Cheap, No Security, and Surly Staff
I had a bad feeling about this hotel the minute the cab from the airport ($50!) drove up. Although well located, this tiny throwback to the 1960s has little going for it aside from its good location and free internet. The woman at the front desk (she was there almost exclusively during our stay) did not look up when we walked in. It's was 12:30 p.m. and she informed us matter-of-factly that checkin time was not until 2 p.m. -- without bothering to check whether there were any rooms available. We were allowed to store our bags in a tiny room and did so reluctantly, as anyone could have walked in and taken them and I doubt the desk clerk would have even noticed. Once inside, I felt like I was transformed by a Motel Time Machine to another era. I spent 15 minutes trying to turn on the TV (not a flat screen, naturally). The bathroom light came on immediately every time you walked into it (horrible when your mate gets up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom). The bedspread was icky, and I was scratching all night in the bed. Worst of all, the walls were paper thin; you could hear everything when people congregated outside their rooms to smoke. Well, maybe that wasn't the worst. The worst would be the security situation. Although located in an area where there are tons of vagrants, there was no evidence of any security. I feared a break in at any moment and would not be surprised to learn that there have been many robberies (and perhaps worse) at this hotel. The price was good for San Francisco but I would have preferred to pay more and to feel safer than to stay at this Days Inn again. (Oh, and the free breakfast consists of coffee and some muffins it looks like were purchased from 7-Eleven.)