THE WESTIN ST FRANCIS ON UNION SQUARE

Stayed here for a week on business. The standard at this hotel is very good. Large, clean rooms. Good bars available. Good gym for guests. Very attentive staff and great location no matter where in the Bay you want to explore. I would absolutely stay here again as my preference.

We've had a bit of a fire problem here in Santa Rosa. Not our downtown neighborhood thank God. But the air was awfully smoky and our children wanted us to get out of town. So we did, and after a little looking around, if we wanted to be near Union Square the St Francis made sense. We can afford a suite, and really need one at our advanced ages. So that is what we booked. I could get up and go to the living room portion. And I knew the overpriced room service would be quick and reliable, and it was. The place has sadly changed since we were last there a long time ago. The clientele is not the elegant crowd we used to expect. The bed, I thought, was very good but I cannot recommend either the sofa or the chairs in the living room part of our suite. And it was expensive but I thought worth it. Better than buying two rooms somewhere else. In a situation like ours, you want to use the bell service and the room service, and the cafe downstairs. And all were excellent. One result of the downgrading of the clientele is that their best bar, the Clock Room, is almost unbearably loud. But boy do they have an incredible list of spirits though only at their evening bar, the Clock Room. Example: they have I was told little call for cognac but they had one that I as a cognac fan knew was one of the best you will ever taste. And the senior bartender there and also at their lobby place Caruso's know their business well. The front desk was what it should be -- efficient (sometimes) but always willing to help and to oblige. I have no complaints there. And of course room service is not cheap, but boy is it fast. My only problem was that I can't do much before I have had my coffee, but you must be at least somewhat coherent to actually order it (their continental breakfast, also not cheap, is really quite delicious). Kudos too to the bell staff. At our age help bringing bags up an down is something we expect of a good hotel. We used it and I was very impressed.

I had a reservation for this weekend as I planned to run a half marathon on Sunday morning. The race was cancelled because of the fires in Napa and the air quality was bad in San Francisco Francisco. The race cancellation occurred at 11:45 p.m. on the Wednesday before. The St. Francis'' cancellation policy required that I cancel by 6 pm on Wednesday. I found out on Thursday morning and called the St. Francis and explained the reason for my cancellation and received a full refund - $376. I definitely will make another reservation at the St. Francis. Thank you for being flexible and understanding.

If visiting San Francisco, its a must to try Cheesecake Factory. Prepare to wait for the queue and can be up till 1 hour waiting time. Great food and big portion. Lunch serves till 5pm. Good value. Its a waste if never try.

From the moment we walked into this hotel we were treated like royalty. The bellhop was extremely helpful in answering our questions about the hotel and places to eat. The room was very nice and the hotel was well located for visiting the city. We were able to use the cable cars which stopped not far from the hotel. San Francisco is a very easy town to get around in.