Kimpton Alton Fisherman's Wharf — Hotel in San Francisco

Disappointing Stay: Poor Service, Misleading Promises, and Hostile Management

Despite being part of IHG Hotels & Resorts, The Kimpton Alton Hotel is now managed by Crestline Hotels & Resorts following reported financial difficulties. Unfortunately, the service reflects that downgrade. This property falls far short of typical IHG standards.

The housekeeping was extremely partial. They only changed our towels and bed sheets—no cleaning of the bathroom, no vacuuming, no dusting. The air ventilation system in the living space was out of order and made a loud, constant noise.

We stayed for 5 days and 4 nights, having booked and paid a deposit for a 2 Queen Beds room over a month in advance. Upon arrival at around 2:30 PM, we were informed without any apology that our room was not available due to overbooking during the holidays. Instead, the hotel manager said the only available room was a King room, which also wasn’t ready until around 5:00 to 5:30 PM due to ongoing cleaning.

When we asked for an immediate solution, we were placed in a shockingly small and dark King room with only one bed and no table. The room was in the basement, located at the very end of the emergency exit corridor. The only window looked out onto street-level traffic lights and a busy pedestrian crossing. It felt like a storage room, not a guest room.

We were stunned and requested a change. After an additional 3 hours of waiting, we were finally moved to a better room.

Separately, the hotel promotes an in-room spa partnership. I followed the instructions in the welcome letter and booked a spa appointment. No one showed up. When I asked the front desk what happened, their first question was, “Has your credit card been charged? If not, then please consider your appointment canceled.”

I was shocked by the lack of accountability. I simply wanted to understand what happened and why the service was still being advertised if it was no longer available.

Because I raised my voice slightly while asking these questions in the lobby, the manager threatened to kick us out. I reviewed the hotel’s guest conduct policies and had not violated any.

I was merely asking for clarity on a service they advertised but failed to deliver, and instead of taking responsibility, they deflected and responded with hostility.

The rooms are generally okay but dated and showing signs of wear. During our stay, I also overheard several other guests complaining at the front desk about not receiving the rooms they had booked.

This was not a $260-per-night experience, before taxes. For this price, you expect professionalism, basic hospitality, and the room you paid for. Sadly, you won’t find any of that here.

Do not stay at this hotel. Hotel Caza or Marriott Vacation Club just one block away are far better alternatives...

This was absolutely the worst experience I have ever had with checking in. My sister and I flew in and decided to sightsee before check in at 4pm. Unfortunately, her wallet was stolen which held her credit cards and identification. Devastated and in a panic we called the hotel to see if there was anything we could do. We were connected to a third party operator at an off site location and at first the response was there is nothing they could do to. We asked if we could add my name to my sisters reservation as I still had my wallet and cards. The operator spoke to the hotel and added my name to the reservation. They said we should be all good to check -in. Relived I thought that the situation was resolved however when we arrived to check in and they all of a sudden said my name was not on the reservation. I asked to speak to the manager and after 20 minutes he came out. My sister, with tears in her eyes, went to explain what happened and he cut her off and said he heard about our situation but there was nothing he could do. He suggested we take a seat and figure out my lodging for the evening. I called the service again and they were just as confused. They put us on hold, while they called the hotel directly and 20mins later they informed us that the manager wouldn’t allow my name to be added to the reservation. They also let us know the manager said we could cancel the reservation with the cancellation fee waived and go somewhere else. This was a complete shock to us after the day we had. We had no where to go! We asked if we could just book a new reservation in my name but we were told they suddenly had no double bed rooms available. My sister decided to check online and found they had rooms available and rebooked our room. The hotel then said they needed to charge me over $100 a day for incidentals another $500. They provided no support, no empathy, no professionalism and no hospitality. To add insult to injury, we parked in front mistakenly believing we would easily be able to check in. But after over 45 minutes we just resolved the situation. They had the valet parking attendant track us down to request we move our car. For our inconvenience they offered $10 in convenience store bucks. This is the worst hotel I have ever been at. Both the manager and the front desk attendant were so unsympathetic and rude.

Edit*we called a 415 number NOT Priceline. We connected with your hotel’s answering service. Then we had a late night flight almost midnight on Tuesday evening. I dropped off my keys on the way to the airport. The next day the hotel ran my card three times for $148.00. A fee for checking out...

I’m a firm believer that if a hotel isn’t a 10 but the staff and hospitality is, it makes up for the little things…this was NOT the case at the Alton. Sadly, this truly has been one of the worst hotel experiences I’ve had in MANY years…

I always try to find boutique-style hotels that value design, hospitality and care but the Alton is fully a front. Upon checking in, the woman at the front desk immediately threw me attitude about how I listed all of my guests’ last names on booking - no hello, no welcome, just you did this wrong and now I need to fix it. I asked “is it hard to fix?” She replied “well I’m gonna have to fix it now! Pffft!” So I…the guest, was a nuisance. Next…we check into our room and as I open the blinds I almost laughed because I could literally open the window and shake someone’s hand on the street. I go downstairs and politely ask, “hi are there any other rooms with a different view…?“ /Cuts me off/ “NONE of our rooms have views.” Me:“that’s fine but I saw that some face the garden-“ “NOOONNEEE of our rooms have views” and she continued to talk OVER me speaking in circles being extremely dismissive and aggressive. I finally had to ask “Will you let me speak?” She said “go for it!” and wafted her hand at me. My poor senior mother standing next to me felt so uncomfortable. I was ready to call booking and ask to get a refund because I was so disgusted how she was speaking to us. Not to mention there was also another guest next to me ALSO asking to change rooms due to the view. Eventually i was able to change our room to a garden view but wow what stress.

FINALLY…I was traveling with two other guests, we called the front desk to ask if we can get a third robe sent to the room since there were three of us…the front desk woman (different this time) said “ok but I’m warning you if you TAKE the third robe we’re gonna charge you”. TACKY. I bit my tongue the entire time politely responding and believing in karma but it still bugs me how they treated me and my guests, and worst of all I paid to be treated like garbage - it gave prejudice, entitled, and toxic. Do not recommend staying here unless you want to pay to get treated like you’re at criminal airport security. If this is how you rep your city and your company Alton, DO BETTER. Horrible experience.

I do want to give a special shout out to the facilities people whenever the ac stopped working or the pipes were making weird noises they were very polite...