Earlier this year, my wife and I made a lovely weekend in San Francisco out of using an expiring Fine Hotels and Resorts credit combined with an 85K Marriott free night certificate that we received from the Amex Bonvoy Brilliant card. We used the free night cert at the St Regis San Francisco, both of our first times at the property. Our experience was somewhat mixed.
St Regis San Francisco Bottom Line Review
The St Regis San Francisco does some things very well. It’s a calm respite in the midst of the city, the property is very well maintained and most of the service is professional and refined. That said, I couldn’t help but be underwhelmed. The smallish hotel goes for understated elegance, but tips over just a bit too much into the sterile side for my liking. While most of the staff was great, our experience with the restaurant and bar service was surprisingly poor. Modest amenities and high award prices when compared to cash rates made this St Regis somewhat of a bit of a mixed bag for us. One thumb up, one thumb down
- Price: We used an 85K free night certificate from an Amex Bonvoy Brilliant card. The award price would have been 75,000 Marriott Bonvoy points/night, while cash prices were ~$500/night during our stay.
- Value: When we were there the value was just below average at ~.67 cents per point (we value the average redemption of Marriott Bonvoy points at 0.7 cents each).
- Location: The hotel has a good location right next to the Museum of Modern Art, the Moscone Center and Yerba Buena Gardens. It’s about a 5-10 minute walk to Chinatown, the Ferry Building and Oracle Park, and the BART train to the airport is around a block and a half away.
- Room: We booked a standard room and were proactively upgraded to a ~450sq ft “Grand Deluxe” Room, effectively a standard “Deluxe” room on a higher floor. As per usual with St Regis, everything in the room was comfortable and top-notch, from the bed to the loungers.
- Parking: Nightly valet parking is $91.20+tax and self parking is $80.
- Resort/Destination Fee: None.
- Internet: Very good throughout the property.
- Service: The front desk here was one of the best we’ve encountered in the US. Detailed, friendly, pro-active…they were great and really went above and beyond to cover what was on offer at the hotel, what we had access to as elite members and nearby entertainment and recreational options. The restaurant staff was the complete opposite. Our server seemed hungover, both of our (one-item) orders were messed up and the food was cold.
- Turndown service: Nightly.
- Dining:
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Astra: Smallish restaurant located between the bar and the street. Our only experience was our morning elite breakfast which left something to be desired. Open Monday for breakfast from 6:30am – 10:30am, for lunch from 11:30am – 2:00pm; Tues-Sat for breakfast from 6:30am – 10:30am, for lunch from 11:30am -2:00pm, dinner from 5:30pm – 10:00pm and Sunday brunch from 6:30am – 2pm.
- St Regis Bar: Tucked into two, separate spaces between the street and the front desk. Daily champagne sabering. Open daily from 12pm -12am.
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- Spa: None. There is a small pool area that quickly feels cramped with even a few folks.
- Fitness Room: Oddly, given the abbreviated amenities elsewhere, the fitness area takes up almost half a floor and is very well-equipped.
- Marriott Titanium Benefits:
- Room Upgrade: We booked a standard room and were proactively upgraded to a Grand Deluxe King, which is a normal king room on a higher floor
- Free Breakfast: One of the most lackluster St Regis breakfasts I’ve ever come across. Instead of being able to order off of the normal breakfast menu, elite members have an 8-item menu to choose from. The selections we had were extremely small and the quality sub-par.
- Club Lounge: None.
- Late Checkout: We were automatically given a 4pm checkout.
- Welcome Amenity: Chocolate truffles.
- Would I stay again? Probably not. By no means was this an unpleasant place to stay, but the cash and award prices aren’t worth the cost, in my humble opinion.
Pros
- Good location
- In-room materials are plush, as usual for St Regis
- Most of the service is very good
Cons
- Seems to usually be average to below-average points value
- Light on amenities (outside of a nice fitness center)
- Restaurant service was lackluster for us
- Poor elite breakfast, especially for a St Regis
Image Gallery
St Regis San Francisco Grand Deluxe King Room
St Regis San Francisco Restaurants
Astra
St Regis Bar
St Regis San Francisco Pool
St Regis San Francisco Fitness Area
St Regis San Francisco Common Areas
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