CA San Francisco Renaissance Stanford Court

[wcj1]

Was a little disappointed to receive this hotel because of its location. The hotel is located at the corner of California and Powell. Far enough that you cannot walk easily from Market as with most other hotels I have stayed at. The most convenient option is any of the cable car lines, as all of the lines intersect at California and Powell. (The trick to this is to mostly use the California line. The California line runs from Market/Embarcadero to Van Ness. There is never a line at Embarcadero like there is at the Powell St turnaround at Market for the other two lines. However, the mroe frequent Powell lines can be better later in the evening in my opinion after the lines have died down.)

We checked in early (slightly before noon) without a problem. I had called earlier in the week to request an interior room, on a high floor, non-smoking, king. At least I think I requested a king. When we checked in we got an interior room, on the top floor, non-smoking, but a queen (844). The front desk rep was very nice and said that the room was paid through Priceline, and then asked if I was a Marriott Rewards member and if I wanted to add my number to the reservation. That was a first.

I asked for an interior room as the exterior rooms face the cable car lines and I wanted to avoid their bells. I did not make a deal about the bed, and while the bed seemed small and cramped the first night, we somehow got used to it. Overall, the room overall fairly large. The bed and 2 side tables, a decent sized round table with 2 chairs, a small desk and chair, and an armoire with the tv and a few drawers. Through a sliding door was a sink and small tv on the counter and a closet. Through another sliding door by the sink was the toilet and tub.

Room was clean and comfortable. Have read other reviews that said the Stanford Court can be down at the heels, but I did not find it worn at all. TV has HBO and other typical cable channels. Free beverage delivery service in the morning (coffee, tea, and/or hot chocolate). That always seemed to be waiting at the door earlier than we ordered, so slightly cooler than ideal. Newspaper delivery included (USA Today at the door M-F, with extra WSJ in the lobby during the week and SF Chronicle on the weekend).

Not much in the way of other things close to the hotel (restaurants, delis, etc.). There was a convenience store 1 block south on Powell, but we never used it.

Overall, the stay was fine and the hotel was nice, but I would try to avoid it in the future. We often like to stop back at a hotel in the middle of the day to drop stuff off and rest for a bit, and the hotel location made that less convenient than the various Hyatt's for example.

BillJ

[travelinmom]

:) We stayed at the Stanford Court on Nob Hill from April 19-April 24. We bid 70.00 per night and it was accepted. I was traveling with my senior parents. I called ahead and asked for adjoining rooms and gave the hotel our Marriott Rewards numbers. When we arrived earlier than the parents, the rooms were ready and as requested. They had it set up that my parents just had to pick up a key. The rooms were on the second floor, corner. They were very nice. Not small and very clean. The tv was cable and had lots of channels. Every morning they delivered tea or coffee and a newspaper at the time you requested to your door. We didn't have problems with early delivery. One morning the tea was not super hot, but still drinkable. Every night there was turndown service available.

The cable cars were very convenient. Both lines intersected at the corner of our street, Clifornia and Powell. We were facing the street and had minimal noise. We found lovely cafes and diners two blocks from the hotel. We would walk down the hills to eat and ride the cable car back up. Chinatown was only a 2 block walk. Union square was a 3 block walk. Both areas, down hill! The ride to Fisherman's wharf was simple. Both cable car lines took us there. The cable car museum was a short walk from the hotel. (Downhill.) And a very interesting place to visit.

The staff was courteous and accomodating. My senior citizen parents were very comfortable and getting around was not a problem. We were concerned, because they cannot walk uphill. The cable cars, trams, and buses were very easy to navigate. We bought 7 day passes, which made public transportation even easier.

The hotel was so convenient and lovely. I will endeavor to stay there again.

[pilotguydave]

I will start with the positives first. The hotel was purchased for $95 on a weekend where even the smallest little ratty hotels were charging that much and more. Most of the hotels were sold out in the entire S.F. area. The service aspect of the hotel was great! They opened the doors for us every time we entered or exited, the check in was easy, the business center did not charge me when I used it, there were no additional charges added on such as resort fees, the maid service was friendly and compotent, and the entire staff tried very hard to make the whole stay a pleasant one. The room was very large complete with a two chair sitting area and a writing desk in addition to the queen bed. The bathroom was also large with a sitting area for my wife to apply makeup and a large tub and even a towell warmer.

Now for the negatives. I requested a non-smoking and received a smoking, I requested a king bed and received a queen, the appliances seemed outdated, and the arrival employee seemed a little snooty when she found out we were priceline. Other than that a nice hotel and keep in mind it was a very busy weekend which probably made our requests for non-smoking etc. hard to accomodate.

[JNR]

I stayed here one night, June 5, 2007, on a Priceline bid of $78. The hotel has the feel of old elegance but the lobby is a bit dark and slightly outdated. The staff is plentiful -- eager to please and highly competent. I was given a room on the 7th floor with a fairly nice view -- even though the side of another building partly obstructed it. This hotel has bathrobes and nice amenities although I did not recognize the brand. The room was a bit small but the bed was comfortable. The bathroom had two areas, one with the sink only. It was fine for just me but I can't imagine two people would be able to fit there. It must be one of the smaller bathroom layouts in the hotel. The beverage maker was on a table in the room. I really hate it when the beverage maker is in the bathroom -- yuck!

I did not leave the room until an hour after check out and no one complained. I left my bag with the bellman and picked it up before leaving the city that evening. The day I checked in the Powell cable car had a broken cable so access up the hill was on a free bus. I didn't buy the cable pass since I only intended to be there one night. The next day I paid the $5 fare to take the cable up the hill to retrieve my bag and on the way back down on the cable car no one asked me for another fare; it was the same crew so maybe they remembered me from 10 minutes ago.

I agree with another poster -- Nob Hill is beautiful but it's not the most convenient place if you are staying for a few days.