We'll Be Frank: We Liked Staying at the Hotel Frank

May 19, 2009 at 6:23 PM | by juliana | 1 Comment

Yesterday we teased you by saying that the Hotel Frank in San Francisco may have been one of our favorite hotel rooms all year and then we made you wait for the full review. Well, wait no longer--here it is.

Checking In
We pulled up to the Hotel Frank and noticed it still had a marquee alongside the building that reads Hotel Maxwell. In front, however, a banner announcing the Hotel Frank was strung above the entrance. We had arrived at the right place. Although, our arrival was no grand entrance.

Another car was in the valet parking loading zone and when we hopped out to inquire about parking while our "driver" waited in the car, a bellmen told us we could self-park around the corner. Ooookay. That's not quite valet but it was cheaper than the hotel's parking of $35 a night.

The lobby was small but stylish with funky black and white carpeting (that runs throughout the hotel) and a few colorful places to sit and mingle. It's also attached to Max's diner next door but fortunately, there was no greasy bacon and eggs smell wafting through the lobby. We received our room keys and headed up to the 10th floor.

Room Reaction
Riding up in the very small and very old elevator (the hotel was originally built in 1908), we began to panic a little. What were we getting ourselves into? Was this going to be a room with a fresh coat of paint and nothing else? The website photos looked amazing but had we fallen for a dirty visual trick? The answer? No, not at all.

We splurged a little for a junior suite with a king bed and the room we got was spacious with high ceilings, very comfortable and very cool-looking. We particularly loved that the room wasn't overfilled or overstuffed with random designer pieces. And we're still kind of obsessed with the lights next to the bed which actually hang from the ceiling--instead of your traditional nightstand lamps.

Amenity Madness: The room featured a white leather couch, a Jetson-inspired chair, a long desk black desk and a mini-bar refrigerator covered in faux black ostrich skin. Inside the mini-bar, however, was nothing. This was actually good as our "driver" needed a place to store his beer for the Bay to Breakers race the following day.

The bathroom featured H20+ amenities and bathrobes. The only thing that concerned us here was that there was one bar of soap.

Internet Connect
As with all Personality Hotels, the WiFi was free and for the most part, fast. There were a few times when it dropped its signal unexpectedly but all we had to do was sign in again using the codes given to us at check-in.

Location, Location, Location
The hotel is on Geary and Mason, literally steps away from Union Square and the trolley line that runs up and down Powell. Right next door is the Westin St. Francis which has a very cool Clock Bar and the flagship Michael Mina restaurant but pitiful "free" lobby WiFi. We couldn't even get a landing page to load when we popped in there.

Bottom Line
We found this room, a suite, on Quikbook for about $190 a night. Not only was the price good, but the room was perfect for our two nights in San Francisco. While we did spend a lot of time about the town, it was a relief to come back to this room and relax. If you're like us--a frequent hotel guest who likes an eye-pleasing yet comfortable room without suffocating service--this is the perfect place to stay.

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