The Wharf Inn — Hotel in San Francisco

Years ago, we used to stay at the Wharf Inn quite often. It is an older hotel, but we loved it for it's location. A friend was coming from the East Coast for a visit. He had never been to the SF area before. We inquired into a few different hotels in the wharf area and decided to go with the Wharf Inn from our prior years experiences at this location. We booked 2 rooms, 1 for him and 1 for us. A young man was at the desk for our check-in. He was friendly and polite.

Like we remembered, the rooms are older. The beds seemed clean, and were comfortable. The bathroom was just okay. There was quite a bit of mold in the showers. In the shower there were also 2 abandon knobs that stuck out of the wall that seemed as though they could be dangerous. We had booked 2 nights.

The morning of our check-out we decided to go across the street for breakfast and some last minute shopping. We placed the "do not disturb" sign on the door. Check out time is 11:00 am. We had taken our clothes out of the room and loaded them in the car, however we left items in the refrigerator that we wanted to keep cold and would return to retrieve them after breakfast. I also left some prescription glasses in the room as I wouldn't need them at breakfast.

We returned to our room at 10:50 to find our room completely cleaned and the door wide open. The maid was in the next room which was our friend's room. I asked her why she was in the rooms already? I continued to explain that we had not checked out yet. She just looked at me and wouldn't reply. I asked her again. She showed me her watch and said check out was 11:00. I said I know that, but it isn't 11:00 yet. Our room was completely finished, therefore she had entered it way before the 11:00 check-out time. She became very rude. I then asked her what her name was. She answered "I don't know". We decided to go back in our room to retrieve our items in the refrigerator to find they too were all gone. We had bought new drink for the drive home and there was a pizza from the night before. I also had a pair of prescription glasses that I use while driving that I had left in the room.

We went down to report this to the front desk. A young female was at the desk at this time. She apologized but said there was nothing she could do. ??? The staff know who is assigned to clean the rooms, and who specifically had cleaned our rooms. She said she would speak to the manager. We asked for compensation for our missing items in the room. She did not give us anything. We will never stay at this hotel again due to the maid and her attitude. She did not represent her employer in a positive manner at all. I would not trust her to be a hotel maid and I hope that management takes appropriate action.

The bottom line is that she stole our items from our room while we were at breakfast and nothing was done about it. I will be calling tomorrow (business hours) to speak to the manager.

I reached out and called the manager to be told he wasn't available. My contact number was taken, but we'll see if I get a return call.

DON'T LEAVE ANYTHING IN YOUR ROOM AT THIS HOTEL!!! The Zephyr Hotel across the street is wonderful! We will be staying there...

An excellent option near the water, walking distance to the entire Embarcadero and Pier 39, and an easy walk to Ghirardelli. We walked to the cable car station a couple blocks away and rode to Chinatown, all kinds of transit available to everywhere you'd want to go. Free parking is the BEST perk, gated and secured and on-site. We parked our car on arrival and didn't get in it again until we left two days later. Close to lots of restaurants, stores, boutiques, street performers down on the embarcadero, attractions, you name it. Staff very friendly, housekeepers also friendly and flexible. Security at the hotel was great, you had to use your room key to get in through the gate and then again to go up in the elevator so no non-hotel-guests were milling around in the property.

You can tell they're sort of constantly working on renovations. The outside of the Wharf Inn is showing its age, but our balcony room with a view of the bay was pretty nicely appointed considering. I'd rank it somewhere between a 2-star, like a motel 6, and a 3-star like a quality inn. Laminate floors, super-comfy (and tall!) bed, room safe, mini-fridge and coffee setup, outlets on both sides of the bed for phone charging, CPAP, etc., couch and TV, desk, everything we'd need. There's a 7-Eleven right across the street which is super handy for affordable small snacks and drinks. We slept with a window open for some breeze (we were on an upper floor) and didn't notice any noise that might wake us up or anything. We visited in August, and the room had a ceiling fan and a vortex fan that kept both us and the room nice and cool. The bathroom/fixtures/etc. were a little dingey and in need of some updating, like our little vanity didn't have all the trim on it so you could see some of the plywood construction and the corners/etc./shower could benefit from a deep clean to make them sparkle. But that was a relatively small price to pay for the convenience of the location, feeling safe, and free parking.

Overall, for the price we paid we'd gladly stay again. There might be a few houseless people in the vicinity but they're people, too, and they deserve a smile and some respect if you pass by them. We didn't feel threatened in any way. Some things are just part of city life (we also live near a different large city) and we weren't uncomfortable in the least. Thank...

I traveled to SF for a work conference and stayed for 3 days. If you are looking for luxury accommodations in the city, this isn’t the place for you. If you’re looking for a comfortable place to stay while you explore…I recommend! You are steps from the water and Pier 39. Less than a block. As a woman traveling alone, I always felt safe in the area. The access to the rooms/elevator is keycard controlled, and they have staff onsite 24/7 to monitor the entrance.There is a 7/11 across the street that was super convenient for snacks/coffee. The staff was always so sweet and gracious when I spoke with them, and they genuinely wanted to make sure that my stay was going well. The room itself is no frills, but is comfortable as a place to sleep and relax after exploring (or working all day!). There is a beach/aquatic park within a 5 minute walk that is so beautiful and gives an amazing view of the bay and the city.

Some notes to others: there is no central AC. I am usually someone who requires AC in my accommodations, and because of the incredible location, I gambled with this because September can be one of the warmer months in the city. It was ZERO issue for me, even on warmer days. They have a ceiling fan and box fans, and the windows open to let the breeze in. Don’t let the lack of AC deter you! The room itself is a bit outdated, but again..who cares? The bed is comfortable, the bathrooms are updated and large. The water pressure was great and they have a nice size fridge in the room for your drinks and leftovers. I was able to work from my in room desk easily, and had no issues with Wi-Fi. Since you will likely have your windows open for the breeze, you will probably hear some of the other guests coming and going. This was never a problem and most people are respectful of others. I wouldn’t fault the hotel for rudeness if I had encountered otherwise. Bonus: you’re so close to the water that you can hear the sea lions barking in the distance.

I did not park, but they have parking onsite.

This is probably the longest review I have ever written, but I really want to stress that this is an amazing option for the price. Next time I’m in the city, I’ll...