Sonesta Select San Francisco Airport Oyster Point Waterfront — Hotel in South San Francisco

I was booked at this hotel by my employer, and they made the booking for me and were paying for the room, so when I checked in and was asked for my credit card, I assumed it was to cover incidentals, as this is the general process at all hotels. Nicholas proceeded to check me in and handed me my room key. I was not advised of any room cost, nor was I asked to sign anything. Later that evening, a colleague checked in to the same hotel, and when she was asked for her credit card, she was told it was to pay for the room. She immediately alerted me to the issue, which is when I discovered to my horror that my credit card had been charged a whopping $1880 by the hotel. Let me remind you that this was not with my approval - I was not advised my card was being charged in any way (not even for a safety deposit), nor was I asked to sign any payment authorization (which I believe from experience, is the standard procedure at hotels). I waited until morning to speak to the front desk. My employer had already spoken with them so they were aware of the issue. I spoke with Inez, who was defending their error at first, saying that they never confirm payment amounts with customers before charging their credit cards (?!). She then admitted that it was their error since the business credit card was on the faxed reservation request from my employer. When I explained to her that I was now left with no money on my card, because their $1880 charge had maxed it out to its limit, she offered me free breakfast for the rest of my stay as a courtesy for the inconvenience. I accepted this offer at the time because my training class was originally set for the afternoons. However, on the first day of training, we were told that our sessions were now going to be starting at 6am each day, which meant I would have to leave the hotel on the 5:30am shuttle and miss breakfast. When I returned to hotel, I asked the front desk if it would be possible to get a breakfast prepared to go, since I would be unable to use the service. She said no. I then asked if I could have my free breakfasts switched to free dinners, as some of the cheaper dinner items were the same cost as some of the breakfast items, so I felt it was a fair trade. She laughed at me and said no. I asked to speak to a manager, so she advised me to speak to Willie in the morning. Next morning, I went down early to speak to Willie, who was immediately rude and unhelpful. He kept saying that he couldn't make any changes to the free breakfast in the computer system, which sounds absurd. He then told me that it is my fault that I am unable to make use of the free breakfast - I guess he wanted me to show up to training an hour late each day?! He also told me that I should not have been given the free breakfast as a courtesy in the first place! I seriously wish I had video recorded some of my interactions as proof as I am still in disbelief at their audacity to act that way when it was their error. I then emailed a complaint to Marriott and explained the whole situation, including the fact that I had spoken to at least 2 managers onsite, and that no one was willing to assist or even apologize in any way. The only reply I received, was to say that they had forwarded my complaint on to the hotel manager on duty. Obviously, the manager on duty did absolutely nothing in response to that, because they were already aware of the issue and already did not care. So basically, Marriott believes it is ok to charge my credit card $1880 without my consent or approval, and without even notifying me in any way of this charge. They also believe it is ok to leave me without any funds to buy food for a whole week since they maxed out my credit card in error (I had to borrow money from my colleague - very embarrassing!). Is it just me or this completely wrong, and...

This is the one of the worst hotels I've ever stayed at. I rarely write reviews but I feel obligated to for the greater good! First off, I get to my room and connect to the wifi and the wifi doesn't work (ie I'm connected but there's no internet). I call the front desk to ask how to fix this but the phone doesn't work! So I go back down to the front desk with my laptop. The front desk person tells me it happens all the time, that work computers can't connect to their wifi because of firewalls and that it's embarrassing because it's a business hotel (I'm astonished by that comment). She tells me that she will have the internet service call my room to fix the wifi. I tell her the phone doesn't work. She said she will send a technician to fix the phone before she asks a technician to call me to fix the wifi. I paid $350 a night for that hotel... After a while she comes up and tries to mess up with the phone. Can't fix it. Then two technicians come up. They look at the phone and said it's fixed, I had to blow on it. A while later the phone rings and it's the wifi people. I can't hear anything they say and it keeps getting worse then the phone dies after not even a minute. I had given up on the wifi and the phone when a technician comes back up with another phone and after messing with it for a while, declares there's no service line here. A while later, the same front desk lady calls my cell phone and says she will send people to install the phone line the next day and to tell me when I'm gone. I tell her that I don't need the phone (just needed it for the wifi people to call my room) and at that point to just fix after at the end of my stay because I've wasted enough time. She apologizes for the first time and offers me a free dinner. I go get dinner that night to the restaurant. I order a grilled cheese sandwich with two sides and a glass of wine. I told them I had a complimentary dinner. They said they see that in the system but complimentary dinner means one item so the grilled cheese or the side or the wine. They ask me to pick which item I want free. They have no shame! Cheap, unprofessional service. The room is ok and clean. The AC is one of those old wall units that...

Edited to add: I received a phone call two days after I left this review from a man at the Sonesta location who wanted to educate me on what a hotel “can and cannot control”. I was at work and asked him to call back and provided a time. He did not call back. I attempted to reach out and was left on hold. I never managed to get in contact with them again.

Second, I had reached out to the general customer service email to terminate my membership. They informed me the fees are standard for self parking and all amenities available are listed on the website. I asked what the alternative to self parking is and whether because housekeeping and providing basic things such as a toothbrush or razor is not on the website no guest should expect those services. No answer after 5 days. Plus, the initial response promised my membership was deleted but this morning I received a promotional email (after unsubscribing no less) that included my membership number in the header. Review has been lowered to one star. The hotel is clean and in a great location but this service experience is so abysmal I truly couldn’t encourage you more to choose a different place to stay

Parking fees are not advertised. I paid a hotel fee in my booking price, so I have no idea where that went if there's so many more fees. The parking fees amounted to $45- effectively making my reservation $500. I chose Sonesta over the nearby options due to the reservation falling under $500 and that decision was made totally moot by the unexpected fees. In fact, I am certain these fees will be a violation of California Law under Senate Bill 478 as soon as July 1st hits. I would seriously reconsider charging fees that are soon to be banned by legislation.

Further, I was made to pay $3.29 for a toothbrush. Again, it is absolutely bewildering what is calculated into the hotel price if a toothbrush isn't. There was no place to refill my water bottle with clean drinking water and I was told the tap or purchasing water was the option. More purchasing what should be included in a hotel stay. And during my stay housekeeping did not once make my bed. In fact, I had to request new coffee packets to use in the room....