CA San Francisco Clarion Airport

[zbenye]

I was surprised to find mostly positive reviews on Expedia for this hotel. It is acceptable as a 2* hotel on Priceline, but these are people who paid from $70 to upwards of $100 for a room, and then had to shell out an additional $10 for parking and $9.95 for Internet, if they needed those. How do these people choose a hotel... don't they realize they would be getting far superior accommodations for this kind of money at Holiday Inn Express, Courtyard, etc.?

The hotel looks like it was very glamorous at its days, but that must have been very long ago. The lobby is remarkable and could be made grand, but sadly it looks lifeless. The corridors dark with worn carpet and paperwall.

Stepping into the room I thought I went back in time to the 60s or 70s. A wavy wall-mounted formica desk that streches over half the length of the room; an old wooden chair on wheels. The TV appears to be the newest thing in the room. Old stained carpet and wallpaper, window that has come off its reel and needs to be manipulated to open. Funny smell all around (some overly-sweet air freshener the maid squirted about?). Someone on Expedia described the room as contemporary and beautiful... maybe I got a "Priceline room"...?

My biggest gripe is the abovementioned charges for parking and Internet. These are commonplace at the 3* hotels in this zone, but as far as I know this is the only 2* hotel in the area that charges for these. That and the general dilapidated condition are a good enough reason to avoid as much as possible bidding 2* in this zone.

One can avoid parking charges by parking on the street (Cowan Rd) about two blocks away, between the Westin and the Marriott. Plenty of unrestricted space there. Walk from the hotel's rear parking lot and through a service road behind the Westin.

Telephone charges are also exaggerated: $1.50 for a local call, $2.00 for a toll-free call, additional $.10/minute over 60 minutes.

The good things are: the bed is comfortable; the bathroom is clean and much nicer than the room; all the fixtures are working; the grounds (inner courtyard) are nice; and being in a room facing the courtyard, I have noise from neither the airport nor the freeway so slept well.

[zbenye]

Free wireless Internet access in the lobby.