The Gaylord Suites - dodgy name for a hotel, but what's in a name? (Gaylord Suites (San Francisco, USA))

Member Name: sakura8

Product:	Gaylord Suites (San Francisco, USA)
Date:	12/02/09 (61 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Location, free wi-fi and cable, lovely rooms

Disadvantages: A bit noisy, limited cooking facilities

My fiancé and I were lucky enough to live in San Francisco for 3 months between August and November 2008 as he had a job there.

Finding a place to live for 3 months that had everything we needed wasn't easy, but we were running out of time, so we decided to stay at The Gaylord Suites for 1 month and see how it went.

<<< WHERE IS IT? >>>
The Gaylord is situated in Nob Hill (that got some raised eyebrows from the folks!). Actually, The Gaylord is located between the affluent Nob Hill and the dodgy area called the Tenderloin - hence the locality being nicknamed TenderNob.

Now with all those crude words flying around, it's hard to imagine a nice hotel, but that is what The Gaylord is. From the outside it looks very fancy with its ornate columns decorating the entrance and the lobby, which has comfy armchairs, free hot drinks and newspapers to keep the wi-fi users comfortable. The reception is manned 24 hours a day, so there was always someone there to help us on the occasions that we needed it (minor things like having no loo roll and my washing getting stuck in the machine!). Upon check-in they give you a nice little welcome pack, which has a really detailed colour map, and some useful details about the local area, such as local supermarkets, banks etc.

It's proximity is within walking distance to many of the City's sights, for example:
* 10 minutes to Union Square (where all the major shops like Macys and Bloomingdales are) and then you can easily get to Chinatown from here.
* Japantown is about 25 minutes west of the hotel.
* The Embarcadero is about 25 minutes east of the hotel and this leads up to Fisherman's Wharf - a nice walk and less hilly than walking up through North Beach, however you should explore here as that's where Coit Tower, bendy Lombard Street and "Little Italy" are.

<<< IS IT EXPENSIVE? >>>
It's very good value for money, especially if you stay for a month as they don't charge you the 14% tax. So our daily room rate worked out about $63, which is amazing when you consider its location (just make sure you don't walk in the direction of the Tenderloin!). Obviously the weekly rates vary depending on whether you stay during the peak or off-peak season and also which type of room you want as many of the rooms have been remodelled.

<<< WHAT WAS YOUR ROOM LIKE? >>>
We stayed in a studio room (they also have 1-bedroom apartments) but it was spacious enough for an extremely comfortable queen sized bed, an armchair, a desk and chair and a TV on a chest of drawers.
You get free Internet in the room, which is handy if you have your own laptop, free local telephone calls and free cable TV.
The décor of the room is minimalist, modern and very clean - not a hideous floral pattern in sight!

In the corner of the room was a set of shelves with plates, mugs and glasses and some cooking utensils, which is strange as the kitchenette only consisted of a coffeemaker, a fridge and a microwave so cooking was very limited! That is the main reason why we decided not to stay at The Gaylord for the other 2 months of our trip. We wanted a proper kitchen so we could cook and it wasn't as if the room wasn't big enough to accommodate a full kitchen. The walk-in closet was absolutely enormous, so they could have rearranged the room and had a kitchen in there. However, there are some excellent local restaurants and take-away food places, so they probably expect people will want to eat out when they're on holiday.

But another reason for moving was there was a fair bit of noise outside, as our room (507) faced a busy road and almost everyday we would hear the very LOUD siren of the fire engines zooming past.

<<< WOULD YOU STAY THERE AGAIN? >>>
If we returned to San Francisco for a holiday then I'd definitely stay here again and I would recommend it to my friends and family. The location is perfect to see all the sights of San Francisco, with great public transport links. Also, the cleaner came once a week and did a very thorough job in the room. They also have cleaners who vacuum and clean the communal areas of the hotel so overall it was always very tidy.

* Please note I have written a similar review on Tripadvisor.

Summary: Perfect base for seeing the sights.