Great Hotel and Cant beet the distance to Moscone
I stayed at the Intercontinental on Howard street at the beginning of April. 
I was in for an internet conference that was hosted in Moscone West Center. It must have been no more than 150 ft from door to door. It was simply as convenient possible. Also the westfield mall is also only a 5 min walk away in case you need to get something.
The bed and willows were great, so was the shower. I asked for a high floor and got a room on the 23rd. That made for some great views of the SF bay. I did not spend too much time in the room, but the floor to ceiling windows did allot for some eye soothing images.
Check in was very smooth. The rate was also reasonable in comparison to the other hotels there. I paid $220 a night before tax. They do charge you $15/day on wi-fi which i think is a joke now a days.
On check out i was surprised to find some bogus charges. There was a meal charge for an entire lunch for two or three people on me when i visited the restaurant once and had 2 coffees. There were also some false mini bar charges that i believe resulted from moving some bottles around to place a beverage of my own. In any case, the rep at concierge just had me look the charges over and anything that was not familiar was immediately canceled no questions asked.
Elevator was always quick and never had to wait for a lift.
The only frustrating issue with my stay had nothing to do with the hotel. There are no cabs in SF. Its nuts. I had to wait 45 minutes for a cab at 7:30 at night on the way to dinner. The street were empty, so it was not a traffic issue.
All in all, great stay.
Sagee