Warwick San Francisco — Hotel in San Francisco

Well… first off, lemme preface my remarks by letting you all know I am over 65 and have traveled and stayed at hotels during a time when “hospitality” was a real goal and objective of hotels. Hoteliers made the room experience sumptuous. They labored to ensure your stay be a memorable experience. People used to try to make their bedrooms look and feel like their hotel rooms.

Sad to say, a hotel stay is almost always now an irritating and overwhelmingly disappointing experience, one where you go home feeling cheated, depressed and let down rather than refreshed, uplifted and satisfied. That was the case for my two nights here at the Warwick San Francisco on Geary St.

Yes. The location is nice. You can walk up the street to Macy’s and the park at Union Square was as bustling as Bryant Park in NYC. Mass transit was easy and comfortable. I took the bus to Chinatown and then to the Golden Gate Bridge and had a wonderful time.

Then I returned to the Warwick.

I checked in on Thursday November 24. I arrived about an hour before the stated check-in time which is 3p but they accommodated me. So far so good.

They took my credit card and it was only then I was informed my card would be charged an additional $200. hold in case… in case of what I am not quite sure.

There’s a $31. per day service incidentals fee that already inflates the advertised room rate and about which you are informed in advance of your booking, so this $200. ding that ostensibly is supposed to “drop off” after several days left a terrible taste in my mouth that still is galling.

Then I get up to my room. Yes. The room is clean. Isn’t that the least one would expect from a hotel? Clean rooms??? The shades were all up so my corner room looked bright and I immediately appreciated the views of the street. My room was on the second floor.

But the bed.

As you can see from the actual photos I took of my bed as it was when I walked into the room, it was a shock and a disappointment. It looked like the bed in my grandmother’s spare room that was rarely used because nobody who ever visited grandma stayed at her house but she always kept a bed ready just in case. It was lumpy and poorly made and just sad looking. This bed did not scream “luxury” or even “hello.” It was just sad.

I complained and immediately people with accents hurried to my room. The result: Still a lumpy, sad, uninviting bed. My entire hotel experience was killed in that instant.

Another death blow was delivered when I had to ask for the robe and in five minutes the accented person returned with this used, wrinkly, sad excuse for a robe in a hotel that self describes as “luxury.” Clearly, then, I no longer know what the word “luxury” even means any more.

The third blow was delivered when I was told there would be a complimentary glass of wine served every night of my stay at 5p. Well, on Thursday, November 24, I make my way down to the lobby precisely at 5p. The bar was closed. Empty. And dark. The young man standing at the desk informed me that since it was Thanksgiving or something holiday, the bar was closed. No complimentary glass of wine. Nobody mentioned that at 2p when I checked in on Thursday.

On Friday, I left the room around 7:30a. I’d lowered the blinds Thursday night to facilitate sleep. I returned to my room on the second floor around 2:30p. The blinds had not been raised. The bed was still shoddily and unprofessionally made and it was still a lumpy, disinviting mess. The tufted chair…. Well take a look at the photos. Luxury??? Does anybody here even know the meaning of the word?

You only get basic channels to watch on TV. So I wonder what the $200. hold fee is for. In case you order HBO?

There were no flowers on the floating nightstands. But the room was very clean which, imho, is a low bar since one would expect a room at a self described “luxury” hotel to be clean at the very least.

Sad. Disappointing. And Oh! Btw, pets are not allowed,...

I was frequent customer at the Warwick until an unusual circumstance happened. I noticed a sur charge on my card for $500 upon checking out. Initially I thought it might of been a hold for a security deposit but called in to confirm. The first person I talked to was a front desk person and they relayed to me that they would look into why my card was charged they would give me a call back. So about four hours later after not hearing back I called back in. The first time I called I was repeatedly sent to an automated message machine that would pick up and then loop. Then finally I got through to Kenny the person below the general manager. He had told me that I was charged for a smoking fee. Im familiar with hotel rules and policies as I have worked in hospitality myself and fortunately am not a smoker. So I started asking questions. My tone didn't fluctuate however Kenny decided to place me on another 15 minute hold. So I called back the hotel multiple time asking to speak to some form of management. Again, I was directed to Kenny who was very discerning and showed no desire to actually solve the problem. This was very unusual because as I frequent the Warwick I've never received this kind of service. He insisted that there was a odor of smoke in the room but housekeeping had already cleaned the room so there was nothing that indicated anyone smoked in the room. He then came up with hypothetical situations as to what someone would do to hide they were smoking in the room. So I then asked to speak to the general manager Lawrence who berated me with the cost of man power it cost to clean a room in deflecting that there was nothing measurable in regards to smoking in the room including the odor Kenny said was observed by the head of housekeep Torito. Initially he said he would be willing to check the room himself but then he avoided any real action by saying the room had already been cleaned. I stay frequently at the Warwick for work related convenience during my travels. There was no desire to solve the problem, and when I asked questions there was no validity. I've never had this issue in any of my previous stays (10+ times this year). Moving forward, never again will I stay at this establishment again. Hotel Fusion across the street is where I stayed for the remainder of my work related travels and will continue as they turned the unforseen circumstances around for me. I'm writing a review because as a frequent guest here at the hotel I'm truly saddened by my experience as the company is not performing as normal. From the way I was treated on the phone to being crabbed for $764 for something that did not...

Since the City is an easy drive, I normally don't stay in hotels...but when it comes to a holiday party...staying in the city is super convenient, not to mention safer :). Chose this hotel as it was super close to the venue. The staff is not the friendliest, and to be honest I believe its because I came dressed super casual, wearing jeans, nikes and my alma mater university sweatshirt...so they think I am just some kid. I worked in Hospitality and Customer Service for 15 years...I know that tone and attitude. Which made it worse when my card was not "going through" because of an error on there side...they tried blaming my card and saying I probably don't have enough money on it....wow. So I pull my app out and show that my card is receiving there charges...4 times. Gets worse at check out, see below. Whatever, I don't stay in the city ever so moving on.

Get to my room and it is tiny; not a problem it literally is for 1 night. Enough space for me and the lady to get ready for a party, sleep and pack up. Check out time...I call for my car around 10 am since there is only valet service...fast forward to 11:15 am I still don't have my car. At this point I am irritated since I had lunch plans at 11:30 in another city...not making that now. I just ask for them to let me get my car, and they do. Kindly they waived my parking as I had been waiting for 1 hour 30 mins by the time I finally got my car. I ask if anything else will be charged, they say no and email me a receipt. Come to find out I was then charged almost $400 and they could not figure out why. I did not charge anything to the room, take any snacks and the room was left in the shape we received it (so perfect). Ultimately they had to transfer me to an accountant, who couldn't figure out the charge either and ultimately would just refund me. While the situation was solved, it was still an inconvenience to wait days to see if ALL these incorrect charges would fall off my bank statement. Since they did not, I had to call, talk to different people to get it all resolved.

Ultimately, not really worth the stay. I chose this place based solely on proximity to the venue and it was barely closer than any other hotel. I think the next time I stay in the city it will be...