Hotel Zetta San Francisco — Hotel in San Francisco

[Update: The hotel manager replied to my email below and offered two free nights in the future as compensation (improving my overall rating a little bit due to that)]

The service is just unacceptable. Below is my email to the manager of the hotel, which describes my experience. I hope this is helpful to other people.

Dear Hotel Manager,

I am writing to express my extreme dissatisfaction with my recent stay at your hotel. The series of events I experienced not only disrupted my travel plans but also caused significant distress during a critical time.

I had booked and prepaid a two-night stay at Hotel Zetta to attend an important interview the following day. Upon arrival, I was informed that the hotel was overbooked, and I was directed to another hotel, Hotel Zelos late at night (10pm). The front desk, "Paris", lightly said this would be a very short walk. I won't accept this proposal if I knew this is a walk through a hazardous area with my luggage, surrounded by homeless people, which made me feel extremely unsafe.

To avoid further inconvenience, I confirmed with your staff "Paris" that I could stay both nights at the second hotel, Hotel Zelos, and he said I can talk to the front desk at Hotel Zelos and can choose to stay there for the second night. However, the next morning, I was abruptly asked to check out and return to the original hotel, leaving me scrambling to manage my belongings and resulting in my late arrival to the important interview. Hotel Zelos' front desk called Hotel Zetta again and confirmed that I have to move back to Hotel Zetta.

Upon returning to the original hotel, I tried to address the matter with the front desk. But no compensation or solution was offered. They mentioned they can waive the guest amenity fee that can include tea, snacks etc. of which I did not consume any at all. The front desk this time is "LA", and the original front desk "Paris" came later without being even slightly sorry. I asked him why he told me I can choose to stay in Hotel Zelos for two nights on the first day, he just said “no I didn’t say that”, without any further explanations. They are basically implying: “Yes you prepaid for the hotel, we kicked you out to the other hotel, the other hotel kicked you back again, and no one should be responsible for this".

The price of the hotel is by no means cheap (about $400 per night). Both hotels are in an extremely bad and unsafe area. And above all, the service I got is just ridiculous. I don't know how the staffs were trained or how well they got paid, but it just feels like they gave up and didn't give a * about the business.

This level of service is entirely unacceptable, especially considering the impact it had on my professional commitments and personal safety. I expect an immediate and satisfactory resolution to this matter, including compensation for the inconvenience and distress caused. Please respond with an explanation and proposed...

Hotel Zetta is a really cool looking hotel, so we were excited to try it out. There was a pelaton in the room, and I think some kind of head relaxing thing was supposed to be in there, but it wasn't. Unfortunately, during our visit, there was more that left a lot to be desired.

We were not able to check in right away, which was fine because we just had the FD hold our luggage. While I was waiting in line, the gentleman in front of me was checking out and provided the desk agent his parking/valet ticket and the agent dialed the valet on speaker, and the other end of the line picks up and everyone in the lobby heard a loud "UGH, BRUH!" The poor agent couldn't pick up the receiver fast enough. When we came back from our event, we were finally able to check into our room, and within 10 seconds of walking in, we heard the fire alarm chirp. It was probably 12:30am, so we called down to the FD, and they sent security up to the room. The first thing security tells me is "there's no one from engineering here tonight, they'll be back in the morning. " And then he hears the fire alarm chirp. We ask if he has a battery to switch out so this beeping can stop, he says no, again says the engineer won't be back until the morning and the hotel is sold out. 😑 I've spent half of my working life working in hospitality, so I'm just baffled at why there isn't an overnight engineer? Or, literally anyone that can find a 9V battery to change out? Like, engineering emergencies only happen during normal daytime working hours? And, I wouldn't even call this an emergency, but ... NO ONE can change this battery?! My husband finally pressed the reset button (I think) and it was quiet for about 6 hours and started up again. We were going to day 2 of our festival, so before leaving. We told the front desk about the situation, discovered the security guard told the FD the room on the floor above us needed the battery, so we corrected that and asked if it could be changed while we were out- she told us absolutely and we left. We got back (again, around 1230am)- still chirping. No battery change. Call back down to the FD, agent comes up, literally says the save thing the security agent said the night before, and left. My husband pressed reset again. Tried to watch tv- no remote control. No buttons on the TV. There are instructions for a device to wear on your head, I think for relaxation? But, there was no such device in the room.

If you're coming to literally sleep and go about your day, I would suggest asking for a room with a fire alarm that has been recently serviced. The bed was comfy, the nose in the room was not. Probably won't stay again, but not due to cleanliness or comfort (it was very clean, and had all the opportunity to be comfortable) but the service was lacking. A 9V battery on Saturday night would have made all...

Hotel Zetta Review: 3 Stars

I recently stayed at Hotel Zetta and had a mostly positive experience, with a few caveats. The room was spacious, clean, and beautifully decorated with a modern aesthetic that made my stay comfortable and enjoyable. The hotel is in an ideal location, close to Union Square and numerous restaurants, making it convenient for exploring San Francisco. There's even a pet relief area nearby, which was great for my furry companion.

However, my experience was severely impacted by a lack of transparency regarding costs. I initially booked the hotel through Expedia for $339 for three nights. When I called the hotel directly to see if they could match this price, the operator assured me it might be possible. After spending 14 minutes on the phone providing details, the operator informed me that they couldn't match the price and could only offer $650 instead. Naturally, I booked through the third party.

The website advertises the hotel as pet-friendly but fails to clarify the nonrefundable $75 pet fee, which I only discovered at checkout. This lack of clarity was frustrating and felt deceptive. Additionally, the valet parking fee of $65 per night was only disclosed at physical check-in. While the nearby garages lack in-and-out privileges, there was one just a block away for $44 per night, which would have been a more economical option.

The biggest shock was the amenities fee. The website vaguely mentions this fee, suggesting it's a refundable deposit. In reality, there is a $300 deposit and a $39 per night amenities fee, which was quite a shock. This unexpected charge felt like a bait-and-switch tactic. They do offer a $10 food and beverage credit for skipping room cleaning, which I utilized for two days, but this barely covered a single croissant and chocolate muffin.

In total, I expected to spend around $600 but ended up paying over $800 due to these hidden fees. While I understand San Francisco is expensive, the lack of transparency made the hotel seem cheaper than it actually was. This misleading pricing left a sour taste in my mouth and significantly detracted from the overall experience. Imagine if I had taken the hotel's price match, I probably would've spent upto 1000$. For the total amount spent, the hotel felt more like a 3-star experience. If it had been closer to the initial $600 I expected, it would have easily been a 4 or 4.5-star stay. The deceptive practices, however, make it hard to wholeheartedly...