Kimpton never let me down so BAD!!
I am an avid Kimpton connoisseur! As an active "In-Touch" member, I love the brand, the marketing, and all of the perks that make Kimpton properties a great place to stay! This being said, after staying in many properties in other cities across the country I was very excited to stay at the Sir Francis Drake in San Francisco for a long weekend (5 night) get away from the east coast. Luckily, being a government employee, I did receive a discounted rate for my room - however I think that even THAT was over priced for my stay.
My first bad taste was an email to the concierge. I made a request for a dinner reservation and a reservation for a fresh shave. I received a reply with reservations to a different restaurant and a note that the barbershop I requested could not accommodate me at the time I wanted. I responded saying that I wanted reservations at the aforementioned restaurant and can be flexible with the shave - however, no response was given. I took the reservations upon myself to make - which I should have done to begin with!
The first night I arrived very late (1am) due to typical flight delays from the east coast. The staff member checking me in was LESS than helpful. Prior to my arrival I received an email asking if I wanted a "stand-by" upgrade for $9 additional per day - but the reservation was very clear that this would not be added until I approve it at check in. Being tired after a long trip, I did not remember I did this and the staff member failed to mention it. He just gave me 2 keys and told me the floor number - that was it. Not even welcoming me as an in-touch member, or offering me the bonus drink coupons and such that came with my membership.
So we get to the room, which i assumed was the lower priced King which I was paying the lower price for, and it was decent but far below the standards of previous Kimpton rooms. There was a lovely letter welcoming me to the hotel, however it was addressed to a different person and made little sense to me. Also note - there was no minibar in the room - something I was very surprised with! The bathroom being the worst part! Only 3 feet wide, the door barely opened all the way, and you had to shimmy around the fixtures to gain access. I've been on train bathrooms that were more comfortable. The tiny 20" sink counter barely had space for a toothbrush - let alone a toiletries bag. And under the sink there were no shelves - only 2 small glass shelves above the toilet! There was a very odd walk in closet - ironically LARGER than the bathroom - that served as no value to me during my stay. The rest of the room was not all that unique (except for the color choices). My room was a shared room, which meant there was a door we did not need, and therefore the bed only had one night stand - something very unpleasant for a king bed! Also we had stupid neighbors who decided to try and see where the mystery door went to, for at least a half hour at 6 am!!!
During my stay we did not spend an ample amount of time in the room - but while I was there, I did expect our room to be made up and turned down and to have a tidy bathroom with towels. Well most days, we came back to find all the dirty towels taken and NO towels to replace them. The bathroom wet, and the bed haphazardly remade. The room was never 'turned down' - something I always enjoyed from other Kimpton hotels. I had to call the front desk 3 times and personally go down there 1 time to get the towels sent up - and when they arrived, they only gave us 2 large towels, nothing else. I was very displeased.
One night upon retuning, we found a FOUL odor in the hall, similar to that of a sewer back up. The front desk said they would send someone to look at it, but that never occurred - we had to sleep through it. Over the course of the stay - our room keys did not work a total of 6 times - even after having the front desk re-program them, they still sometimes did not work - this caused us to go up and down from our room a great number of times.
This also brings me to point out the hotel staff. They were far from the friendly pleasant Kimpton staff that made me feel at home. Every request seemed to be a bother, and nothing had an easy answer. It kept me from asking more or even approaching the concierge again.
Finally when I had a moment and I noticed other people using drink coupons and having laugh-y conversations with the front desk staff - I asked why I never received any In-Touch benefits. They said they were sorry but was not sure why (I think they didn't believe me) - and gave me an extra ticket to make up for this. Now the last day of my stay - I attempt to use the tickets for a drink at 10pm on a Monday - however, the bar was closing. And now I couldn't use them. I brought them back to the desk and told them my frustration, and the staff member said they don't expire - and when I said I will never be staying at the SFD again, he got snippy and credited my room $10 per voucher (even though they were worth $13 each). At that point, glad to get any recognition for their wrong doing - I left the matter at that. I also at this time dropped off the thoughtful "pre flight" check in card i found in my room - so that i could have my boarding passes waiting for me in the morning before my return flight home. And of course upon checking out - I found that the passes were not printed. The card was left off to the side and forgot about. The staff member was surprised when I STILL wanted the boarding passes and i had to wait 15 minutes for her to gather herself enough to get them printed.
All in all - a decent facility - but the staff and service is so below par for Kimpton. This experience has certainly caused me to re-evaluate my loyalty and will probably be taking it elsewhere!