I stayed at the Cornell for four nights in August. I found the service to be extremely friendly, and the breakfast was good, too. Much more than expected, actually, as it wasn't just continental. As an example of the great service, I can provide the following: for the first two nights a friend stayed with me whose flight was delayed. We went to the pizza place across the street to order, and was planning to drink one of the bottles of wine we had obtained from a place in Sonoma. When Claude, one of the owners, saw us, he offered us a table in the as-yet-unfinished cafe near reception. While he kindly refused when we offered him a glass, he stayed to chat with us for a bit, and remembered us the following day as well. The hotel also will arrange an airport shuttle for you, if needed.
My room was on the 4th floor, and the window faced a shaft open to the sky, so it was very quiet in the room while still being quite sunny during the day. The room was small, but the bed was very comfortable. If I were to stay there again with a boyfriend I'd probably get a larger room, because it was quite tight with the luggage of two people, even though we didn't have a lot. For the second two nights, when I was there on my own, the room was the perfect size. I'm only marking it down a little bit because the shower was pretty tight, even though I'm a pretty small person, the maids had missed a bit of dusting, and there was no cable TV. Aside from those pretty minor things I was very happy with the hotel.
The hotel itself is near Union Square, and also near Market St. It's also within a longish walk to the Marina. There are many bus lines close by, and of course the Muni Rail and BART on Market St. The California and Powell cable car lines are also nearby. There are also a lot of restaurant and cafe options. I will definitely stay here again the next time I'm in San Francisco and need a hotel room. I wish I could give this hotel a 4.5 star rating.
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