1 Hotel San Francisco — Hotel in San Francisco

As a city resident who works just down the street from 1 Hotel SF, I thought it would be the perfect choice for a staycation to celebrate my anniversary. Unfortunately, in hindsight, I wish I had chosen differently.

I booked using the friends and family rate, which initially went through without issue. However, after reserving my stay, I was informed I needed to provide an authorization form upon check-in—a requirement that was not mentioned prior to booking. While I accepted this oversight as partly my fault, it would have been helpful if the hotel had communicated this upfront.

Before my arrival, I requested and was granted an early check-in, and I was informed of my room number. However, due to traffic delays, I arrived later than my early check-in time. Upon checking in, I was given a different room on a much lower floor, with a view that didn’t match what I’d booked or what was advertised. When I inquired with the front desk about the discrepancy, I was told no other rooms were available.

After seeing the room, I was deeply disappointed—it didn’t resemble the online photos or what I had envisioned for my anniversary. I contacted Guest Services, and thankfully, Julie was able to resolve the issue by moving us to a higher floor with the expected view. Clearly, there was availability, which left me questioning the front desk’s earlier response.

The following morning, I checked with the concierge about my checkout time and was told it was 4 p.m. However, when I returned to the hotel around 1 p.m., my keycard no longer worked. The front desk informed me that checkout was actually 12 p.m., and while they “granted” me an extension until 2 p.m., they would charge extra if I stayed until the 4 p.m. time I had originally been told.

This miscommunication caused significant disruptions. My partner, who had flown in from Vietnam for the weekend, and I planned to take a 3:45 p.m. ferry located conveniently across the street from the hotel. Instead, we had to travel across the city to get ready for our dinner reservations, only to miss both the ferry and our reservations because of the last-minute checkout notice. This mishap ruined what had been carefully planned for weeks. Clear and consistent communication from the hotel could have prevented this entirely.

While Julie’s efforts to resolve our room issue were appreciated, the overall lack of professionalism and communication from the front desk staff soured our experience. What was supposed to be a relaxing two-day staycation turned into a stressful and disappointing one-night ordeal. I even shortened my reservation because of how frustrating the experience was.

Although I appreciate the brand’s aesthetic and sustainability ethos, I can’t see myself returning. For the price paid, the weekend was an immense letdown. What should have been a smooth and memorable anniversary weekend was riddled with avoidable inconveniences—and ironically, the smoothest part of the experience was...

While the interiors are aesthetically appealing, the guest experience here is sorely lacking. Our room was well laid out, comfortable bed and nice amenities but this hotel offered little beyond a good night’s rest.

On the afternoon we arrived we hoped to enjoy a drink at the hotel bar prior to heading out for dinner. When we got to the threshold of the restaurant we were sharply informed that the restaurant was bought out for the night and there was not room for walk-ins, there are no other options for drinks or dining at this hotel so we left. This would have been nice to know at check-in.

The next day we got up to grab breakfast downstairs and sat at the bar as we wanted to have mimosas to start the day. After waiting for 10 mins or so as staff walked by without acknowledging, we realized there was no table service. You have to queue at the entry to order. This is not up to my expectations of service at a 5 star hotel but even more shocking is the price tag for this privilege. We had 2 mimosas, a cappuccino and 2 breakfasts which came to ~$100. I have no problem paying that for breakfast but not at a glorified coffee counter. There is no way to order another round of drinks or refill of water without getting back up to order at the counter again. We noticed the line backed up into the lobby several times over our 3 night stay.

And the 3rd strike came that night after we had returned from a concert. We arrived to the hotel at 9:45 and thought we’d get a night cap before heading to bed. When we got to the restaurant we were very informed there was no drink service, it was past last call - there was a sense that this should have been obvious to us. We asked what time the bar closed and were informed 10:00 pm. This is a major US city and a Friday night no less. We travel pretty extensively in the US and abroad and even some of the more remote locations have access to food/drinks past 10 on a weekend.

At this point we realized there were some real gaps between our expectations of a 5 star hotel and what the 1 Hotel San Francisco offers particularly around food/beverage/service. We chalked it up to a learning experience (an expensive one) and determined that we are not a fit for this hotel chain. If you are accustomed to staying at 5 star hotels I would suggest you adjust your expectations here or you will be disappointed. While the issues getting food and drinks over our stay were frustrating, worse was the total lack of hospitality - some built into their program (being ignored while we sat at the bar) but some personnel specific (two of the restaurant staff we interacted with were positively rude). There are plenty of hotels in the city with food, beverage and service that warrant a 5 star rating - that’s where we’ll...

I typically love 1 Hotels, especially the Los Angeles and Brooklyn Heights properties, but this location really fell short. It is nowhere near being a 5 star hotel and truly doesn't match the definition. There are very limited room choices. I had booked a king studio alcove for the square footage (it has a living room set up in addition to the bed area). Upon arrival we discovered that ALL the studio alcoves are internal facing. The room had one sad window in the corner that looked out onto an airshaft and no natural light. This is already pretty shocking for a room category of this level in a supposed 5 star hotel. The only option we were given is to move to a much smaller room with a king bed and sofa bed for our son that had a bridge view. The view was nice if you stood in the corner of the room or directly at the window, otherwise you were looking out onto another building. Definitely was not a direct view. The room was very basic with a tiny bathroom and one small sink. There are limited bathroom amenities and mini bar was super basic. There were no little touches or luxuries in the room. I would say the room itself is the equivalent of a 3.5 star hotel. Turn down service is available only upon request and the staff seemed very confused about what to do. They simply take your robe and slippers out of the closet and put them by the bed and closed the curtains. They did not leave water or chocolates by the bed, once again, there are NO small touches. This applies to the lobby area as well. No coffee in the morning, no welcome drink upon arrival. Really just no frills that you'd typically find in a 5 star hotel. There's one restaurant on the property and it doesn't even serve a sit down breakfast. You order at a counter from a limited menu. The food is solid but nothing to write home about as you can see in the reviews of Terrene online. The gym is tiny. I did not check out the spa. When I filled out a mid stay survey, a staff member got in touch with me about my experience. They offered a $100 credit at the restaurant which was nice but honestly, for this lackluster experience, I think there should have been more offered. Overall the staff was nice and polite but did not go "above and beyond" in hospitality that is typically found in a 5 star hotel. If the rooms were around $250 a night, I think the value would be acceptable but at this price point, I would never stay at this...