Great hotel in superb location
I'd booked this hotel based on the overall TripAdvisor ratings and they were spot on. On arrival we were led to one of their meeting rooms where reception was temporarily located - the actual reception area was being renovated. There was a slight delay due to all three clerks being busy with other guests but we were offered a glass of wine, orange juice or iced water whilst we waited. At check-in we were offered a free upgrade to a mini-suite - I'm guessing because they'd overbooked the twin room on our reservation - but that was fine by us. The receptionist was friendly and efficient and was happy to explain all about the hotel and the area.
The hotel is in the Fisherman's Wharf area, one of the major tourist destinations of San Francisco and only a few minutes walk from the waterfront, Pier 39, the Powell-Mason cable car line and the F-Line historic streetcars. A few minutes more and you'll be at the Powell-Hyde cable car line, Ghiradelli Square and the Maritime Museum and park. There are plenty of small neighbourhood shops nearby where you can get provisions as well as tourist gifts. There are many restaurants nearby ranging from the excellent to the not quite so and, again, doing some research on this site and others is worthwhile before you get here. Typical American breakfasts are available at many of them so a stroll out for breakfast is a must.
Our room was on the top (4th floor) overlooking the street so we did get some street noise. In this part of the city that's almost inevitable. The only time it was a real problem was about 3am one morning when some girls, well into drink, went past the front of the hotel and made enough noise to awaken the whole neighbourhood.
The room was spacious, clean and well furnished. There is a mini bar, which we didn't use, but the fridge is capable of storing your own things so we got a few beers and soft drinks from the 7eleven and kept them cool in there. There is also a coffee maker in the room with good quality ground coffee provided, which allows for an early morning kick start without leaving your room.
The bed was comfortable and very large; the bathroom clean and well stocked with towels, shampoo and so on. The shower had excellent pressure of both hot and cold even though we were on the top floor.
During our stay the reception area renovations were finished to a very high standard. There is now plenty of comfortable seating, direct access to the excellent Cafe Pescatore next door and a pc and printer for guest's use on which we checked in for our next flight and printed off our boarding passes. If you have your own laptop, tablet or smart-phone free WiFi internet is provided throughout the hotel including in each room.
Each evening the manager hosts a wine reception – though not necessarily personally – where you can have a glass of average to excellent wine and meet other guests. If you're unsure of what to see or what to do this can be very valuable for picking up ideas and recommendations.
Add to this the friendly and welcoming staff and this proved to be a very good choice of hotel which I can happily recommend to others.