Annoying city hotel
I don't stay in city hotels all that often, but I get the feeling this one is par for the course - small, no breakfast, and feels that charging for every little thing makes it classy instead of annoying. While overall the hotel did the job - the convenience of my conference beat out the rest of the issues - there were numerous things to complain about. Usually I'd leave a comment card, but they don't have them - they want their reviews here. So here you go.
There was very little room to move in my room even with just me; even having a partner would have been annoying. It got worse when I requested a fridge (the "fridge" in the room actually being an automatically monitored mini-bar that charges you if you bump it; they say they can deliver a fridge on the giant warning sign). The fridge was a beat-up "large" minifridge (not a cube) missing all its shelving, so it held very little yet managed to take up a considerable amount of my precious space. Since it turns out there are a dozen bakeries within walking distance, I was willing to buy myself breakfast, but if you're hoping to not eat out for every meal it would be tricky.
My other main beef was the way they handled wireless. I get that the market lets "fancy" hotels charge for wireless, even though no normal hotel does anymore. And it was necessary that I had a connection, so I agreed to the $15/day. Then I try and connect my phone, and when I call the service desk, they (less than nicely) explain it's $15/day/PER DEVICE. A new level of absurdity for me. And what they do not explain is that 1) there is free wireless in the conference rooms (a fact not even explained to the conference organizers, who had asked!); and 2) the charges don't actually appear on your bill -- at least if you ask. That's just obnoxious.
Add to that the little things that were just irritating or unprofessional: service desk snarled at me every time I called; housecleaning left a cup of coffee on my desk for three straight days; service in the bar was uniformly awful. And is it even legal in northern California for a hotel not even let you choose to reuse linens? Being their 7 days, that was just wasteful.
There are at least a half dozen hotels within walking distance, so it's not like this one has a lock. Make them earn their keep and shop around.