Kensington Park Hotel — Hotel in San Francisco

DO NOT RECOMMEND.

Pros: (1) somewhat clean and (2) helpfully central location. There’s a somewhat musty smell, but overall the room seemed regularly cleaned which is more than you can say for some SF hotels (although the carpet here was absolutely disgusting, do not consider going shoeless in the room unless you want fungus). The location is the best argument for this hotel.

Cons: (1) extremely humid (no AC & poor ventilation, which explains the somewhat-musty mold smell) and (2) they bait-and-switch on the rate, increasing it significantly.

The second point is why I’m writing this review. I asked for and received a quote for an all-in rate of $180/night. That’s a bit high for the mediocre quality of this place, but for the benefit of the location I overlooked it; I confirmed the rate, gave my credit card and set my stuff down in the room … only to be told at the last second, by an employee named Vincent, that surprise (!) the true rate is 22% higher — $220/night — and that’s what they’re charging my card.

Precisely because hotels often give a deceptively low rate (without accounting for taxes and fees that suddenly appear at the end), I made sure to avoid that trap upfront. When I asked for the rate quote, I was explicit that I wanted the all-in, total rate that would be necessary to book the room, not just the rate for the room pre-tax. To make sure there would be no confusion, I specified and emphasized that I was looking for the total rate that — upon being paid — would pay for and book the room for me with no further or additional payment. I cannot emphasize enough how many different ways I said “give me the total amount all-in,” precisely to avoid this kind of shenanigans.

Enter Vincent. After confirming that he understood I was asking for the all-in total rate, Vincent told me $180 was the total price needed for the room…until he switched it up to $220 after tricking me into giving my credit card. I asked why Vincent thought it was acceptable to bait-and-switch the rate and he said “nobody’s holding a gun to your head, stay somewhere else then.”

Damn. Pretty shady response. I asked if Kensington Park Hotel was just willing to brazenly lie like that, and if it would seriously dishonor its original “all-in” rate after it manipulated me into going ahead with them.

Vincent’s answer: yes, he was willing to lie and (he claimed) his managers would back him up on the lie. Regardless of what he said before, the hotel would not honor the “all-in” rate that it offered and that I accepted mere minutes before I gave my credit card number. Instead, with my things already in the room and my credit card already in the system, Vincent confirmed Kensington Park would jack up the price another 22% and charge me.

As a result, I cut my stay short to two days. But unfortunately, the bait-and-switch trick worked in the short term because I needed somewhere to go for the immediate moment. Shame on this hotel and this employee.

In short: traveler beware—go somewhere else unless you don’t mind paying more than you bargained for...

If I could give 0 stars I most definitely would. My finance and I were planning to stay this past weekend in SF for Valentines Day weekend and see the "Back to The Future" Play. We checked in and went to go eat before the play. Unfortunately, I received a call that my aunt passed away unexpectedly. I had to go back to San Jose as my mother needed help and consoling; she's the one that found my aunt. We went right back to the hotel and explained the situation. I even said that we can provide a police report document regarding the situation. The staff member there said that most likely they would be able to refund the hotel stay. We even asked if that's not doable, Can we even push the hotel stay at a later date just so we don't lose all our money. My fiancé booked through hotels.com and spoke to them, and they said they would be willing to refund the hotel stay cost as long as the manager is OK with it. We have been trying to contact the manager, and it looked as though the payment was going to be refunded since it said, pending on my fiancé's bank statement online. However, they ended up charging us the full price and the manager did not work with us on this. I don't know about anyone else, but I would never want to be affiliated with or stay at a hotel in which the management has zero compassion and understanding for their guests. The manager of this hotel should be ashamed of themselves! I am disgusted with the lack of empathy of the managers part.

Update: I finally got a hold of the manager after I had to keep calling, and the man hung up on me. He said he denied the refund and said "that is that" and hung up on me. Please please I urge anyone reviewing this hotel to stay at do not stay here. God forbid you have an emergency. This manager is the most rude person and will not care one single bit about what you are going through other than...

DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT IS ON HERE - AVOID THIS HOTEL AND STAY ANYWHERE ELSE!

In order to like this hotel, you have to be the kind of traveler who places no value on things like amenities, convenience, cleanliness and comfort in your hotels. Whenever I see a hotel labeled "boutique" I know its really code for OLD. I made the mistake of believing what others wrote about this hotel. BIG MISTAKE. Sure, this hotel has a decent location but there are at least a dozen other hotels within mere blocks of this place that are more modern and up to date.

To be specific, here's my list of issues: Old, small and dirty plumbing fixtures in the bathroom (evidence of mildew on tiles in the shower enclosure/tiles, peeling paint on ceiling) No usable outlets in the room - a must if your're a business traveler (there are only two outlets and those are used for clocks, lights and TV) No security measures (anyone can walk in off the street and get into the guest room area) or in-room safe for storing valuables while not in the room No on-site restaurant or gift shop Bait and switch reservation - I reserved a single room king/queen and was given a room with two double beds (I'm 6'2 and my feet hang off the end of a dbl bed) The beds and furniture are old and worn (some would say quaint but old is old) The front desk staff (two women) were "friendly" until I started asking questions and then they became short and made it clear they didn't care to listen much less address my concerns

Don't make the same mistake I did and book here when you come to San Fran. There is a Westin across the street, a Hilton two blocks over and a variety of other hotels within blocks. This is just a sad little place.

Unfortunately, there are multiple conference going on this week and hotel availability is non-existent so I'm stuck...