Hotwire Hotel: 2* San Francisco (Japantown-Civic Center North) Encore Express

[Colfax]

This was a gamble with no TripAdvisor stats and just a Highspeed Internet icon. It would have been a good deal if it turned out to be the hotel I was hoping for---a place that's been recently renovated and includes free parking. I'd never heard of Encore Express before. After seeing abysmal TripAdvisor reviews and learning Encore Express only has 18 rooms, most with a shared bathroom in the hall, I made other plans prior to checkin and didn't stay there.

There's more to this story, but that will have to wait.

The hotel's regular rate was $45 for a double bed with private bath, or $40 for double bed with shared bath.

Encore Express Hotel

1353 Bush Street

San Francisco, CA 94109

icon: Highspeed Internet

Purchase was made through the BetterBidding HOTWIRE link.

[thereuare]

Thanks for sharing this purchase with the board, enabling us to add this property to the Hotwire Hotel List.

It may be tough after these dates have passed, but beforehand i would have given HOTWIRE a call to challenge the star rating, asking if an 18 room hotel, with mostly shared baths, is what they refer to as a "quality independent" partner.

Thanks again for sharing and using our HOTWIRE link for your purchase.

[Colfax]

I booked the Encore Express the day of my stay. I know this neighorhood and I understood there was some risk of getting a bad hotel. But if the 2* had turned out to be the hotel I hoped for it would have been a sweet deal at $38; a hotel I probably would have returned to. I can't be angry at Hotwire with the outcome, as I knew what I might be getting into booking an opaque 2* hotel in this area. Win some, lose some.

After seeing the Encore's bad reviews on TripAdvisor I knew I wouldn't be staying there and I booked the nearby and familiar Opal Hotel conventionally. I planned to ask Hotwire for a refund based on the Encore's lack of private bathrooms. I thought my case for a refund would be strengthened if I actually checked into the Encore though and got assigned a room with shared bathroom, as opposed to claiming a refund based on what other people, strangers, had reported on the internet. (I also checked Hotwire's FAQ for language saying that Hotwire hotel purchases must include a private bathroom, and I couldn't find any guarantees to that effect.) If I was assigned a room with a private bath then I hoped to find some other reason for getting a refund.

I checked into the Opal first, dropped my bags, and walked over to the Encore, a few blocks away. I was surprised to find the three-story Encore on a relatively quiet and wellkept block, next door to San Francisco's Alliance Francaise. The hotel's front door was locked in the middle of the afternoon. A posted note said that Encore guests should report to the Nob Hill Hotel, two blocks away on Hyde Street, to check in and pick up keys! Thankfully I didn't have luggage with me.

I walked to Hyde Street and the clerk there told me that they'd upgraded my Hotwire reservation from the Encore to the Nob Hill, a much nicer hotel with all private bathrooms, owned by the same management company. The small lobby was actually elegant, filled with fine art and antiques. It felt like a small European hotel. The lone old-fashioned elevator still has a sliding metal gate. There was a small Italian bistro called Columbini in the lobby serving paninis and gelato. Free winetasting in the evening for hotel guests and free breakfast in the morning. The hotel's hallways and rooms were dense with paintings, sclupture, and Victorian style furniture; some good, some kitsch. I walked through all five floors, finding different things to look at on every floor, plus a rooftop garden. The Nob Hill was built in 1906 and survived the great Earthquake.

My room was small but tasteful. There was a cast iron four poster bed with silk drapes, mauve walls, Victorian art, and a remodelled bathroom. The room faced Hyde Street and I could open a large sliding window and step out onto the fire escape for a view up and down the street. I didn't actually sleep in the room and I think it might have presented comfort issues if I had. The room was small, felt stuffy, and still had a steam radiator for heat. For all the art and knickknacks in the room there wasn't a table or desk, and lighting was inadequate.

Still I thoroughly enjoyed the couple hours I spent exploring the Nob Hill Hotel. The place was an unexpected surprise and brought early 20th century SF to life for me. I think I had the best of both worlds----I could explore the hotel and enjoy the atmosphere there without having to put up with the mechanical shortcomings and inconveniences of a hotel that's over 100 years old.

You get some of the Nob Hill Hotel's flavor from the Photo Tour on their website:

Nob Hill Hotel