My daughter and I were in town for some college visits and wanted to find a location with easy access to highways, as well as easy access for public transportation, BART, cable cars, and tourist sights. I had read many reviews online about this hotel, and had requested a quiet room, away from the club on the 2nd floor, as well as a room with good cell phone reception. (Several people had commented that some rooms were loud and that they had trouble with reception.) Our little room was just perfect on the 7th floor. Check-in was easy, but I wasn't sure that the lady at the check-in desk understood everything we were saying. I asked if they had vending machines, but she didn't understand that, so I asked about pop machines, and she didn't understand that, so my daughter asked about Diet Coke. THAT she understood, but they didn't have a pop machine. (Rats, but we walked to Walgreens about a block away and stocked up on drinks for the week. Walgreens also offered the tickets for unlimited rides on the cable cars. I think they were City Passes, or something of the sort. We paid $21 for unlimited cable car and street car rides for 3 days. Walgreens also had some cute little souvenirs.)
We loved the exposed brick wall in our room. The bed was very comfortable, as was the bedding. The room was very clean, which is a biggy to me. They had a computer and printer in their breakfast area, which we used to print our boarding passes the day before we left, so that was handy. The breakfast was very adequate, with oatmeal, boiled eggs, bagels, cream cheese, yogurt, granola, bananas, and apples; with coffee, tea, or juice to drink. We had to request ice water, but they kept coming to our table to refill it for us. The men who were in charge of the breakfast area were very attentive to everyone's needs. Really, all of the staff were kind and helpful. They offered us a map of the city which was very helpful, as it showed street car, cable car, bus, and BART routes. Several people had complained in reviews about the old and slow elevator. We had no problems with it at all. We felt very safe using it, and having to wait just a little bit wasn't that big of a deal to us. The only negative we had during the trip was the loud trash trucks just outside our alleyway window at 5AM each morning. But, that's life in the city, I suppose! We would definitely stay there again. The manager did tell me that they were changing the name of the hotel to "The Mystic" on April 1, 2012 and would have an on-site restaurant at that time.
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