From previous trips, we knew that Union Square is an ideal area for touring San Francisco but we found hotels very! expensive there. Then, I found this one on tripadvisor and it was a bargain. It is a budget hotel of course, but it's a five minute walk to Union Square. There are dozens of restaurants, diners, fast food joints, etc, in the area so that was ideal.
It certainly is not fancy from the outside; my taxi driver was surprised I was going there. But it's fine, really. Check in went smoothly; I arrived in the morning so they held my luggage for a few hours while I took a bus tour. The room (709) was quite large with a large bathroom with tub/shower ... the sink was in the bedroom area. (Only a few bars of soap and a hair dryer are provided. This is NOT a Hilton.) Certainly not fancy but clean and comfortable with a big desk, ideal for my computer.
The Wi-Fi ($5 extra) worked fine once I figured out which of the Union networks I was supposed to use. A bit more advice from the front desk would have been useful.
From this room the view is of rooftops but it was very quiet (high up and not facing the street). There is no control of heat from the room and to me, it seemed like they ran the heat warmer than necessary but it was surprisingly cool weather. No idea if they have air conditioning. Did not notice any evidence of that.
My wife might have turned her nose up at this hotel but she would have been happy once she realized that it was half the price of *anything* better. (I was on business this time without her, with some time off for touring.) I don't know what the story is re: parking; I did not have a car on this trip.
So, if you are not expecting something fancy, and if you don't mind walking a couple of blocks further than from the really expensive hotels, this place should be fine. Clean, comfortable, great location, and surprisingly affordable even in July.
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