This St. Regis San Francisco review is from our 2017 stay, and an update of our older St. Regis San Francisco review from a few years ago. The best value (even if you're an SPG Platinum) is to book as a TravelSort Client to enjoy Starwood Luxury Privileges benefits. And currently, there's a 4th night free offer at the property, for bookings made by August 17, 2017, for stays through September 4, 2017:
- One 100 USD food and beverage credit per room, per stay
- Daily continental breakfast for two guests
- Complimentary standard in-room internet access
- Upgrade on arrival, early check-in and late check-out which are all subject to availability
St. Regis San Francisco Location, Check-In and Lobby
The St. Regis San Francisco is located at 125 Third Street. It's across the street from the Yerba Buena Gardens and a few blocks south of Market Street. The Montgomery Street BART Station is the closest station, just a 7-8 minute walk away.
There was a wait at reception to check-in, and it went slowly, so we waited about 10 minutes, so my husband and son went off to find seats in the lobby.
There were some nice floral arrangements in the lobby, and the hotel's lobby bar is popular in the evenings.
Executive Premier Room
We were upgraded to an Executive Premier Room, a nice corner room on a high floor. There are 26 Executive Premier Rooms, each with an average size of 550 square feet, and this provided ample room for our son's extra bed, in addition to our comfortable King size bed:
There was a large work desk by the window, which proved helpful for getting work done. Bottled water had been placed on it, but there wasn't any other welcome amenity in the room, unlike at most luxury hotels I stay at.
But what we really enjoyed was the great natural light from this being a corner room, even if the views here are not as beautiful, as, say, the Loews Regency San Francisco (the reflagged former Mandarin Oriental San Francisco).
Across from the bed was a flat screen TV and entrance to the bathroom:
The bathroom had dual vanities, which in my view all new built and renovated luxury hotels should have.
There was a glass enclosed rain shower which had good water pressure.
Unfortunately, the bathtub turned out to have a broken plug, since as soon as water was run into it, the water seeped out. That made my son's bath very short indeed.
Bath products are Remede, as is typical for St. Regis, although I have to say these are among my least favorite luxury hotel bath products.
There was a bathrobe in the bathroom and another in the closet, although we didn't have occasion to use them.
One of the things I like least about St. Regis is that, while there is of course a mini bar, you won't find a Nespresso machine or a tea kettle in the room.
So if you bring your own tea, as I do, you have to phone the butler to request a tea kettle. I was about to jump onto a work call, so I asked for it to be left outside the room, without any knocking or ringing the doorbell, and I turned on the do not disturb sign.
Nevertheless, despite my clear instructions, the butler insisted on ringing the doorbell several times, forcing me to interrupt my call, which I was not at all pleased about.
Here's a quick video of the room:
Swimming Pool
Few San Francisco luxury hotels have swimming pools, and the St. Regis San Francisco is my top pick if you want a San Francisco hotel with a pool. We visited it in the morning, and there was only one other guest in the pool area, so my son enjoyed some pool time, while I got some work done on one of the round loungers.
Verdict
The St. Regis San Francisco is one of the better San Francisco hotels, although keep in mind that San Francisco, unfortunately, is not a strong luxury hotel market in terms of quality. The St. Regis San Francisco is the hotel I recommend for clients who want the best San Francisco hotel that has its own swimming pool.
Highlights of our visit, in addition to the pool, was the great natural light from our corner Executive Premier Room and the comfortable bed (we all even overslept, which is rare). I also like the easy to set “do not disturb” button by the door.
There were several areas for improvement, however: the wait at check-in (another associate should have been called to assist); the lack of any welcome amenity; the leaky bathtub, which should have been caught by Housekeeping; and the fact that even after I specifically asked for a tea kettle to be left outside our room, since I was on a work call, the Butler rang the doorbell repeatedly. Service definitely needs improvement, in terms of listening to and carrying out guest requests. Then again, if the St. Regis would simply include a Nespresso machine and tea kettle in each guest rooms, as most other luxury hotel rooms do, I wouldn't have had this frustrating experience.
If you've stayed recently at the St. Regis San Francisco, what was your experience?
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Disclosure: I paid for my own stay at the St. Regis San Francisco, using a travel professional rate.
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