Chemistry Happy Hour, an event designed specifically for singles. On every Tuesday there will be an activity to keep attendees engaged, allowing them to mingle, stress free, at the hotel bar. The new event will begin on March 8 from 5 to 7 p.m.