This Ritz-Carlton San Francisco Club Lounge Review is from our recent 2017 stay on the hotel's club level. I was looking forward to our stay, having had a great experience a few years back on the Club Level, even before the hotel's 2015 renovation. Visiting San Francisco? See all our posts tagged San Francisco.
Ritz-Carlton San Francisco Club Lounge Benefits and Hours
The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco Club Lounge is located on the hotel's 8th floor, and is open 6 am to 10 pm daily. It offers 4 complmentary food and beverage presenations daily (there's no afternoon tea at this property, as there is at some others, such as the Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong).
- Breakfast: 6 am to 11 am
- Light Lunch: 12 noon to 4 pm
- Hors d'oeuvres and Cocktails: 5 pm to 8 pm
- Desserts and Cordials: 8 pm to 10 pm
Additional benefits include:
- Check-in and check-out in the Club Lounge
- Dedicated concierge service
- Wine tastings from a Northern California winery on Friday and Saturday evenings from 5 pm to 7 pm
- Special caviar presentation on Saturday evenings from 6 pm to 7 pm
Lunch, Ritz-Carlton San Francisco Club Lounge
We arrived at the hotel during the lunch presentation, much to our son's delight, since he was already hungry despite our late breakfast.
There were several sandwiches, of which my favorite was the one with spinach and caramelized onions.
The creamy porcini soup was fantastic:
For those watching their waistline, there were also salad options:
And there was egg salad and tuna salad as well, for those wanting to make their own sandwiches:
We finished off with an apple and a chocolate chip cookie:
Evening Hors d'Oeuvres and Desserts, Ritz-Carlton San Francisco Club Lounge
My husband was out for the evening, catching up with an old friend in the area, and since I had work to do, it was incredibly convenient to be able to enjoy a light supper in the Club Lounge with my son and not have to go out somewhere or wait for room service.
My favorites among the appetizers were the crab crostini and the goat cheese puffs:
My son, of course, loved everything with cheese–the goat cheese puffs above, but also the cheeses from the cheese board:
He also had a mandarin orange, from the fresh fruit display.
Since it was a Friday night, there was also a wine tasting presented by William Cole Vineyards, with an outstanding Cabernet Sauvignon:
Among the desserts, I enjoyed the chocolate espresso cookies and the vanilla creams:
I'm not a fan of red velvet cake, but there were portions of it for those who do enjoy it:
Breakfast, Ritz-Carlton San Francisco Club Lounge
Breakfast featured a cold buffet, with fresh fruit and berries, smoked salmon, yogurt, cereals and cheeses:
There was also a hot buffet, with scrambled eggs, bacon, and frittata. The frittata was delicious.
The pastries featured everything except almond croissants, but the pain au chocolat with the INNA jam made up for it:
The Verdict
We really enjoyed our experience in the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco Club Lounge, both the food and drink offerings and the attentive service. It's not a huge lounge, but we never had a problem finding a place to sit as a family. I especially liked that local producers such as Petaluma's Bellwether Farms Sheep Milk yogurt and Emeryville's INNA jam were featured at breakfast. And in the evening, the wine tasting, courtesy of William Cole Vineyards from St. Helena, was a superb addition. There's no afternoon tea, as at some other Ritz-Carlton properties, but we didn't miss it, with the cookies and fresh whole fruit always available, and the ample savory offerings at lunch and for the evening cocktail hour.
We were fortunate to be accommodated with late check-out from our room, given our flight was delayed a few hours, but if that hadn't been possible, the Club Lounge is a comfortable place to be before your room or suite is ready, or after you need to check-out, but aren't quite ready to leave the hotel.
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Review: Ritz-Carlton Hong Kong Club Lounge
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Disclosure: I paid for my stay, using a travel professional rate. The views expressed in this post are my own.
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