Foreword: I've lived in the San Francisco area for 40 years, so I know of what I speak.
The Renoir Hotel is in a truly awful location -- right smack in the middle of the worst part of the Tenderloin, which is Crackhead/Homeless/Mentally Disturbed Central. If you are young and used to staying in questionable areas in your travels to save money, then it might be OK for you (although I thought the rooms were overpriced). It IS in a good, central location with excellent public transportation right on the block. It is also very close to Union Square, theaters and great restaurants (although several blocks away). I wouldn't, however, want to be getting off BART or Muni late at night even to walk the 1/2 block to the hotel. Do not under any circumstances stay with your children. They might be scarred for life by what happens right outside your doors. To be fair to the Renoir, it's not their fault their location is so abysmal. The homeless problem in San Francisco is well known and their hotel just happens to be right in the middle of the worst part of it. It is what it is so be forewarned.
The employees working at the Renoir were very polite and knowledgeable. Absolutely no fault there. There is a young vibe at the hotel and I noticed that most of their clientele is young and multi-national. Their employees as well are multi-national and (what's the word for it now?) hip. Very appealing personnel.
On the hotel's website they say they went through a renovation? I can't imagine what was renovated as everything looked tired, threadbare and just a little bit soiled. The carpeting in the hotel's entry is repaired with duct tape!! I think the room photo provided by the hotel on the various travel websites is a bad representation of the rooms. The room was a step up from a dorm room and about as aesthetically pleasing. Don't look for any of those cute little luxury items you'll find even at a Motel 6. You can see lovely bits of architecture here and there that show you the property was once probably ultra-sophisticated in the 1930s, but until someone comes along and does a FULL restoration of the building (and maybe picks the building up in its entirety and plops it down in another location in San Francisco), it's sad to see how what was once a grand dame has fallen to the trollop level.
So to wrap up:
* Do NOT book here If this is your first trip to San Francisco. Spend a little more money and go to a hotel with a solid good rating, or go a little further out from the center of the City because otherwise your first impression is going to be a bad one. Public transportation is excellent in San Francisco so you can go further out from the center of the city or even stay in Berkeley e.g. and BART into San Francisco daily.
* Do NOT book if you are traveling with children.
* Do NOT book if you are looking to spend a romantic stay in San Francisco with your spouse/partner. When you get a look at the neighborhood and your room, your libido will shrivel up faster than a positive reading of an STD screening.
* It might be OK if you are used to an extreme urban environment outside your door.
* It might be OK if you don't much care where you sleep at night, you just want the best possible location to get from Point A to Point B.
* I wouldn't recommend this hotel because I think you can do much, much better for your money.
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