Inn on Folsom — Hotel in San Francisco

Horrible, horrible experience at this place. So bad I had to call the travel agency I booked through to have them negotiate a partial refund for my stay.

First off, as soon as I set foot in the place, I noticed that it was dirty and grimy. The light for the main fixture in my room didn't work. The carpet looked greasy and had spots all over like it hadn't been cleaned for ages. There were a lot of patches on the wall where holes or paint chips had been repaired.

So anyway, I had booked a 3-night stay there. I was in SF for a few days for work. So I get up to go to work after the first night and have the good sense to at least take all my valuables (laptop, money, etc) with me to work and left my clothes and my toiletries in my room thinking that no one would disturb them.

I get back to the hotel around 6 p.m. the same day and go into my room and am shocked to find my clothes and my toiletries missing. I told the front desk that someone had taken my stuff. They come up to my room to see for themselves that my stuff is gone. I tell them what all was taken and they say they have to go "look" for it. After a few minutes they come back with a trash bag containing all my clothes (even my dirty clothes, which I put in a separate bag when I travel). Great. Now all my clothes smell like San Francisco streets.

I then ask where my toiletries are, including my expensive electric razor. At this point I just want my stuff so that I can get the heck out of there. They tell me to come back in 45 minutes because "the guy" who apparently cleaned out my room needs to "look" for that too. Like wtf? Why would you keep my electric razor but only give me back my clothes?

So whatever, I leave to go get dinner because I've been working since 7:30 that morning and return 45 minutes later. I ring the bell and the guy comes out with my toiletries bag with my razor in it. I open the bag and all the rest of my stuff is gone (deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, etc). On top of that the bag is wet and smells musty. I ask where the rest of my toiletries are. They say they have to go "find" those too. After waiting like 10 minutes in the lobby, I'm fed up and leave my key card on the counter and leave with my wet and musty toiletries bag and smelly clothes.

But wait, it doesn't end there. I'm so mad by this point that I call the agency I booked the travel through and ask them to get me a refund. After much resistance from the hotel staff and me (via the travel agency I booked through) having to threaten to call my credit card company to reverse the charge and threatening to file a police report for theft of property, the hotel agrees to refund me for 2 out of 3 nights that I had paid for. Fine. I stayed there in that shabby hotel for 1 night, so I guess what's fair is fair. But I will not be going back.

If you want to stay at a hotel in this same price range but with better staffing and nicer rooms, I'd recommend the Utah Inn in the SOMA district.

Thanks...

I had mixed feelings about the Inn. The prices were affordable and the interior was very clean and decorated nicely. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The location was decent, considering that most other hotels that are close to the city center were well out of our budget range. They offered breakfast and had great coffee available at all hours of the day! The Inn itself was very quiet (at least during the day). We hardly saw any other folks while we were there. Now for the downsides. The parking in the area was terrible. The night we arrived we drove around the block about five times before we gave up and parked about a mile away, and then had to haul all our bags down the street. The staff at the Inn advised us to find a lot or garage to park in because the neighborhood is very unsafe... so we parked a couple miles away in a lot that charged $40 for overnight parking. Speaking of the neighborhood, the streets are packed with homeless folks and some rather shady characters. Some of the buildings went as far as to post signs that you should not urinate on the side of the building. I would not want to walk around here alone or at all hours of the night. We found out that we were only a couple of miles outside of the financial district, which was much cleaner and nicer to peruse, but there is not much that is right outside of the Inn. You can expect A LOT of walking or use of public transportation when staying here. The Inn only had one shared toilet, which meant I had to wait a few times. (Once at 5:30am!) They had three shared showers... no problem there, but more toilets would have been great! Thankfully the shared facilities were kept very clean. The Inn is situated above a nightclub, which we knew about and expected that it would be loud. Noise doesn't bother me... I sleep through anything! However, it happened to be "bondage night" and the club brought in even more shady characters that were crowding around the door to the Inn (as if there weren't enough already). My boyfriend enjoyed watching the crowds, so it wasn't terrible. The room that we had was very small... hardly even a place to put our bags, but we weren't in the room much anyway. The staff let us keep our bags in storage until 6pm on the day we checked out, which worked out very well for our schedule and being able to see some sights in the area. Overall it was a good stay, and most of my complaints couldn't be avoided so I only knocked one star off, but be sure you know what to expect before staying here or you might be...

I know this place may be considered a 2 or 3 star accommodation, but I will tell you that I really enjoyed this place. For starters, it is cheap. $69 a night. Cheaper than most hotels and airbnbs in San Francisco. The airbnbs at the same price did not offer cleaning service, towel service, breakfast, cable t.v., and the sense of security. The Inn on Folsom had card key only access in order to enter the Inn and then another card key in order to enter your room. They had security cameras in the hallways and someone at the front desk around the clock. Check-In was simple. You pay upfront, they give you the card keys and you're done. Breakfast is offered everyday from 7am to 10am. The breakfast consisted of both white and wheat bread for toast, waffles and syrup, raisin or corn flakes cereal and milk, an apple juice or orange juice dispenser, coffee, apples and yogurt. You can have as much as you like. My room was clean and it smelled clean. My room consisted of T.V., bed, dressers for clothes, a sink, towels, soap, lotion. Each day I stayed there, they replaced towels and vacuumed the floors. It always smelled really clean. On my floor, there was 1 bathroom with a toilet and 3 private showers. There were 6 in total rooms on my floor, but I never ran into any issue with waiting for the bathroom or showering. Both bathroom and showers were always clean. I felt very comfortable. Now... the 1 and only issue I had was that this Inn is next door to a night club. So, Friday night, and Saturday night... you will hear the music next door. However, with the ceiling fan and the tv... I still slept really well and it didn't bother me. The Inn is 7-10 minute walk from Market Street (a street with a ton of stores, shops, malls), and the CIVIC Center BART Subway station. This was useful for getting from the airport(SFO) to the Inn and vice versa. Only cost me 9$ one way to get to SFO. It was also useful staying so close to the subway station to get to other parts of San Fran and to Oakland. The Inn is also next door to a delicious Mexican restaurant and a Pizza restaurant. There is also a restaurant called Extreme Pizza that specializes in specialty pizzas. So if you are hungry and don't want to wait.. you can just go right next door. There is an Urban Market a few minutes walk from the Inn if you want organic or vegan options. I was worried that I was going to have to spend over $100/$150+ for a decent accommodation, but I didn't. The next time I return to San Francisco, I will...