5 Star Service but a 3 Star Property
This was my wife and my first visit to San Francisco after 8 consecutive New York trips, and we now love San Francisco! The Sir Francis Drake is a very grand hotel with quite possibly some of the best hotel staff I have encountered. From the moment we checked in we felt like we were VIPs! Every morning in the lobby there is a free coffee/tea setup for the guests of the hotel, very nice. The location of the hotel is perfectly located and very convenient to everything San Francisco has to offer.
Now the bad. The hotel property itself does not justify the 4 star ranking it has received. With much appreciation to the hotel management we were upgraded to a larger room, which itself was still small but I had no objections to it. The bathroom is the worst bathroom I have ever encountered in the area of size and amenities. The only toilettries were the shampoo, conditioner, and body wash which were in a wall mounted dispenser inside the shower. When we checked in, there was no body wash, and we called down for it to be replenished. They did replenish it, but with more shampoo! The electical outlet had no faceplate and the wires were exposed wich concerned me greatly. With no exaggeration, I had to have the door open to use the bathroom. I wanted to complain, but my wife convinced me we wouldn't be in the room enough to worry about it.
All in all, the Drake is a beautiful hotel with excellent staff and a great location. But, it is entirely overpriced and does not compare to the other 4 star properties situated around it. If you can get a deal on a room, take the chance, but do not pay the rack room rate.