YOTEL San Francisco — Hotel in San Francisco

I just returned home from my trip and I would like to share my experience at the San Francisco YOTEL. I arrived on Monday 2/4 (they just opened on Friday 2/1). I flew in from the East Coast and I had afternoon meetings to attend so checking me in early was very much appreciated. The staff was very friendly, welcoming and professional. When I went to my cabin I was a little surprised at just how small the space was but it was spotlessly clean with a nice sized shower, sink and work area. The difficult part for me was the loft bed at the top of a small spiral staircase. The mattress is on the floor of the loft ... not a spring chicken anymore it was a bit difficult getting up from the mattress and I could just about stand up in the loft area in the approximately 1 foot of space between the mattress and the railing. Climbing back down was slightly intimidating but I got used to it and just took my time. For a younger person it wouldn’t be any problem. The bed, bedding and pillows were actually very comfortable. On my way out to the office I asked the front desk staff if I could upgrade to a Queen cabin and they couldn’t seem to tell me at that moment so I asked if they could let me know when I returned. I was later told that there were no available rooms and that they were completely booked. I don’t believe that was the case. More than likely they did not have any Queen cabins ready for occupancy since there was still ongoing construction.

PROS: friendly staff, immaculate room, good value for the nightly rate. CONS: The wireless cut off about every hour and required me to sign in with email address every time. The first night the TV pixelation was so bad it was unwatchable. The second night the TV was not working at all. My room card key deactivated 3 times. There was no water pressure in the sink until the second day. There was no coffee the first morning as promised. (They are partnering with a local coffee shop that brings coffee around 7am but it was not there the first day) The restaurant is not open yet so I had no choice but to walk to a local eatery more than 10 blocks away in a very rough stretch of Market Street. I did not feel safe. The front desk staff did not have any knowledge of the immediate area regarding stores or places to eat. I will say that the managers were very apologetic and concerned about some of the challenges and I do understand that they just opened so there were some kinks to work out. Personally I probably wouldn’t stay there again unless I could stay in a Queen cabin but having a clean option close to the financial district at a good price is very welcome in a very expensive city. I would have given a 4 star review if I didn’t have the...

My daughter & I stayed at the YOTEL San Francisco in July while we were in town for a concert at Oracle Park. We absolutely loved the hotel. Clean, kind, helpful staff, comfy beds….but man! The homeless congregations that stay RIGHT in front and to the side of the hotel doors are uncomfortable. We found ourself ubering out & back in from walkable places just because of safety concerns. We specifically chose YOTEL because of the walk-ability to everything we wanted to do (including Oracle park), but as a mom, it wasn’t worth the risk when men were hooting & hollering at us while walking. We did walk to & from the concert because I wanted to give humans, despite being homeless, the benefit of the doubt. But we quickly discovered that was a poor choice. The walk from the stadium was absolutely fine until we were within 0.2 miles from the hotel; We had to walk through tight congregations of people injecting themselves with drugs, needles on the ground, men on bikes circling us, yelling, cops zooming by multiple times with their lights on, men with their hands down their pants, and woman soliciting sex. I’m a nurse who worked street medicine serving the homeless population in LA, and the conditions right outside the hotel were comparable to skid row. I’m only writing this review so that any other mom can have a good understanding of what the conditions are like, because I would have wanted to understand better. I did see the reviews & thought, “eh. People are judgmental & sometimes over exaggerate. It can’t possibly be THAT bad”….but it is. Despite that, the hotel did a fantastic job securing their premises. They had a 24 hour security guard manning the doors & lobby. They were always kind & would come right to the door when they saw us entering the building, which did make me feel safer while in a vulnerable position trying to key into a door while also keeping close tabs on my daughter. Another plus is that public transportation options are very close, but you have to wait while surrounded by the homeless (like a sitting duck).

We also appreciated the continental breakfast which served croissants, apple pastries, granola bars, fruits (bananas & apples), coffee, and yogurt. They also had a convenient vending machine with reasonable prices for late night snacking. Each floor had an ice & water machine with cups which was also a perk. The only other downside besides the homeless outside was that we couldn’t get our TV to connect to our phones. It wasn’t a current smart TV, so no apps or anything. Kind of boring in the room when we were too “afraid” to go out again after dark lmfao. Their WiFi worked well though, so we just vegged...

I booked Yotel San Francisco through agoda for 3 nights in March, 2022, but for following reason I could not stay at the hotel.

I booked Yotel San Francisco because I have stayed at Yotel Boston before and was very pleased with the staff at that time, so I expected Yotel San Francisco to be just as excellent. However, this turned out to be a disappointment.

When I arrived at Yotel San Francisco around 9-10 p.m., the hotel seemed closed. I called Yotel San Francisco multiple times. But at first, an automated answering system, somehow, transferred my call to Yotel New York Hotel. I asked the Yotel New York staff to check if Yotel San Francisco is open and to call me back. However, she did not call me back. My other calls seemed to have been transferred to Yotel San Francisco, but every time no one answered. I tried to contact the hotel staff for almost an hour in front of the hotel, which was cold and unsafe (there were many homeless on the street), even after a long trip, but after several calls with no answer, I had no choice but to give up on staying at the hotel. At this point, it was not safe to remain in front of the hotel any longer. Therefore, I looked for a new hotel and managed to find a place to stay for the day.

After checking into the new hotel (around midnight), I contacted agoda to report them that I could not check into Yotel San Francisco and to ask for a refund. Then I received a message from agoda stating, "Regarding your claim about the property being unable to accommodate your booking, we have tried to contact them to verify the status of your booking but were unable to get an answer at this time, so we have sent them additional communication by email. " So, it’s clear from this message that Yotel San Francisco was not accessible at that night. Afterwards, agoda advised me to ask for a refund from the hotel.

I contacted Yotel San Francisco to report this matter and ask refund. ALEX WINK, Director of mission control of Yotel San Francisco, promised me to investigate this matter and follow up with me. However, after I gave him the detail information and evidence about the matter (screenshot of my call history, email from agoda, my phone number etc.), he ignored and never replied me. Of course, the hotel has never refunded me.

Do you think the hotel is good if it does not answer customer calls or investigate its own problems and apologize? If you want to stay in a hotel without problem, you should not...