HotelChatter

Room
We stayed in room 2416 which was a good sized room with floor to ceiling windows offering great views of downtown SF. The room felt clean and airy. Not sure if it was the crisp white sheets or the over-sized flat screen television, but it worked. Also, we figured out that if you are an SPG member you can get a room upgrade, if better rooms are available, and for that reason alone we finally signed up for the program.

Bar
The indoor bar is usually hopping with the after work meets conference goer crowd. As the night wears on the indoor bar spills outside to and al fresco terrace that becomes a large outdoor lounge area complete with fireplaces and plenty of seating.

Location
The Metereon and Pac Bell Park (we are refusing to rename it in this space) are within walking distance, as is Union Square, and a multitude of Market Street bus, street car, and subway stops. Market and Third is a busy location, full of panhandlers, so if you are expecting peaceful elegance when you walk outside your hotel door look elsewhere.

Staff
The check-in staff was great, it was an extremely smooth check-in complete with an upgrade we did not ask for. The concierge desk, staffed by two people, however was a different story. We checked out before noon, but didn't have to be at the airport for hours. Our check out, immediately ended our $14.99 per day Internet service, and we needed an airline phone number. Lost without web access, we asked concierge #1 for the airline phone number, she was in front of two computers rich with Internet, so surely she could look it up for us, or so we thought. She rebuffed us at first, then finally after five minutes of haggling went online and begrudgingly gave us the number. This left asking asking ourselves -- If a concierge doesn't feel it is their job to help you out with a phone number, what exactly do they do?

Internet
$14.99 per day for wireless in your room is far to expensive. Furthermore, no hotel guest is going to go down 24 stories to the noisy lobby and log on, without drinking first, so free wireless for guests in the lobby isn't much of an advantage here. Here is a thought. Why not give SPG members free Internet at all Starwood properties? Since we have this newly minted SPG card and all, we figured this might be a good idea, plus it would further help us justify staying at more SPG hotels which we currently rule out because of bad Internet policies.

Bottom Line
Yes the Internet charge and the business sterility of this hotel may rightfully keep many hotel mavens away, however, if you are an SPG member, or score a low rate, this hotel will provide you a seriously great room, incredible views, a good bar, an extremely central location, and good service, as long as you stay away from concierge #1.

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