San Francisco Proper Hotel

This place is horrible. First, the neighborhood is a bit like the Zombie Apocalypse. Think of all the bad scenes you've seen on the news about San Francisco, then double it. Going out at night is a very bad idea. Second, the place is dark, and has zero energy. Finally the rooms are tiny, and look like they were decorated by someone on acid, but with a fetish for brown.

First the location is very scary. Parking was $104 for a single night. When asked where we can park, they said there is high risk in the area for break-ins and they recommend a parking garage blocks away but you have to walk through the area. The second major issue was room service took almost 4 hours to deliver food. We called 3 times downstairs to see where the delay was because my pregnant wife and 2 year had nothing to eat from the long drive in. Order was placed at 6:20P and was not delivered until 9:40P after the final call inquiry. I normally add gratuity for a standard service but in this situation my wife and kid passed out for the night from waiting so long that they didn’t have dinner. I signed the slip with a line through the gratuity. The slip with my signature was in the amount for $74 but on my room charge it was showing $91.40. So there is already some issues there. When we checked out the receipt we received was for $39 for the destination tax etc. but later in the evening, my credit card company flagged a possible suspicious charge of $596. I tried calling them 4 times even having their corporate office send an email for the property manager to call back. But all efforts having been dodging my call. They said a speaker was taken but the rooms only have a TV and phone. We came in with a single backpack with our clothes for the 3 of us cause of the reviews about how scary the area is. There isn’t any way of packing all these things and a speaker into a single backpack. Their mini bar shows expensive items up to the range of $800 electronics. If high cost items are in the room, then they need to provide definitive proof that the item left the room through sensors or a thorough checkout with the client. Other proper hotels do not have these items. This is an unethical and fraudulent practice. WARNING NOT TO STAY HERE due to all these issues. I never post these kind of reviews and will be working with my credit card company to fight this practice and remove them from the premier collection so others do not fall for this trap.

First of all: the hotel is all new and really nicely done. Nice feel to the room, comfy beds, quiet rooms. Having said that - the service needs serious overhaul. You get a flood of emails and text messages before you checkin, offering to help with reservations and other things. If you take them up on that and reserve, it gets lost (but don't worry, you will get plenty more emails/texts offering help!). When you then walk up to the elevator to the roof top bar, you feel like a beggar trying to get the last spot. I mentioned the excessive electronic communication to them and all I got is: oh, this is all automated. There is also this odd mix of overly luxurious offers of help (doors sometimes get ripped open when you walk up by three people in parallel - sometimes not at all...) and the mix of professional quietness and stink of marihuana in the lobby. On a side note - not the fault of the hotel, of course - but the location is, well, really ugly. I didn't dare stepping outside early in the morning, there were homeless sleeping on the ground and a couple of individuals gathered around drug cooking setup. And it smelled strongly of urin.

I stayed here for two nights for business purposes. I specifically picked this hotel as it was close to where I need to be in the in Hayes Valley area. At the time of booking, there was a flash $200/night sale for their bunk rooms, which I thought was a terrific rate for being in San Francisco. Being an Marriott elite member, I already knew in advance that I would not get any elite benefits, but the cost was far less than the Marriott properties that provide benefits. I arrived late at night, past sunset, and as other travellers have noted, it can feel unsafe at face value. But having been to other big cities with similar issues, I’m sort of accustomed to seeing homelessness. Once I stepped foot into the hotel, I noticed how incredible this place looked. Feels very much like a boutique hotel, albeit a bit on the dark side. I walked past the front desk as it wasn’t clearly and no one was there. It wasn’t until I circled back that someone appeared. They were pleasant and informative enough, and kindly upgraded me to a double bed room for extra space compared to what I booked. I got to my room on the second floor and similar to the lobby, it’s a nicely designed space. Bed was very comfortable. Adequate space and WiFi connection was strong. Has a mini bar with extra space to put my own drinks, and a standard in room safe. There is a steamer instead of an iron, which worked fine for my purposes. Washroom has a shower only (no bathtub), but met my needs. Nothing much in terms of view except the building across McAllister street. I used the gym which was adequate, if a bit tight. Never got too busy. There’s a few dining options onsite that looked good, but never had the time to try. As noted, the area can be a little alarming. But there are a ton of Urban Alchemy staff patrolling the area, and they provide of lot of support for the area. I observed them, and they make sure the place is as clean and safe as reasonably possible, and I appreciate it. Overall, it’s a nice hotel that I got at a reasonable price and met my needs. Would I pay a premium for it - no. Just happened to jump on a good deal. If that deal wasn’t there, I’d be more inclined to pick another hotel where I could take advantage of my status benefits.

I lived in SF for 12 years and am horrified that they put a hotel here. This is hands down the worst neighborhood in the city, maybe country. SF has so much beauty and this represents it so poorly. At night it feels like they just give up. So much riff raff right outside the front door at 10pm. When I call downstairs to ask a question, no one answers and I have to keep calling. Finally someone answers and they seem aggrieved. Rooms are very small but clean and serviceable. Seemed very quiet on a Friday night but maybe occupancy was low? I didn’t eat any food here but was disappointed they wouldn’t take my room service order the night before, meaning I didn’t have time in the morning to order and eat it. Won’t stay here again despite loving the brand elsewhere.