Hotel Amari

It was cold and dirty, and the check-in system was down. I needed a room badly that night, but if I’d had the energy, I would have found somewhere else. The staff seemed not to care, which left me wondering if this was normal for them. The place is cheap, but still not worth what I paid. This was close to the worst hotel I’ve stayed in during my international travels. Having a roof is a privilege, but yikes. It took about an hour to check in because the system wasn’t registering payments. The front desk representative tried charging my card twice despite seeing the pending charge in my bank account. They also required a $250 deposit at check-in that wasn’t mentioned when booking, more than the cost of one night. The building is old and poorly maintained. There’s no central heat, and the old radiators didn’t work, so my room got surprisingly cold overnight. They’ll give you a space heater if you ask to move to a warmer part of the building. The rooms felt unsanitary, with old stained carpets, peeling paint, and dirt and dust in odd places. If cold affects your health, don’t stay here. SF weather is great, but the rooms get cold at night. And if stairs are difficult for you, look elsewhere: the elevators were out and didn’t look as if they’d been used in quite a while.

We saved a lot of money here, and being able to walk back after our outings was a real plus. For the price, the hotel was decent, with location and cost as its strongest points. Parking next door ran about $48 a night. We stayed four days and three nights, and getting the car from valet didn’t take long. The sixth-floor shower was very temperamental, swinging between cold and scalding without a comfortable setting. Rooms are small, there’s no AC, and the window was decent, with a view of the backs of buildings. Keep expectations modest and you can have a good time.

I had to cancel my Zoom meetings because construction noise was so bad. Work started at 8 every morning, with pounding that gave me severe headaches. The hotel never told me about the construction when I booked, even though I’m here for work and rely on those calls. At this price, the problems are unacceptable. The rooms are very outdated, some switches don’t work, and there’s no central heat, just a small portable heater. The bathroom door is hard to open and close, and the shower door only closes properly from outside, which is extremely inconvenient. Even the towels are old, thin, and worn. A very disappointing stay.

The billing issue was a major red flag. I gave the hotel my credit card, but they then contacted Expedia to replace it with a different card on file. It seemed like an attempt to reduce their transaction fees, and the lack of transparency and professionalism was troubling. The rooms were cold and noisy, and the showers were unreliable, with water often cold or changing temperature sharply. The tiny shower cubicle felt designed for someone barely five feet tall, with a jail-cell look. The dated decor was unsettling, like something from "The Shining." Service was completely inadequate, with a level of incompetence worthy of "Faulty Towers." My stay was unacceptable. Choose somewhere else.