Hotel Stratford San Francisco - Handwritten Collection

I travel often for work, and this was the most disappointing and inconvenient hotel stay I’ve had. I was there for 12 nights, 9.21 - 10.3, and had chosen room 733 ahead of time. It wasn’t ready, but I was told it was one of the better rooms, so I waited instead of taking another one. The first room had a huge dip in the mattress. I tried the other side, but still felt like I was leaning into it. A globe light over the bed didn’t work, and maintenance rigged the wire. Dried paint around the light came off when I wiped it with rubbing alcohol. The shower curtain barely reached the tub, so water got on the floor every time. The fridge was loud and didn’t keep food cold. Maintenance unplugged it, tested it, then brought me a replacement. By then I’d unpacked and was tired from long workdays, so I didn’t want to pack everything again. After a week, the metal panel at the bottom of the door came loose, and I had to force the door open and shut. I eventually asked to move rooms and told the front desk the door needed fixing and the mattress was really bad. The replacement room was very small, but bright, with a larger, properly cold fridge and a shower curtain that worked. In the middle of the night I tried the air and ceiling fan, but neither wall control worked. The desk said they needed to be reset, but I had to be up at 4am and didn’t want to wait for maintenance. The hair dryer’s coating was gross and sticky, and it broke while I was using it. The building does have historic charm: the old-building smell, small slow elevator, uneven room floors, and old window and door frames. Staff were friendly and helpful, and I liked using the gym and walking down the stairs each morning. Given how long I stayed, I should have switched hotels at the start. I’m surprised this is part of the Hilton Tapestry Collection.

Avoid this place if you can. It’s the worst Tapestry Collection hotel I’ve stayed in. Room 410 was tiny, poorly maintained, and had little to no air conditioning. A previous guest’s nail clippings were on the bedroom carpet, not the bathroom, for all four nights. I told the front desk several times and nothing was done. The rooms felt cheap, and outside noise made an already disappointing stay worse. Hilton should remove it from its portfolio.

The location was perfect, and we were in San Francisco from Dec 29-Jan 1 during a lovely time to visit a city we come to often. Beyond that, we don’t have much positive to say about this hotel. The TV didn’t work, but the hotel sent someone to fix it, which was good. We also asked how to adjust the heat because it was cold. Someone fiddled with it, but we never figured it out and were usually either freezing or too hot. Breakfast was mediocre and not worth the money. Would we stay here again? Probably not.

The art and decor are beautiful, but the room we got was smaller and felt lower quality than a Motel 6 or casino room, just smoke-free. I know it’s an old building in the center of San Fransisco, but for the price I expected more from a HILTON brand hotel. After a long drive, we tried to shower and the first person couldn’t get any hot water, not even lukewarm. We had to go to the desk to learn “the trick.” It almost got warm, then we turned on the showerhead and it was a bad shower. The shampoo, conditioner, and body wash bottles they supplied broke when we tried to use them. There’s no parking or pool, and rooms start at almost $200 a night. I’ve booked full suites in the center of town through Hilton for much less, with far more luxury. In my opinion, this hotel doesn’t deserve the Hilton name. We were very dissatisfied, so we canceled our last two nights and drove 20 minutes away to a “REAL HILTON”!