The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel

The rooms are nice, the staff are wonderful, the bar has tasty drinks and good company, and the location is perfect. But, some of the cutbacks take this hotel down in status and comfort. Removing valet is the latest blow, making arrival and departure complex and stressful. Using a parking garage and having to wheel your luggage down the street; yikes! Not restoring room service like some of their competitors is also a disappointment and a ding. I much prefer the Clift to the Westin, the The Beacon Grand, or the Hilton, but I'm starting to think the lack of amenities will push me elsewhere. The Royal Sonesta has made blunder after blunder with this hotel since they purchased it, starting with the disastrous redecoration, and seem to have chosen to continue on that pathway. The staff however, are amazing, I'll say again.

Wonderful jazz! The Cliff is a lovely elegant hotel with a beautiful lobby and an even more beautiful Redwood Room, a classic room similar to the Oak room of the Palace Hotel New York City. The room serve brought spacious and comfortable. Everything is in top order. Staff is great. The jazz quartet that plays on Thursday night it’s one of the main reasons I choose a hotel because it is a fabulous show forno charge. A wonderful old school experience.

My go to hotel in San Francisco. I’ve been here 6 or 7 times in the last year, and am always greeted with a smile upon check in from Tony, and a fantastic breakfast courtesy of Tash and the crew in the cafe. Rooms are spacious, well decorated, and very comfortable. It really does feel more like a home away from home than a hotel. Will keep coming back in the future and hope to always see Tony and Tash around - they are a big part of what makes this place so great.

We were quite disappointed by our stay at the Clift Royal Sonesta San Francisco. We came as a couple to visit some friends and enjoy some activities in, and around the city. I will first, say that the staff was absolutely delightful. (All except the coffee house staff that tried to sneak in an 18% service fee because we were using a hotel credit.) Every staff person we encountered was wonderful. From the bellman, to the front desk staff, to the housekeeping staff, to the staff at the bar, they were all absolutely amazing! However, the hotel itself seems like it used to be great, but isn't so great anymore. One of the reasons we booked this hotel is because we saw that it had valet parking. When we arrived there, valet is no longer available and we had to park at a public parking lot around the corner. And couldn't even really unload our vehicle because their loading one is literally just the sidewalk outside the hotel and we arrived during the street sweeping window and could receive a ticket. That's not exactly a safe thing to do in the Tenderloin. And that is why a hotel of this status should have valet. It was a terrible way to start our stay there. They no longer offer room service, it is closed indefinitely, and there are limited hours for the dining that is available. And while most of the buttons on the phone just ring and receive no answer, when someone did answer, they provided great service. The basic rooms are just basic so we upgraded to the highest suite, which was nice, but not amazing for the price. Though I will say that the 2nd bathroom was a nice addition. There is a gym with a Peloton, which my husband enjoyed, but there is no pool and no jacuzzi. And the bathroom in the suite had the tiniest bathtub. (Though I hear bathtubs might be rare for the area and this was the only room they had with a tub.) I believe that this may have once been considered a 4.5 star hotel, but these days it might be a 3.5 star hotel. It just doesn't offer what other hotels-even in the area, offer. The Hilton, one block over has valet and this hotel doesn't. I think they may have had to reduce staff and services due to budget. But, that has made the status of this hotel decrease quite a bit in my opinion. We wouldn't return.

I regret staying at The Clift Hotel. While it may present itself as a luxury property, my experience was far from it. First, the hotel is located in the Tenderloin, a notoriously unsafe area. During my stay, I witnessed people being mugged right on the curb outside the property. To make matters worse, homeless individuals had unrestricted access to all areas of the hotel, making the environment uncomfortable and unsafe. Second, the renovation is a huge letdown. It feels like the "designers" stripped away the charm and cachet that once made the Clift special. Everything is bland and grey. What’s left is a soulless and poorly thought-out space that doesn’t justify the prices. Sonesta feels so generic. And what happened to the Redwood Room?? Finally, speaking of the Redwood Room, their security is overzealous to an almost laughable degree. His focus seemed to be on catching sex workers rather than ensuring the actual safety and comfort of guests. I watched as they approached any woman at the bar dressed even slightly provocatively. I don't know but it seems discriminatory to me. At another point, I visited the gym to find one of the other security personnel from the bar using the facility. I mentioned my concern to the front desk but I doubt anything came of it. Totally unprofessional. Overall, The Clift is not worth the hype or the money. The location is unsafe, the atmosphere unwelcoming, and the management ineffective. If you’re considering staying here, I’d highly recommend looking elsewhere. There are plenty of other hotels in San Francisco where safety, respect, and quality are taken seriously.