Not a bad option
My husband and I stayed here twice in the past week and generally enjoyed the experience. I feel that the hotel is probably a bit better suited to business travellers than to tourists. It is very well located for conferences and has a bit of a conference vibe about it. It's also well located for shopping (near Westfield and not far from Union Square).
It is worth noting that there are a number of homeless people in the vicinity and some guests may feel uncomfortable when walking after dark. I didn't feel the concierge staff really made it clear where was/ wasn't safe to walk. They sent us on a '15 minute walk' which was more like 30 minutes through a very seedy part of town and insisted it was perfectly safe. I wasn't convinced.
We stayed in a junior suite (upgrade due to Ambassador status) and had club access. The club was relatively well appointed although being on the 6th floor there was no view. My only gripe with the club is that they don't enforce any rules about the way children behave whilst there. I have no issue with well behaved kids in the club but there were some running riot when we were there and staff were reticent to do anything about it.
Breakfast in the restaurant and in the club were both of a very good quality. We didn't avail of any of the other facilities whilst there.
Staff were generally pleasant but didn't go out of their way to provide an amazing experience. I told them in advance we were travelling from Australia for my husband's 40th but there was no acknowledgment of this. I feel they missed a trick on that front. The one exception was the Brazilian bell man (nicknamed 'Senna') who was an absolute gem.
But generally the hotel was of a good standard and rooms were pleasant and well appointed. Having stayed at the Intercontinental Mark Hopkins last month I'd definitely say this was the better of the two Intercontinental properties in the San Francisco area.