Hampton Inn San Francisco Downtown/Convention Center — Hotel in San Francisco

This was my 1st time staying at a Hampton Inn. We stayed here for 3 nights. ||Very nondescript front and back entrances though the mosaic wall was cool inside on the way to the front desk. ||Everything everyone has written is true. ||||THE GOOD: ||Hampton Inn has good bath amenities. Loved the Zero/o shower gel, shampoo & condition dispensers and hand soap bar. ||Soft high quality absorbent towels. ||Beds okay. ||Blackout drapes worked extremely well. ||||THE PARTLY OK||The breakfast options were limited but I came to understand this is the Hampton Inn standard of only 3 cooked / hot buffet items (plus hard boiled eggs). ||This place didn't peel boiled eggs. Whereas two Hampton Inns I stayed at later in my travels did peel and display them. ||The breakfast room was ok. There was a fan on in one corner to circulate the air as it gets hot. ||The little disposable milk mini pots were impossible for anyone to open. ||||I really wish Hilton would move away from these and instead to the Tetrapak options. We've got too much plastic in the world. It is far better to just put out carafes of milk or cold milk dispensers in the breakfast room and lobby and let guests ask about mini sachets if they truly want them. But there are paper cups so folks can surely fill milk into those to take to their rooms and place inside their fridges. ||||THE BAD: ||The cereal milk ran out during breakfast and took a while to refill. ||Our room faced a wall. Most do on 2 sides. ||||It is 'located in a sea of homelessness' as one reviewer said recently. The thing is this problem is ALL over San Francisco but most pronounced downtown. ||You can be standing at City Hall or the Asian Art Museum seeing grand architecture and amazing works of art but someone shooting up heroin on the front steps or bent double from fentanyl. ||||The staff really are quite rude as others have alluded to. It is especially shocking for me coming from 5-star hospitality environments in the Caribbean to what seems to be complete nonchalance on the part of the front desk staff. ||Perhaps this is from having to deal with desirables or the worst of society who live in San Francisco, but it is shockingly bad. ||||I was trying to find information on the vintage Street cars that run along Market street. I inquired about this at the front desk and they took me for a fool. The response started with "What street cars are you talking about?". I had to explain. Then I was asked "can you describe them"? When I asked "Do you know what the fare is and could I purchase tickets on the street car?" I was told "I don't know. You'll have to find out for yourself" and he abruptly ended the conversation by turning to the next person standing at the counter to see if he could help them. ||||The guy was totally useless and unhelpful...or maybe he just was completely unaware of the streetcar running a block away and clueless about the tourist attractions here. Either way. Totally unacceptable. ||||THE UGLY:||The hotel borders the Tenderloin district which is notoriously bad for overdoses and deaths ||I've been told the bad guys tend to leave tourists alone but it's a sad state indeed of humanity EVERYWHERE in San Francisco. ||||People say they regret their decision to stay here but honestly you go into the post posh area of Union Square and it's just as bad there. ||I spent a few nights nearby in Geary street and was appalled by the young girls cowering in doorways doing drugs on my 7am morning walk! ||||The location of the hotel to the tram turnaround is ideal and its proximity to MOMA, Union Square and transport links. ||||It's interesting to do the touristy things like riding the cable car, going to Pier 39 & Fisherman's wharf, seeing Mission District is nice but every experience is overshadowed by the underbelly of crime, drugs, homelessness. ||||I had a different impression in my mind of San Francisco and after seeing it firsthand I don't know how tourism survives and don't think there's anything attractive about the city that is plagued by all these problems and walking zombies. ||This place is for the living dead...

