HOTEL EPIK — Hotel in San Francisco

TLDR : Nice hotel with awful service.

Overall this is a nice hotel in an okay area of San Francisco with awful customer service. As other reviewers have stated the area is okay but to some maybe an issue. The main negative about this hotel is the awful customer service from the front desk. There are reviews on numerous booking websites stating the same issue dating back to the opening of the hotel.

The Hotel The hotel is in the Tenderloin area of San Francisco close to the Civic Center and Van Ness. It is located close to public transport making it easy to get around. The Tenderloin has a reputation and overall is not unsafe. I would not recommend this hotel to family as the overall room size along with the area. If you are coming from a large city the area is about the same as a downtown area. I would recommend reading up on it before booking. The lobby is modern with provided coffee and water. They have lounging area with free to play board games. There were cleaning supplies left all throughout the hotel obstructing walking paths and the entrance to the elevator.

The Room The rooms are small but well furnished and equipped. They provide all the basic needed essentials for a night stay. There are plenty of pillows and blankets provided. The bed is comfortable, and the shower has enough water pressure. The rooms come equipped with an air conditioner and heater although I felt it did not work well. The room we had did not have screens on any of the windows. This meant if the windows are open there is no privacy. The door into our room did not have security latches which I see as a security concern. The outlets in our room on the nightstand are not hooked up so they are for show. The rooms are clean and comfortable with thin walls. In the room you can hear your neighbors and the street noise clearly.

The Service The hotel overall is nice but the service ruins the whole hotel. We arrived at three thirty to check in and the hotel has a listed check in time of three. They provide an automated email where you can check in and upgrade your room for a discount. I used both provided services form the direct email link of the hotel. When I walked up to the front desk I was immediately greeted with disrespect. The gentlemen at the front desk was rude and stated he could not find my reservation. He stated maybe I booked the wrong date and my card was declined for insufficient funds. I showed him the confirmation from the hotel and he was finally able to find it. He did not once apologize for being rude instead he continued to be increasingly rude. He stated the room was not ready that the cleaning service is working hard but there is still a lot to do. He said to come back at four for the room. We came back at four ten and noticed him hand out comps for drinks at the hotel bar. Once we were able to talk to him he was again immediately rude asking for our room number. Eventually he realized he never checked us in and yet again the room was not ready. We requested a room as it had been well over an hour past check in. He stated he could downgrade us but nothing more. We agreed, and he again did not once apologize or attempt to make the situation better. In customer service a simple sorry can change the whole experience. Rather than say sorry he continually rolled his eyes and treated us like an annoyance. I have never experienced such unprofessional behavior from a hotel employee. He completely lacked any basic customer service etiquette and it was an embarrassment to be treated that way in front of other guests. There are other reviewers who have had the displeasure of interacting with him and echo the same issue. Overall it was an awful experience to be treated that way and an...

Very small rooms but a very good price for the city as long as you do not need to park a car… read the details in the next paragraph below this one. We booked the hotel last minute with very little research. In hindsight we probably should have read more. I’ll keep it brief but the positives are that the hotel is close to the civic center and there is lots to do and eat within walking distance though the immediate neighborhood can feel a little bit rough but it is SF. Lots of transportation options for going all over and there were an attendant at the front desk even when we arrived even though it was late. The coffee in the lobby was very nice touch and included in the room price. Overall a very good price for a room in San Francisco.

Some of the downsides mixed with positives - the details:

The booking website said there was parking but when we arrived they said there was no parking. This left us frustrated and we had to search for overnight parking still open at our late night arrival time. We finally were able to find a 24 hour parking garage but you are paying a lot and have a considerable walk to the hotel with our luggage. The room we booked is very small. I mean very very small. It’s ok because we are only here to sleep and spend the day out but, just be aware. That being said the room was modern looking clean and the AC worked great and there were a lot of power outlets given the small room size (this actually was a positive). I have been in a lot of hotels and so many have terrible heat or air and this was not the case here - the AC/Heat system here was perfect. The bathroom was also small but they provide nice soaps/shampoo and a hair dryer and it was modern and clean. There was great water pressure and the shower can get nice and hot - something I love! Maybe it was where we were located within the hotel (middle of the 4th floor) but we did not hear any street noise which was nice but you can hear the other rooms near you and what is going on in the hall. The walls might be thin and there are many small rooms close together so if you are a light sleeper you may want to consider this. It was not so bad that it kept us up but we are not super light sleepers.

The final rundown:

Overall it was a very good price given the hotels in the city can be very pricy so we overlooked the downsides (room size and the biggest was the parking) and just used it for want it is a hotel room to sleep in. The modern look, attended desk, coffee in the morning, and the location central in the city are all positives. If you are on a budget and don’t mind the negatives stated above give it a try. We enjoyed our stay and had a...

This place is a steal for the price. Yes, the rooms are on the small side, but I expect this out of any decent budget hotel in the city. The location can be a bit sketchy, so I would never stay here without my boyfriend with me. We were attending an event at Bill Graham, and the route we took to walk to and from the venue did not seem as sketchy as described by some other reviewers. We walked only on Polk St because I didn't want to go near the heart of the tenderloin, and this seemed to help quite a bit. There's always going to be homeless people everywhere; it's just unavoidable in the city, but I didn't witness any drug deals or things of that nature. There were lots of people leaving the venue in the same direction once the event was over, which helped a lot. Just stay aware and smart and you should be fine. The room itself actually exceeded my expectations. Everything was super modern and nice, the bed was comfy, and the bathroom was actually roomier than I expected. Still small, but more cozy than cramped to me. We got the double room, which I think helped with having more floor space in the room, since having larger beds would just take up more of the floor space. Our room didn't have a window to the outside, just a fake window (lmao) but I didn't mind it. It meant that we didn't hear any noise from the street during our stay since I know the walls are paper thin. However, when it hit around 9am, we started hearing hammering and construction noises. BRING EARPLUGS is all I can say, and that would have made the stay pretty perfect. I thought it was the hotel doing construction, but during checkout, I asked the guy at the counter about the construction, and he apologetically said it was their neighbor next door. That made me less upset about the noise since it's not really the fault of the hotel. One last note, at around 11am, it sounded like the housekeeping was trying to open our door, even though I had put the "do not disturb" sign on the door (check out is at noon, I had double checked this with the guy at the counter when we checked in the night before). There was aggressive knocking and jiggling of the door handle. I shouted "yes??" and was about to open the door to see what the hell was going on, but it finally stopped. I thought that was it, but my boyfriend told me that the same thing happened once more while I was in the shower. This is very disrespectful on the hotel's end, and is the reason for the star knock off, but for the price I paid for the room, I would stay at the hotel again. Just...