Above the Foggy City (Handlery Union Square San Francisco)

Member Name: flodombey

Product:	Handlery Union Square San Francisco
Date:	08/07/09 (22 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Location, great rooms, friendly concierge

Disadvantages: Noisy at night

I stayed at the Handlery Union Square on my second visit to the wonderful city of San Francisco a couple of years ago with my husband. The location is brilliant and we had booked through Kuoni on a 3 centre trip (SF, Las Vegas and NYC) so knew that the hotel would be up to a good standard. Although it is not down on the wharf side where a lot of the touristy hotels are, we preferred to be in the heart of Union Square up on the hill with fantastic views down towards the bay.

Location wise, for us this was perfect. Literally situated on one corner of the vast Union Square which is buzzing with large stores (Macys on one side), the famous huge Borders book store and many bars, restaurants and diners. The cable car runs from just around the corner and you can go up through Nob Hill or down to Fishermans Wharf easily and at an enjoyable pace on the famous and iconic transport for a couple of dollars.

Inside the lobby the hotel feels much smaller than it actually is, it seems to be something of a tardis! The lobby itself has a concierge desk, access to the lifts, a small room with internet access at the back, a number of seats scattered around and the main desk itself, there is access from the lobby through into the Daily Grill restaurant where you are encouraged to enjoy breakfast, this is a grand feeling restaurant which serves all meals and prides itself on feeling upscale. We ate breakfast here on our first morning but felt it was quite expensive (although it does feel posh!) so we chose to go out into the city and eat much more simply and cheaply at the diners in the area.

We couldnt figure out whether the hotel owns the restaurant or whether they were two seperate entities. The restaurant was very popular of an evening with guests from the hotel although we didn't eat there ourselves. There are just too many options in San Francisco to stay in and around the hotel for every meal.

Anyway, on arriving we were checked in quickly and without any hassle. We were given a key to a room on the third floor and a bell boy took our bags for us. The lift is not huge but does the job, it feels like a pretty old building but everything seems to work well enough.

The room was lovely and sumptiously furnished with modern features, a wonderful massive, high bed and a great bathroom with a power shower. Our views were not great, looking onto the walls of another building, but we did not mind, only intending to sleep in the room anyway. We also had a huge TV with about 500 channels on it and a coffee machine. The windows do open but not fully, just enough to let in some air.

The standard the room was furnished to was, in my opinion, a 4 star hotel although this features as a 3 star in Kuoni's literature, this is an example of the differences in standards between the States and the UK I think!

Most of the people staying in this hotel were tourists like ourselves but there was the occasional business person. An ATM located in the lobby was in almost constant use but never ran out and was very useful!

Staff were excellent and very helpful, the concierge gave us great maps and bus routes to get out to the Golden Gate Park and was an absolute mine of information, he totally deserved his tips! Desk staff were also friendly and welcoming and the maid service was efficient and unseen by us which is exactly how I like it!

We paid to stay here as part of a package so I have no idea how much the room cost us, at the moment rooms to the same standard as we stayed in are priced at $159 on the website, per night which works out at around £100. I know you can likely get a room for less than this if you are on a budget but actually for the standard of room you get here and the incredible location I think this is pretty good value for money.

Summary: Fantastic option for a city break in San Francisco