We had a wonderful week in San Francisco and really enjoyed the Handlery. I can't imagine a more perfect location and it's really a nice place. We had a club room and had hoped to get a balcony but they weren't available when we got there. However, our room did have a giant sliding glass door that we really enjoyed. We appreciated the coffee maker and little fridge, too--we bought fruit at the Ferry Building farmer's market and we kept it cooled. We didn't use the robes or the shoeshine machine but they were a nice touch. Also, they had a scale in the bathroom--guess it's to keep us honest with all the wonderful food in the city.
As I said, there were just a couple things that keep me from giving the Handlery a 5. We had a few issues with the staff--all of whom were very friendly but generally, not that helpful. First, I had done a lot of research planning our trip and emailing different hotels to see about getting a smoking room. The Handlery was one of the few places that indicated that it was likely--no promises--but likely. As suggested, we emailed a day ahead reminding them of the request. When we arrived we asked again and the clerk said, nope, none available. It hadn't been promised but it sure didn't seem like they made any attempt either. We were there a little early and I’d have felt better if he had at least been willing to check to see if a smoking room might be cleaned and readied later—anything—if he’d just acted like he cared at all, but it was just “no”. We might well have ended up choosing the Handlery anyway but a lot of the decision was made because they indicated we could probably get the smoking room and after being there I’m guessing that they have very few available. *Note--on the positive side, smoking was allowed at the pool area, which was just a level down and very near our room so my brother didn't have to go out and huddle in the hotel doorway like so many other people we saw at many of the non-smoking properties.
The other issue was with the internet connection. We didn't go to SF to surf the net or to work but we both had a couple loose ends to take care of for work. My brother travels for a living so has to connect from hotels wherever he is, so he knew that the problem was not just his computer or his settings like they implied. Long-story-short, they ran us around for several days before a bellman finally admitted that most people had to take their laptops elsewhere and advised us that there was free wi-fi at nearby Union Square. We never found out if it was a temporary problem or they just don't actually have internet available but if they had been honest from the start we could have made other arrangements. Once again, the staff was extremely pleasant but their lack of honestly caused both a lot of frustration and a few problems.
*Tip: For the club rooms, the hotel garage entry on O’Farrell is actually much handier than the hotel’s front door. Just a doorway down from there is a little print shop called Cyber Copy where they have internet access available. The guy has a bunch of computers already set up and online so no bothering with special logins or passwords to get connected. He just scribbles your time on a scrap of paper and you bring it back when you’re done and you can even get pages printed if you need. And he’s cheap, too—I think it was $8 an hour broken down every 15 mins. For people who just need to check their emails occasionally it’s probably a better deal than paying for internet in your room—even if you can get it to work.
A note about the noise: I'd seen complaints in this forum about noise at the Handlery and many other hotels night. I thought these must be sensitive folks from quiet towns or 'burbs not used to city sounds. After being there, I got it! It is NOISY at night. A couple evenings, after midnight someone started playing music on the street corner below. Another night a fight broke out and went on and on until the cops showed up with sirens blasting. Complaints about the garbage collections are legit too. I thought people posting that were just nit-picking, but this is one loud-mother operation! For us it usually started around 1AM and went on for about an hour while city workers pick up trash cans left out on the sidewalks--with the perpetual safety-beepers blaring, clanging-banging, and noisy mechanical lifts jamming it into the trucks, working their way block by block. We survived. I was able to tune it out reasonably easily after the first night. Maybe the trick was all the walking we did and climbing up & down those near-vertical streets so we were dead tired by bedtime. But I'd advise anyone who is sound sensitive to pick up a white-noise machine or even just run a loud fan to help tune down the decibels. We were on the 3rd floor but I think it was loud enough that even the higher floors might get their share of the noise. Once again, this isn't an issue with the Handlery any more than any of the other hotels in the area. It's the trade-off to be in a such a great location.
Overall, despite the few issues with the staff, we really did enjoy staying at the Handlery and our entire trip. We would definitely stay there again. It would be a great choice for most people unless you are a smoker and you absolutely object to stepping out to smoke or you need to use your computer in the room. Bottom line was that it was very clean and so comfortable after being out exploring the city all day. Not luxury—but it more than met our needs.
One last suggestion: Skip the Daily Grill attached to the hotel and eat at the Irish bar next door--forgot the name now. It's not fancy at all but they've got very good comfort food, meat & potatoes, and more. They serve late and are very reasonably priced. We give it a big "thumbs up"!
hotel reviews