CA San Francisco Dakota USW

[zbenye]

The location of this hotel is good for tourists as it is two blocks from Union Square with shops and restaurants all around.

The hotel is in an old building. They take pride in owning (and operating) one of only four bird-cage elevators remaining in the city. While it's amazing to see it, the 80+ years old machine is difficult to operate, dangerous (the gates can cut/bruise/chop fingers) and probably not very reliable (though it worked fine the four times I used it). A sign next to it encourages (begs?) guests to use the stairs - "the exercise is good for you"... Yeah right, I'm going to climb up 8 stories... Done enough climbing in the army for this lifetime.

The room was clean and not terribly small. Lights and water fixtures were all in working order. The furniture was old and worn. Part of the charm? Maybe to someone else. There were actually four separate pieces of furniture that included drawers, for ample storage space, but about half of the drawers have long lost their handles and couldn't be opened... To me this room was like an old Motel 6.

There were one queen bed; desk; dresser; closet; one phone with one line; mini-fridge; microwave. Iron and board can be requested, the guest services manual states. The bathroom was uncomfortable: claw-foot tub with a makeshift shower installed on it, completely surrounded all around with curtains. Nowhere to hold on, no soap dish. The sink had rounded edges so you couldn't park anything like a toothbrush or a razor on it. And it had separate faucets for hot and cold water - a piece of history I could do without. Small soap bars and shampoo provided.

Outside noise was not too bad on the 7th floor. My windows opened onto the fire escape ladder. The inner walls were thin but fortunately I had quiet neighbors.

The temperature in the room was comfortable. The hot water radiator came to life at around 9:30 in the evening (it announced its awakening rather loudly), and was still going on when I checked out at 7 AM. I think it was another rude burp from the radiator that woke me up at 5:30.

Local phone calls incur a $.50 connection fee. 800 calls are charged $.75. That's what it says on the sticker on the phone. In the guest services manual, however, these same rates are indicated per every 5 minutes... I didn't check which it is.

High-speed Internet was non-existent.

No food service.

Parking: garages and lots nearby.

Front desk: very friendly.

No additional taxes/fees charged.

I would not want to stay there again, but for WT - this probably beats a hostel.

I believe this will be my last attempt at Hotwire 2* hotels in SF.