I visited the Sir Francis Drake as part of a convention and my stay there was dictated by my employer.
While extremely convenient being just off Union Square on Powell Street, the hotel has been tampered with and its once elegant lobby is now a bar, frequently filled with noisy people. The red Beefeater set atop the bar is awful! Another issue is the fact that one of its premier attractions, its skytop lounge, was closed for a private function and hence I never got to see it.
My room was small, with a capital "S". I don't know if this was the size the room was originally, but the only time I stayed in a smaller hotel room was in Japan at an airport hotel! My room also was noisy and unfortunately someone nearby frequently played rap music, loudly.
The staff were reasonably kind and the front door man was a gem. The room was clean, but there were small cockroaches evident in the bathroom.
Considering that I have stayed in several other hotels in San Francisco, I would pass by the Sir Francis Drake.
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