Palihotel San Francisco — Hotel in San Francisco

Can I put a "do not recommend" on this any more strongly? The only reasons I'm giving it two stars instead of one are a) because Rachel and Donny at the front desk were helpful and nice , and b) because the housekeeping staff and cleanliness were excellent. There's a lovely sitting area on the second floor. Unfortunately, the sitting area, which must have been a thriving bar and restaurant at one point, is only open from 7am-10am. During that period, there's free coffee. No decaf, no muffins or bagels or anything even for purchase, and the coffee isn't changed out often enough, but it is free. During our stay, we begged the front staff to leave it open until 5pm so groups from our event could gather there, and they did. The rooms are small, as many reviewers point out, but we were prepared for that. It's supposed to be a "European-style boutique hotel", and rooms in the older European hotels are even smaller than these. Our parties were on the 7th and 8th floors, which was fine until the elevator went out. The hotel brags that this elevator is "one of the oldest Otis elevators in San Francisco". Apparently, it's also one of the fussiest. When we checked in, we asked a woman named Lovely at the front desk about reviews saying the elevator hadn't been working, but were assured those were "old reviews". I wish we'd double checked ourselves... The elevator went out just before the weekend. Rather than call the Otis repair people (apparently there is only one company doing repairs), the staff told us one of their people had done a temporary fix. Temporary indeed. It stopped working that night. So, they had a full hotel, with many elderly people because of the event, and no elevator. The actual manager of the hotel, meanwhile, was apparently away at a convention somewhere. What SHOULD have happened, the moment they found out the elevator wasn't working and wouldn't be repaired for 2-3 days, was the hire of at least one person tasked ONLY with assisting customers. Helping them navigate flights of stairs with their bags, for instance. Instead, it all depended on who was at the desk. Speaking of that, there's only one person on the desk, so if something needs to be fetched (anything from a spare razor to help with baggage, if you were lucky enough to get someone willing), the desk has to be shut down. Additionally, when they're busy, they turn the phones off, interal and external calls. The message you get is that the mailbox is full. What if someone was sick? What if someone had a heart attack? It's easy to say "Well, they'd call 911" but how on earth would they get down eight flights? The hospitality people, poor things, were great, trudging up and down the stairs for 3 days and keeping the rooms up. I want to particularly note that one of the people on the desk was, we think, very stoned during their shift. I can't say for sure, but this person forgot simple things in seconds (like "Could I have an extra towel" and then the towel is sitting next to them at the desk but they insist there are no extra towels available.) We took to hanging about the tiny lobby rather than shlep up seven or eight flights to our rooms between meetings. In the course of a few hours, we watched a female desk attendant have to leave the desk for an hour to deal with a domestic violence issue on one floor, then spend a good amount of time removing a person (not a guest) who wandered in and began fooling with the alarm system in the wall. In fact, that was only dealt with because one of our colleaues also sitting in the lobby noticed it! We were told the hotel was short-staffed "because of Covid", but honestly, I'm getting tired of that excuse. After listening to a young man tell us that his 83-year-old mother had to struggle up six or seven flights of stairs, any excuse wears thin. All in all, we would not stay here...

We booked this hotel as part of a special trip to San Francisco to celebrate my birthday, but our stay turned into a frustrating and deeply disappointing experience—especially as someone with a disability.

After returning from what had been a lovely evening at 10pm at night, we were informed that the elevator was out of service and would not be repaired that night. Apparently this happens a lot because the elevator is 100 years old. This should be listed on their website. I would have never booked it. Our room was on the 4th floor, and as a handicapped guest, I was unable to climb the stairs. This hotel doesn't have rooms on the first floor. We were told that we would need to find a different hotel on our own—with no assistance offered.

To make matters worse, my husband had to carry all of our luggage down four flights of stairs, as there was no staff offered to help us during this ordeal. The first desk contacted the manager, Daniel Johnson, who was unhelpful and showed little empathy, which only added to the stress of the situation.

I did later receive a call from Rachel Stassi, the front desk manager as we were struggling to find a place to stay that night, who was far more pleasant and understanding. She assured us we would be fully reimbursed for both our disrupted stay and the hotel we had to move to.

However, despite repeated follow-up calls and emails, for 6 months we have still not received any reimbursement. Each time I speak with Rachel, she tells me it’s “on the way,” but months later, nothing has arrived.

We were only in San Francisco for a few days to celebrate my birthday, and this experience completely derailed what should have been a joyful trip. As a guest with mobility challenges, I found the lack of support unacceptable—and the failure to follow through on promised reimbursement adds insult to injury.

I cannot recommend this hotel to anyone, especially those with accessibility needs. And sadly, since this hotel chain, does not publish a phone number for their corporate office so that we can escalate the issue further. Extremely disappointing on every level. Don't stay here if you want good customer service and definitely if you have mobility issues ABSOLUTELY do...

Same experience as Julie a week ago. Only staying one night but I’ve been endlessly frustrated since I checked in. Read on the website of their promise of room slippers, only to be informed at check-in that they’re out. I was given assurances that the room was clean, but if I really wanted, I could go to Walgreens to buy a pair. Room slippers are really important to me, but the hotel overpromised and I would have otherwise brought my own as I usually do. Walgreens also does not sell slippers. While Americans and most tourists might be okay traipsing in their room with shoes, or to walk barefoot on a carpeted room, I am not. The promises of a clean room also fell flat. There was a clump of hair on one of the shelves, and the vent on the hairdryer was thick with dust.

And yes, the hotel workers’ union strike is not Palihotel’s fault and I see they provided earplugs in the bathroom. But if you are sensitive to noise - just avoid staying here altogether while the strike is ongoing. It is relentless, and goes on until 10pm. At first it is just microphones and chants but later in the evening it sounds like a full on march.

The lights are motion sensor and will continually switch off throughout if they don’t detect movement. Highly inconvenient. I understand the need for saving electricity but you can’t even go 10 mins doing one activity without all the lights going out on you.

The bathroom is uncomfortable and awkward - the sink is small and wedged under a shelf that you have to bend over at a strange angle just to brush your teeth or wash your face. There is also oddly a rug (in addition to a bath mat) in the bathroom.

Based on the pictures on the website, I definitely feel cheated.

Edit: to top it off, discovered they have no toilet for guests who aren’t able to check-in/have already checked out but collecting their luggages. It’s just inconvenience after inconvenience with Palihotel. Save your money and...