Top of the Hill but not top of the list
We are just about to leave after a 4 night stay at The Fairmont. We booked it based on its reputation as one of San Fransisco's finest. We have travelled a lot and stayed in a lot of 4 and 5 star hotels and we have got to say that we were pretty disappointed. The room was large and airy but we had no view whatsoever other than a load of air conditioning units and was a long walk from the lift. On the subject of walking, the hotel is at the top of Nob Hill and therefore high heels are a no no !! What we found disappointing was the service, I think the hotel is over reliant on its reputation and therefore feels it doesnt have to make the effort with its guests. Check in was very swift and formal and if you wanted to know anything, it was a case of you got the right answer from the Concierge if you asked the right question and they seemed more keen for you to leave them alone and we were given some pretty duff info, for example we were sent to a nice breakfast place that was closed !!!! We drank the water in the room and were billed $25 for 3 small bottles so watch out - Walgreens is just down the road. No tea and coffee making faciliites and coffee in the room was $16 !!!! We also decided to visit the bar in the Tonga Room and were faced with a queue that we either couldnt jump as residents or book in advance as residents and when we wanted to go out , there was a very long taxi line. As we walked the corridorsof the hotel, there were plenty of glasses and room service trays lying about that the staff felt happy to ignore and spray air freshener instead. In summary, for a younger ( we are in our early 40's ) traveller, we would recommend somewhere more trendy maybe in Union Square or North Beach. We were certainly not made to feel special in anyway and look forward to the complete opposite in Vegas !!!!