Horrible Experience
- January 5, 2009
- Rated 1 of 5 by
a traveler from Travelocity.com
Upon arrival, we were informed that it was $55 to park our car with the valet and that there was no self parking. Another words, you must pay another 30% on top of your rate to check in.
Then standing in line, one of the employees asked how we were, and I was honest and said that I was upset with having just been shaken down for $55 and he told me "well sir, this is San Francisco" as though somehow San Francisco was some kind of city with no parking in Hotels. Rather than listen to my complaint he just dismissed my complaint, even after I explained that I lived in San Francisco for 10 years and was very familiar with the city.
When we got to the room, the TV service turns out to be all Pay per view, including regular kids shows. We were traveling with our 3 year old son and the only thing you could view for free was a static weather channel, everything else was pay per view, and the cheapest shows being $2.99 for 15 minutes.
The main attraction of this hotel was the view lounge, which was closed until 4p, so we never got to see it as it was closed off for a private party when we arrived, and closed the next day.
Editor Pick
Good Enough, not Great
- September 7, 2008
- Rated 3 of 5 by
Wasatch from heber ctity, Utah
The San Francisco Marriott occupies most the block of 4th St. between Market and Mission, a convenient location on the edge of the Financial District, close to the Civic Center, and with easy access to everywhere else by public transit (parking your car at the hotel runs $50 a day).
Flying into SFO, here are several ways to get to the San Francisco Marriott: Samtrans bus costs $1.50(?)o.w. and stops right beside the hotel. BART(the subway/metro) costs $5.35o.w. Exit BART at the Powell St station. Turn right when you leave the train, and the station exit brings you out at the corner of 4th and Market, a half block from the hotel. Shuttle vans start at $17, taxis and limo even more. BART is noisy, the trip door to door takes about an hour, but you don’t have to worry about traffic problems on the expressway. BART also connects to Oakland airport.
BART(Bay Area Rapid Transit) also extends to several East Bay cities, including Oakland, Richmond, and Berkeley.
Check in was fast and friendly. All the staff we encountered were friendly and generally helpful.
San Francisco Marriott is primarily a businessman’s hotel, situated only a block away from the Moscone Center, San Francisco’s convention center. That makes it a good buy for tourists on holiday weekends. Our 2008 Labor Day rate was $149, Saturday-Monday nights. This was the American Express Gift Package. We paid $199 a night, and got back a $50 Amex Gift Check every day. Only by Amex credit card.
This is not an inexpensive hotel, and for the price, it was a little off key. The problems were encountered, all minor announces, but they still should not have happened were: 1] the desk assured us we had a quiet location. It was only minimally so, some street noise, especially sirens, could be heard in the room. Hall noise, fortunately rare, came right through the door. On the other hand, there was no plumbing noise form other rooms and very little noise form the interior except the occasional hall noise. 2] The toilet seat would not stay up. About half the time, it came crashing down. 3] Really god awful pillows, all four of them on the bed. In hopes of getting a decent pillow, I called housekeeping and asked from a foam pillow. It was a bit of an improvement, but it left me with five bad pillows in place of four. 4] No blanket on the bed, only a European style comforter. I hate these things. They give you your choice of one temperature– too hot. I resorted to my usual solution. I removed the douvet, tossed the insides on the floor, and used the duvet as a blanket. Dutifully, the maid put it all back together every morning, so I had to take it apart every night.
On the positive side, the room was OK on quiet, if not perfect. The curtain did a good job keeping light out. The 37" LCD HDTV had a great picture, and an OK selection of channels, The bathroom had a night light, a dimmer light to use at night so as not to go blind from brilliance when you switch on the light if you need to visit during the night. There were two chairs, both reasonably comfortable, in the room, and a nice work desk with internet connection (extra charge). The room was not super spacious, but it was a long way from cramped space. There was a remarkably quiet mini-bar, good drawer space, and nice large closet, ironing board, hair dryer (not attached to the wall), and a terrific shower head. The coffee drinker liked the one cup coffee maker, but said the coffee at the nearby Jack in the Box(open 24/7) was better.
On balance, I would stay here again, and of the 6-8 San Francisco hotels in which I have stayed on visits, there is only one other that I would even consider staying at again.
Although we had no problems, the San Francisco Marriott is located within one block of two of the top five locations for robberies in San Francisco, 5th & Market and the Metreon.
There is a striking view of the hotel’s archeture from Yerba Buena Gardens, across the street (Mission) from the hotel.
From journal Return to San Francisco after 15 Years