This Loews Regency San Francisco Hotel Review (formerly, the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco) is from a recent San Francisco stopover to see friends, on our way back from Bora Bora, New Zealand and Fiji. For other San Francisco luxury hotel reviews, dining reviews and flights to or from San Francisco, see all our posts tagged San Francisco.
TravelSort Clients enjoy these Virtuoso benefits when reserving the Loews Regency San Francisco:
- Upgrade at time of booking, subject to availability (not applicable to Suites)
- American breakfast daily, for up to two in room guests in the restaurant (Brasserie S&P)
- $100 USD Equivalent Food & Beverage credit, (not combinable, not valid on room rate, no cash value if not redeemed in full, one time during stay)
- Early check-in/late check-out, subject to availability
- Complimentary Wi-Fi for duration of stay
Loews Regency San Francisco Location and Check-In
Loews Regency San Francisco is located at 222 Sansome Street, by Pine Street. The hotel is about a 5-7 minute walk from the Montgomery Street BART Station, and just slightly longer a walk from the Embarcadero Street BART Station, making it easy to get to via public transportatioin from San Francisco Airport.
My husband arrived before us and said check-in was quite quick. Unlike in its Mandarin Oriental days, however, there was no offer of tea or other welcome drink to be sent to the room. Nor were there any kids welcome amenities for our son, even though I'd informed the hotel we needed a roll away bed for my 8 year old.
We were given room number 4611; the 11 series rooms are all Luxury Bridge to Bridge rooms, although the orientation of our room was not the same as the one pictured on the Loews Regency San Francisco Web site.
Loews Regency San Francisco Luxury Bridge to Bridge Room
Luxury Bridge to Bridge Rooms are 450 square feet, which sounds good sized for a city hotel room, although the long and narrow orientation of the room made it seem smaller, and it was particularly cramped once our son's extra bed was put in the room.
At least our King bed was quite comfortable, although not as plush as our bed at home or the new Four Seasons bed with a Signature Plush topper; there's no option to customize the mattress topper.
Since it was overcast and even rained during our stay, the views weren't as nice as they would be on a clear day. Here's a photo of our view of the Bay Bridge:
What was prominently visible, in spite of the weather, was the Transamerica Pyramid. So if you like looking at that, these rooms give you an excellent view of it.
The bathroom is really looking dated. While the Italian marble is exactly the same as it was for our Mandarin Oriental visit, since Loews hasn't done any renovation of the rooms and suites, I didn't notice it as much in our Mandarin Bay Bridge Room because of all the natural light from the window by the bathtub.
In this much smaller and darker bathroom, I very much noticed the age of the fixtures, and that there was still no rain shower in the shower. The toilet is part of the bathroom, there is no separate toilet chamber.
There is a separate soaking tub, a must in my book for a luxury hotel, and good for any bath lovers or families with young kids that don't take showers yet.
Bath products are no longer Molton Brown, they are now Julien Farel A2B Anti-Aging. I'd never heard of this line, which isn't surprising since I don't follow the news on hair stylists or sports, including tennis, but Julien Farel apparently has styled the likes of Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Serena Williams for the U.S. Open and his line is focused on hydrating and nourishing the scalp and hair.
The Verdict
We had previously so enjoyed our stay at the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco in a Mandarin Bay Bridge Room, that unfortunately this stay at the Loews Regency San Francisco in a Luxury Bridge to Bridge Room was something of a let down. Part of that of course is the fact that the Mandarin Bay Bridge Room is now called a Bay Bridge Junior Suite, which is two categories higher than the room we were in.
But even apart from being in the lower category room, it was disappointing to not be offered tea or any kind of welcome drink, something that Mandarin Oriental hotels and resorts are known for, and similarly, to not have any type of kid welcome amenity–something that Mandarin Oriental, Four Seasons, Aman Resorts, The Peninsula, Rosewood Hotels–in short, all the best luxury hotels–do offer their child guests.
Even in terms of our one basic request, made prior to our arrival and again by my husband at check-in, Loews didn't manage to deliver–there was no extra bed for our son supplied by housekeeping, and we had to request it a third time when we got back to our room after visiting friends. No apology was given for the lack of follow through on the bed.
Unfortunately, based on our admittedly brief experience, I can't recommend the Loews Regency San Francisco if you're expecting Four Seasons or Mandarin Oriental level quality and service. The “bones” of the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco are still there, but furnishings and bathrooms are looking a bit dated at this point, and there's no ETA on when the hotel will do a renovation.
If you've recently stayed at the Loews Regency San Francisco, what was your experience?
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Disclosure: I paid a travel professional rate at the Loews Regency San Francisco Hotel. The views expressed in this post are my own.
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