CA San Francisco Hotel Britton Civic Center

[zbenye]

Hotel Britton Civic Center

Considering that this hotel is in a seedy part of town, I arrived with low expectations. I am happy to report that this is a prefectly nice hotel, and I did not feel unsafe. Nor was I bothered by the homeless people in the steet. The hotel is on 7th Street at Mission, one block south of Market Street and the BART station.

The hotel's website portrays it as a European-style hotel. The room was indeed small but larger than hotel rooms I got in Europe, and would have been larger if it weren't for my insistance on a non-smoking room, the last one left. Besides that it was quite American: normal tub with a showerhead, a sink with a single faucet where hot water can be mixed with cold water, standard 2-sheets+blanket+bed-cover rather than the dreadful European single sheet+duvet. The furniture had an antique facade, but open the drawers and look inside and you'll immediately realize it's all brand new. That's a good thing in my book and I would be just as happy without the silly facade.

The towels were new and carefully folded and decorated, and everything was brilliantly clean. Amenities included soap and shampoo, coffee maker with condiments. There was a full-size TV with a good selection of channels. A mini ironing board but no iron; can probably borrow from the front desk.

The room had a ceiling fan but no air conditioner. Usually that's not a problem in SF, but don'tcha know, we're in the middle of a heat wave (meaning temps in the mid 70s...) My room had a window that opened onto an internal space so no view and not much breeze. I prefer that over a room facing the street (noisy). There was some internal noise - the woman next door yapping on the phone. The walls are obviously not very thick. Fortunately she went to sleep before it got very late.

The hotel's wireless Internet signal in my room was weak, but I had a strong signal from the adjacent Best Western hotel. All were free.

They charge for local and 800 calls, so use your cellphone instead.

There is a pizza restaurant in the building.

Parking is $15. You can park on the street overnight as long as you get going by 7am when the meter maids start making their rounds.

The front-desk staff was OK.

No additional taxes on checkout.

[Colfax]

When zbenye wrote his review in 2006 it was Hotel Britton. Now it's the Good Hotel, a whole different animal. Here's a copy and paste of my review comments from Feb 2011. I won the hotel as a 2* for $63.

From Good Hotel's brochure:

Featuring 117 rooms the Good Hotel is San Francisco's hotel with a conscience. The philanthropic nature of this hotel is designed to inspire the "good in us all". The eco-friendly hotel decor highlights pieces designed from recycled, reclaimed, or reused materials, and is located in the SOMA district at the corner of 7th & Mission

.

I've never stayed at a hotel with a conscience before. "BE GOOD" was stencilled in large letters on the wall of my room. Prominently posted in the lobby was a phone number for locating volunteer work in SF. Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf? Not this trip...I'm delivering Meals on Wheels.

Eco Friendly too. Bicycles in the lobby for hotel guests to use for free (with credit card deposit). A sign in the bathroom mentions two water sources--fresh water for bathing and gray water for flushing the toilet.

Good Hotel is geared towards younger travellers on a budget. There's a penny arcade style photo booth in the lobby where you can snap four photos, then thumbtack them to the hotel's Photo Wall. I perused hundreds of pinned photos and saw few faces over forty. The crowd was mostly 20's and 30's, international, piercings and tattoos abundant. At times I felt like I was at a hostel in Europe more than a conventional American hotel. Being at 7th & Mission there's some street noise but on the inside the hotel's not raucous or wild. There's uniformed security after dark and elevator requires a hotel key to access.

Room was generously sized with a platform style bed. Lime green and banana yellow motifs, reminded me of IKEA. The hotel restaurant is called Good Pizza. I didn't try. Parking $20. Internet free. Guests can use the gym at Best Western Americania across the street, under the same ownership.

I probably won't seek Good out again, but fun for a change and not a bad backup in a pinch. It was Good Enough.