HotelChatter

The first thing we noticed upon entering our standard king-size room? Besides the view, that is...were the monogrammed sheets. That’s right. The hotel had planned ahead and made sure to dress our bed in sheets with our initials (well, our last-name initials, at least).

The second old school touch we admired, and one that hearkened back to the good old days of a round-the-world grand tour, was the personalized stationery waiting for us in an envelope on the desk that informed any would-be correspondents of ours that we had taken up residence at the hotel during our stay in San Francisco. We were half tempted to take it with us…except it wouldn’t be useful once we’d left the city. It was just self-indulgent enough to make us think it over, though.

Apart from that, we loved the hotel’s Molton Brown bath products, and we heard tell of a massive upcoming renovation that should be completed by June 2012 just in time for the hotel’s 25th anniversary celebration. (Fun fact: this was the very first Mandarin Oriental to open in the US, way back in 1987.)

Rates at the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco start at $495 a night in November.

Full disclosure: Eric Rosen was a guest of the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco for one night, but all opinions expressed are entirely his own.