So we took advantage of the travel deals currently occurring and chose to stay for a week in early December 2008.
The first thing I did was look out the window where I received my first minor disappointment – our “bay view” room was more like a “city view.” Yes you could see a corner of Alcatraz Island if standing near the window and looking down the street. But if just standing in the middle of the room looking out the window, it was a view of Grace Cathedral, not the bay. The good news is that’s a pretty good view, especially at night in December when the trees in the park all had lights and the interior lights shine out the windows of the cathedral.
The room (a standard room with a king bed) was quite luxurious. It was large, nicely decorated room retaining the historic trim with lush bedding, a walk-in closet, and a marble lined bathroom. Furnishings also included a Radio/CD player and a DVD player, and a mini-bar with room for your own stuff in the armoire that also held the TV. Your choice of newspaper (or newspapers) is/are delivered each morning. There were several items that detracted from the room in my opinion. First, the TV wasn’t a flat-panel TV. To me, you can’t be a “5-star” establishment these days if you haven’t upgraded the TV – they just aren’t that expensive anymore. Second was the internet charge (approximately $10/day). Internet charges just bug me when internet is included almost every “basic” hotel these days and certainly does not cost the hotel anywhere near $10/day to provide internet service to a room. Finally, there was a lack of drawer space – only 2 very small drawers and one medium drawer in the armoire holding the TV and mini-bar.
The public lounge area in the hotel is now very small – they have converted most of it into either a restaurant or the “Executive Club Lounge.” The lounge was nice it had a 42” plasma TV, games, books, newspapers, satellite radio, internet, complementary beverages, a pretty full breakfast (basically a deluxe cold buffet with smoked salmon, nice cheese, fruit, and breads), and other snacks during the day. Plus there is another concierge type person in the lounge to provide assistance. The problem of course is that the Club Lounge isn’t open to general guests – this color and charm will set you back $30 per person per day if you are staying in a “Standard Room” but is included with a “Executive Club Level Room”. We did use lounge extensively one cold and rainy day when we weren’t doing much sight seeing, but I’d be hard pressed to recommend paying for it either as part of the room cost or as a separate charge.
Service is where the Mark Hopkins shines. Every staff member we dealt with was incredibly and went out of their way to help us with what we needed. Especially when dealing with a couple of minor problems and of course getting us to the airport to fly home. In this respect – they achieved perfection.
Hint – the door on California Street marked “Top of the Mark” isn’t just for the restaurant. It will lead you to an elevator to the lobby and the rooms pretty quickly and save you part of the walk up the hill from the Powell Street cable cars.
Hint 2 – Your basic transportation up/down Nob Hill will be the cable cars. They cost $5 each trip. Therefore, you WILL want the muni-passport (1-day $11; 3-day $18; or 7-day $21). See info here: <url> Or get the CityPass if you want to include museums too.
hotel reviews