Non-NonRev

jamesteroh has nailed the case for Parc 55. Simply the best location, and the physical building is the newest of the three (oldest parts of SF Hilton are approaching 60 years old, and the Financial District property is a converted circa 1971 Holiday Inn). At 1000 rooms, Parc is half the size of the SF Hilton.

Good views on the upper floors, very nice staff.

GeorgeJ

Back when they first opened in the early 80's this was the "Ramada Renaissance", a very upscale hotel to be affiliated with the Ramada brand..the first time we stayed there my first wife was very uneasy with me booking a hotel in San Francisco with "Ramada" in the name..but it turned out to be very unlike a Ramada..and we continued to return there each time we went to San Francisco.

When they first opened you could sign up for a frequent stayer club (I think it was called something like "Club 89") and get an $89 rate if it wasn't booked heavily. I booked the $89 rate months in advance and it so happened that the Giants were in the World Series that year and our stay was when several games were being played in San Francisco. The hotel decided to stick it to us and change our $89 nightly rate to something like $350 per night..that was one of the last times we stayed there..They did change it back to the $89 rate after I pitched a big ..... at check-in and showed them my confirmation..

MS02113

Through a series of acquisitions and divestitures, the Renaissance brand was split off from Ramada and ended up part of Marriott's portfolio.

Non-NonRev

The RR opened in 1984, one of several hotels built in conjunction with the 1984 Democratic National Convention at the Moscone Center (also the baseball All-Star game).

When Marriott acquired and subsumed RR, they decided to focus on the Stanford Court as the sole Renaissance property in the center city.

jamesteroh

Interesting Marriott would want to buy a portfolio of Ramada. between being a Renaissance and a Hilton it was part of Wyndhams portfolio

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And was an independent property for a while before signing on with Wyndham.

Eujeanie

What is the story here for Golds re: breakfast? At most FS Hiltons (and this one says "Parc 55 - a Hilton Hotel") as a Gold I get at the very least the continental, and that is usually mentioned on the confirm, but I just got the confirm and it said nothing about breakfast, just internet access.

What do Golds get for breakfast here, now, in August 2016?

missamo80

From the sticky breakfast thread's wiki:

"Parc 55 San Francisco: Voucher for "grab & go" breakfast plus drink, or $10 off the buffet price. Gold. Diamonds is a continental buffet in the restaurant with a good selection of pastries and fruits and can upgrade to full buffet which has a lot of Asian choices such as noodles and soups as well for $10 additional but a lot of times the server will waive the $10 fee-YMMV situation."

Neil

Eujeanie

Well I guess a Grab & Go will be fine in such a foodie city as SF, will give us more room for lunch.

storewanderer

Why not give them a call and ask about breakfast for golds?

I called the SF Financial District Hilton and asked them and was told golds receive "breakfast" and I asked further is this a coupon for free coffee and pastry like at the Union Square location and the front desk person said confidently that it is a regular breakfast not just coffee and pastry.

So maybe the Union Square property is the only one that's cheapened it's Gold comp breakfast. Isn't Union Square also the only SF Hilton that is corporate owned? Sad the corporate owned property is being so minimal with HHonors benefits.

jamesteroh

When I was there a couple weeks they still had the grab and go station set up in the lobby for golds and not sure if there is buy up option to the buffet for golds or not. The one morning the server told me to help myself to anything on the buffet and the second morning I was told it would be a $10 upcharge for the full buffet so I just stuck with the cold stuff. I think it's petty charging a $10 fee for a full breakfast to a diamond but seeing how Hilton hands out status like candy...

missamo80

I was in the Parc 55 when I posted the info above copied from the wikipost. It is still accurate. Golds get the grab and go thing. Diamonds get the continental buffet.

I'm pretty sure the Parc 55 and Hilton Union Square are owned by the same people (perhaps corporate), since I stayed at both this trip and at both locations I was given an envelope with a coupon for a free drink in the hotel bar because my company is their "Company of the Quarter".

Neil

elCheapoDeluxe

Having stayed at both (the Parc 55 most recently around December) I'd stay across the street at the Hilton every time. When I was looking rates were identical and parking rates were identical, but I prefer the rooms and facilities at the Hilton.

Eujeanie

For our dates the Hilton is almost $100 per night more ($287 vs. $190), and since we're taking BART from/to the airport the Parc 55 seems very convenient. I can buy a lot of whatever breakfast I want for that savings, but the Grab & Go sounds fine.

All the Marriotts and SPGs nearby were also much more expensive than $190.

Kacee

Just spent one night on a very cheap last-second rate. Upgraded at check-in to a skyline view room with a view to the east toward the Marriott and new Salesforce Tower. There were junior suites available but I wasn't offered one of those. Agent did however upgrade me to the full breakfast buffet, which I thought was a nice gesture.

Not impressed with the room. It's small with drab furnishings and a tiny, totally worthless loveseat that backs against the window and thus has a spectacular view back towards the door Bed was really small - definitely not a king.

There's not much separation from the hallway and there was an awful lot of noise from other guests and housekeeping. I would hesitate to stay again on that basis alone.

Breakfast was surprisingly good. Quality ingredients and very friendly service. I also liked the view down onto Market Street.

Fitness center is barely adequate for a property this size with a very thin selection of weights and machines. On the other hand, internet (Premium) was smoking fast at 29 mbs up and down.

Good value for my $132 rate (which will generate over 11K points) but probably would not stay here again. Really wish Hilton had a better SF option than the current offerings.