Inn on Folsom

I’m torn. The location south of market is excellent if you want bars nearby and an easy walk to bart, muni, civic center, and the freeway. The mood is casual and chill, kind of like a low-key Florida Keys bathhouse, in the chillest way, but without the naked cruising. The bed was comfortable, and the club music was good. But there was a constant beep every five seconds. Once I noticed it, I couldn’t sleep. Over two nights I got maybe four hours, and it even woke me from dreams. Staff never mentioned it and just nodded when I raised it, saying they heard and understood. There was no offer to move rooms, discount the stay, or invite me back if it got fixed. They were waiting for a technician who couldn’t come on the weekend. WiFi also stopped working on the last night and through checkout, with no explanation. There was also a guest who OD'd, asking the front desk for Narcan for her dog, but they didn’t call 911. Later that night, the same guests were screaming in the hallway, and there was another incident as I left. The small issues outweighed the good parts. If the beeping and WiFi were fixed, and staff handled problems better instead of shrugging them off and asking whether I wanted to extend or check out, I’d consider returning. I’d want to go into the property first to see whether those issues were fixed and no others had cropped up. What could have been a solid 4 1/2 stars ended up at 2 or 2 1/2. The stay wasn’t worth half what I paid. Maybe another time.

The room was on the first floor, right next to the bathroom, and it was filthy when we arrived. There was what looked like trash and junk on the floor. The walls had thick, dark, grimy stains, and I worried the whole stay about leaving with a staph infection. The building felt like a sanitation nightmare. Some shared showers smelled so bad I nearly threw up walking in. The toilets were disgusting, and their cheap seats slid around when you sat down. Women staying there repeatedly left plastic tampon and applicator waste floating in the toilet, making an already unpleasant shared facility worse. We needed a clean place to rest after a long six-hour flight from Pennsylvania, so I’d booked well ahead. Instead, the room felt uninhabitable. The only positive was the location for the Folsom Street Fair. The place is a stain on the area. There were basic problems in the room, too. The bathroom sink area had no working light. The TV itself worked, but the satellite service was broken from Friday through Wednesday despite staff promising to fix it. We bought a USBC to HDMI cord from Amazon to watch content on our phones. Since no cleaning products were provided, we bought 409 cleaner and Febreze just to make the room and ourselves marginally comfortable. When I complained, staff were indifferent, said there were no other rooms, and refused a refund. We had to leave before 9:00 a.m. for the airport, but a sign on the office door said, in effect, not to bother them until at least 9:00 a.m. I think I could have rented a car from Enterprise and had cleaner conditions for less money. I’m exploring consumer protection complaints unless the company reaches out to make this right. This establishment should not be in business. You have been warned, avoid at all costs.

The people working at the Inn were kind, but just as resistant to room changes or refunds. The place is very old and badly disheveled. I paid a highly inflated price and regret it. I would have booked one of the places a few blocks away. My first room smelled of urine and was torn up, and the first night was hell. Workers stop helping checked-in guests at 1AM, so I couldn’t get out of there until morning. The door was easy to break into. After I firmly demanded a move, the manager tried to secure the unlockable door by wedging folded plastic at the bottom of the hinge. The outside of the frame was visibly damaged, which made me think thieves had defeated that trick before. I checked out both rooms, and neither had the standard fire escape placard on the entrance door. Not sure if that’s illegal, just a fun fact. I got moved upstairs, which helped a little. It was quieter, enough to sleep at a reasonable hour, but the room still had no TV, badly stained mattresses, and significant damage. Ground floor rooms sit directly above a nightclub. Unless you’re in a rear room or on the second floor, you won’t sleep until 2AM. There’s a good chance your room won’t have a TV, and fixtures may be worn, stained, or hanging off the wall. Bring toilet paper, and expect low shower pressure. A small microwave and refrigerator are in the common area near the main desk. My photos tell the story.

I’ve stayed at the Inn on Folsom for about eight months, and the experience has been consistently appalling. Bathrooms and common areas are rarely cleaned or restocked. Walls and floors are visibly filthy. The in-house laundry doesn’t work properly, either. The dryer produces no heat, so it can’t sanitize linens or towels. If you ask for fresh bedding or towels, insist on items from a professional laundry service, as the alternatives are unsanitary. The onsite manager has repeatedly used the surveillance system to monitor guests inappropriately and harass them. He has tracked people’s movements to pursue illicit relationships, including with my own partner. He has also shared guests’ sensitive personal information, seemingly to sabotage relationships and stir up a divisive environment. This has included unsolicited sexual advances toward my visitors, lies about financial transactions, and repeatedly overcharging my card, then aggressively denying it when confronted. This is a hostile, unsanitary, emotionally damaging place. The operation is deeply dysfunctional, and those running it lack the qualifications, integrity, and basic decency for hospitality work. It’s a disgrace that it continues operating without regulatory intervention. The Inn on Folsom fails basic standards, and I urge others to avoid it and relevant agencies to investigate thoroughly.