great value hotel
This hotel is a GREAT value if you are on a budget in SF, do not have a car, and want to be a few steps from Union Square. It's probably the best deal. The cable cars stop right outside, the bus lines are close, and so is the BART. The hotel is old, but is nicely renovated and clean. The rooms are very small, especially if you plan on staying with friends, but we did get the standard room, so I can't complain. But they are clean and decently nice. They do have free wifi in all rooms now, which they just recently installed. Breakfast is free, which is hard to find these days. It just consists of cereal, toast, PB&J, oatmeal, OJ, coffee, etc. though. The only problem is that it can get loud at night. Because it is on Powell, the cable cars run until around 1am. But this would be true for any hotel on this street. Also, the bar across the street was REALLY loud one night. I could hear the band loud and clear on the 4th floor. Other than that, the hotel itself was a great value. 
I must add that I had a GREAT experience with the staff. I forgot something in my room, and they promptly mailed it to me with no complaints! I was very happy with their service.