Hilton San Francisco Union Square: My Review

My husband and I are on our fourth night at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square, located at 333 O'Farrell Street. The phone number is 415- 771-1400. We are here for a conference we are attending, which is why most people stay here I would think. I say that because this hotel is huge and although I have seen a few children, getting lost is very easy.

Union Square is a bustling area. It is a combination of upscale stores and boutiques, restaurants and seediness. Walking around at night is not something we are comfortable doing although we do. The homeless population is huge and it seems they are attracted to this area. Many are too aggressive for my thick skin.

When you leave the hotel head to the right. Macy's is huge. Inside you'll find a postoffice, bakery and such restuarants as the Cheesecake Factory. At 7:00p.m. on a weekday night we "only" had to wait 30 minutes. Any later and the wait would have been longer.

You might want to see where the cable car turns around. In this case walk out of the hotel, go right and then right again. You'll see a mob of people as well as at least one street performer and lots and lots of necklaces and earrings for sale.

The pros

The hotel's lobby is glitzy and a nice place to have coffee with friends. We have done this a couple of times with our son and daughter-in-law. The fact there is a Starbucks's in this large, comfortable lobby is a plus.

We are staying in what is called a sight and sound room because there is a 42 inch plasma HDTV and a digital sound projector for media devices. There are also some other perks, which I will get into. The cost for this room is about $204.00.

We have a Cuisinart coffee maker and mini-bar. Be very careful of that bar. We were told that we can use it for our own items but on the other hand we were told to be very careful about the items in there because it is very easy to be charged for something. Paying $7.00 for a regular size pack of M & Ms is not something I want to do.

Our king-sized bed is super comfortable and we have two phones in a non-smoking room. There is plenty of closet and drawer space, a large desk and rolling chair, an over-sized chair, and pretty pictures.

Housekeeping is great. They keep our room neat and always refresh our towels. We are not lacking in towels! We have a safe, iron/ironing board, alarm clock and hairdryer.

This 3-tower hotel has a store, a fairly expensive restaurant called The Urban Tavern, a pool, and fitness room along with countless conference rooms.

The pool is in a very pretty and large area. The chairs are comfy and even on one sunny day there was no one there so it was nice and quiet.

Pets are allowed.

The cons

The parking is what you would expect for a city such as San Francisco and a hotel such as the Hilton. You'll spend about $52.00 a day if you park your car in the garage and $4.00 if you choose valet. Note that there is a much less expensive parking for those not on an expense account. This is right across the street! The cost is $29.00 a night.

The lobby is chaotic. One might say it is because of the conference but I have a feeling there are always conferences thus chaos. Having said that I always found a place to sit with an outlet so I could sit with my computer for hours.

I don't know why the bathroom sink fixtures were bought. They have to be closed and then closed again. I often leave the water running thinking I have shut off the faucet. For anyone frail or with arthritis these faucets are not going to work.
The walls are very thin. I could literally hear the phone ringing next door!

There is a $15.00 a day fee to use the fitness room. I find that outrageous. It is "free" if you choose a spa service.

On someone's dollar other than mine The Hilton in Union Square is just fine though I am not using the fitness room because that is on my dollar and it would make me angry to use it. I work out in our large room! (I found a fitness show on the fancy television.)