This was my 1st time staying at a Hampton Inn. We stayed here for 3 nights. ||Very nondescript front and back entrances though the mosaic wall was cool inside on the way to the front desk. ||Everything everyone has written is true. ||||THE GOOD: ||Hampton Inn has good bath amenities. Loved the Zero/o shower gel, shampoo & condition dispensers and hand soap bar. ||Soft high quality absorbent towels. ||Beds okay. ||Blackout drapes worked extremely well. ||||THE PARTLY OK||The breakfast options were limited but I came to understand this is the Hampton Inn standard of only 3 cooked / hot buffet items (plus hard boiled eggs). ||This place didn't peel boiled eggs. Whereas two Hampton Inns I stayed at later in my travels did peel and display them. ||The breakfast room was ok. There was a fan on in one corner to circulate the air as it gets hot. ||The little disposable milk mini pots were impossible for anyone to open. ||||I really wish Hilton would move away from these and instead to the Tetrapak options. We've got too much plastic in the world. It is far better to just put out carafes of milk or cold milk dispensers in the breakfast room and lobby and let guests ask about mini sachets if they truly want them. But there are paper cups so folks can surely fill milk into those to take to their rooms and place inside their fridges. ||||THE BAD: ||The cereal milk ran out during breakfast and took a while to refill. ||Our room faced a wall. Most do on 2 sides. ||||It is 'located in a sea of homelessness' as one reviewer said recently. The thing is this problem is ALL over San Francisco but most pronounced downtown. ||You can be standing at City Hall or the Asian Art Museum seeing grand architecture and amazing works of art but someone shooting up heroin on the front steps or bent double from fentanyl. ||||The staff really are quite rude as others have alluded to. It is especially shocking for me coming from 5-star hospitality environments in the Caribbean to what seems to be complete nonchalance on the part of the front desk staff. ||Perhaps this is from having to deal with desirables or the worst of society who live in San Francisco, but it is shockingly bad. ||||I was trying to find information on the vintage Street cars that run along Market street. I inquired about this at the front desk and they took me for a fool. The response started with "What street cars are you talking about?". I had to explain. Then I was asked "can you describe them"? When I asked "Do you know what the fare is and could I purchase tickets on the street car?" I was told "I don't know. You'll have to find out for yourself" and he abruptly ended the conversation by turning to the next person standing at the counter to see if he could help them. ||||The guy was totally useless and unhelpful...or maybe he just was completely unaware of the streetcar running a block away and clueless about the tourist attractions here. Either way. Totally unacceptable. ||||THE UGLY:||The hotel borders the Tenderloin district which is notoriously bad for overdoses and deaths ||I've been told the bad guys tend to leave tourists alone but it's a sad state indeed of humanity EVERYWHERE in San Francisco. ||||People say they regret their decision to stay here but honestly you go into the post posh area of Union Square and it's just as bad there. ||I spent a few nights nearby in Geary street and was appalled by the young girls cowering in doorways doing drugs on my 7am morning walk! ||||The location of the hotel to the tram turnaround is ideal and its proximity to MOMA, Union Square and transport links. ||||It's interesting to do the touristy things like riding the cable car, going to Pier 39 & Fisherman's wharf, seeing Mission District is nice but every experience is overshadowed by the underbelly of crime, drugs, homelessness. ||||I had a different impression in my mind of San Francisco and after seeing it firsthand I don't know how tourism survives and don't think there's anything attractive about the city that is plagued by all these problems and walking zombies. ||This place is for the living dead...

I almost never leave reviews this negative, but I am appalled by many things about this establishment.||||1st, being in an unfamiliar city on a work trip, I would much rather have paid the extra money for valet parking than to drive around the block a few times trying to find a parking garage that was close by, safe(ish), and affordable(ish). There was no clear signage for either the hotel or its valet parking area, and when I called the front desk (from my car, nonetheless!) to inquire about valet parking, I was encouraged instead to find self-parking a block away. I zoomed out on my map and saw several options, but when I asked for clarification, the employee on the end of the line couldn't give me the name or specific location of the garage she was suggesting. I eventually settled on the 5th/Mission St Garage (at a whopping $44/day, not including the threat of having all your valuables stolen), and walked the two blocks to the hotel, carrying my 4 days' worth of luggage for fear of leaving anything important in my rental car.||||2nd, the neighborhood is absolutely awful and dangerous. In my short walk to the hotel, I encountered some strange characters, many of whom appeared to be on drugs, and some I'm positive were armed. As a woman traveling alone and carring all her worldly possesions, I felt extremely unsafe walking along the streets in the neighborhood just around the corner from the hotel. To be frank, I even felt uncomfortable Driving through that part of town.||||The doors to the hotel were locked (for obvious reasons), and this hotel does not support the Hilton app's Digital Key (which defeats the purpose of checking in online to "bypass the desk"), so I had to wait in the vestibule to be buzzed in while the destitute crowd watched from the streets. When I got up to my room, it was probably the smallest hotel room I've ever stayed in, and my view was of a brick wall. The deadbolt did not engage initially, which I found out was due to the door not latching properly. Had to shove my whole body weight against it to hear it click shut. The HVAC unit was very difficult to control, and the towels smelled musty, like they had been sitting in someone's basement for too long. I googled "dangerous neighborhoods in San Francisco," and... surprise! this hotel is sandwiched between three of the most crime-ridden districts in town. Started looking for alternative lodging immediately. I originally booked three days, but after this, was resolved not to stay more than one in this area. I called the front desk to inquire about an early deprture policy (I would have rather paid a fee than stay there any longer!), and I was informed that because my reservation was pre-paid (i.e., booked on a company card), there would be no refunds available if I forfeited my remaining nights.||||Seems ridiculous that they still require a personal card for incidentals when you pay $700 upfront for a spot in a hotel in a sketchy area. This is the first Hilton hotel I have stayed at in recent weeks that has asked for an additional card at check-in on a pre-paid reservation, especially after completing the Digital Check-In option (again, what's the point if you can't use a digital key?).||||I am thoroughly disappointed in this Hilton experience, as I have been a loyal member for years—very rarely stay with other brands—and always feel supported by the Hampton Inns I've stayed at (see any other reviews I've posted from the past several weeks of Hilton stays). The only reason I'm not boycotting the chain altogether is because of the lovely employee who said that she would look into my issue for me the morning I checked out and try to work out a solution. She was much kinder than the person I spoke to on the phone the previous night, and was able to offer me a refund for the two nights that I chose not to stay....