This hotel is tired, worn out, old and in desperate need of a remodel. I chose it because it's a good bit less expensive than anything I could find in the Financial District and because of its proximity to the BART. It was - however - still really expensive, averaging over $200 a night.
The location - 8th & Market - was once a bustling city center. Unfortunately it's fallen onto hard times, neighboring a couple sketchy neighborhoods. There isn't much at all for restaurants - save a Burger King, Carl's/Green Burrito and a couple of diners. (I had the Korean Tacos at Sam's on Market and they were quite good actually). The proximity to the BART rail is great - right around the corner. For walking, however, consider the surroundings.
The front desk staff was friendly and accommodating. No complaints there. I moved rooms after my first night because of the construction on a neighboring skyscraper at 5:30am and they were able to do it even though they were at capacity. I got some free drink tickets and my room came with breakfast. The breakfast bar was ok. Scrambled eggs, sausage, bacon, croissants, juice, fruit, etc. Not sure what the price was (as it was included in my rate) but it was a good notch above a continental. Speaking to the need for a remodel - the coffee cups are in need of replacing, stained brown from a zillion served.
I had the opportunity to use the fitness center a couple times. It's a small room, but worked for me. A couple treadmills, cycles, steppers and a weight bench. They had a TV and towels and water. Nothing super special, but certainly good enough.
This brings me to the room. Ugh. As stated, I moved due to the construction noise. That room faced East. My new room faced West. 15 feet from my window was another hotel so 70% of my view was a big concrete wall. I could see the city to the right and it wasn't a total bummer. Noise was still an issue. Even on the 10th floor. I was awakened every night by a loud steel bang - like a steel plank covering a hole in the sidewalk was being walked over or something. This happened a few times. Street noise isn't too bad unless there's a siren or really loud truck. Room-to-room noise, however, wasn't a problem.
In general, the room just needed some attention. There were plugs in the base of the lamp - one was missing and one of them was pulled out, exposing wires. It looked ugly and was probably dangerous to a little kid. The walls were scuffed. The wireless worked ok for 3 of my 5 nights and on the other 2 I could connect but it dropped every couple minutes. Very frustrating. Under the chair in my first room was a belt. How that was missed by the cleaning crew...I can't say because I saw it 5 minutes after I checked in. There was a little plastic garbage can int the hall near my room for 2 days. It was empty...but why? How did it get there and why didn't someone take it away? There were little stains on my sheets the first night. The sheets were clean - but stained - right next to the pillow. It could be seen without even crawling in. Kinda creepy - at least put the stain at the bottom of the bed so the guest wouldn't eve know, right? Overall it seems like they just don't care that much about these things at this hotel. Let's change the sheets and towels and move on. The bathroom was ok, but one night after a workout there was no hot water. Seemed ok each morning though.
In the end, this is what I would expect from a Knights Inn, Motel 6 or EconoLodge off a freeway. You're paying $40 for a room you expect things to be a bit shady. But I expect more from a Holiday Inn in the center of a major US city. Especially when you're paying over $200/night. A little more attention to detail. I doubt I would stay here again. I'd rather be a couple more miles out and/or pay a bit more and have a better experience.
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