My Instagram review and pictures:
It seems like many people are interested staying here. As this is one of only 2 Forbes Five Star hotels in San Francisco, I think it’s fair to give the STR SF a detailed post on the state of the property in mid-to-late 2021.

Honestly, I really like this hotel. I went in with low expectations and was actually prepared to hate it. People were saying on FlyerTalk that the management learned they could just ignore Bonvoy. The hotel was also seemingly undergoing multiple general manager changes in quick succession. If high expectations are the thief of joy, perhaps low expectations are the facilitator of joy. I was genuinely impressed with my experience here. To be honest, I still prefer the Rosewood Menlo Park for many reasons that are outside of the STR’s control (including the general unpleasantness of Sam Francisco). However, for anyone that wants to be in the city, I think the St. Regis is one of the best choices by far. I don’t view the Palace Hotel and even the Ritz Carlton as credible competition for the hotel. For my preferences and taste, only the Four Seasons competes with this St. Regis in San Francisco.

The bad:

• Windows were dirty
• Ceilings feel low for a luxury property (perhaps 9ft/274cm?)
• Not a fan of the narrow bathroom with tiny shower. I think they would have benefited from committing to either a bigger bathroom with a tub or just scrapping the tub and building out a nicer walk-in shower
• Main hotel email address is seemingly not monitored
• The spa and restaurant are closed
• Bar is only open on weekends until 11 PM
• Ubers don’t want to drive into the drop off of the hotel and drop you off on the side of the road (not their fault but FYI). You have to call your cab to the resident entrance to get around this.

The good:

• Very attractively priced cash rates
• Butler chat and butler team was responsive and timely
• Proactively offered breakfast and 4 PM check-out upon checking in
• Upgraded from base room to the Astor suite in the Bonvoy app prior to check-in
• The Astor Suite is reasonably spacious by tier 1 city standards with a logical floor plan
• Good hardwood floors (though some signs of aging with light scratches)
• Tasteful room decorations/furnishing (good curation of artwork, all replicas)
• Great views of the Salesforce Tower
• Location is very convenient and central but also removed from the mess of market street
• In-room breakfast is offered for elites (I like the St. Regis Signature Eggs Benedict a lot)
• Room was prepared with a special welcome surprise (perhaps based on something on my Marriott profile? Suspiciously specific room preparations)
• The butler left me a handwritten note with macaroons on the first day
• Reasonably nice gym which was open for the duration of my stay

For the people that mainly care about elite benefits: suite upgrade (no SNA), in-room breakfast (1 entree + 2 drinks per person per night), and proactive 4 PM check-out. There were multiple higher tier metropolitan suites available for the duration of my stay upon check-in but I was satisfied with my pre-upgrade to the Astor suite. Not sure what else I could have reasonably hoped for in terms of elite benefits and I don’t get how this is a property that is ignoring the Bonvoy program. I know

The soft product is definitely strong for everyone regardless of elite status. I prefer this to a hotel that only treats elites well. The service here reminded me of the Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills (which I stayed at immediately prior to this). However, the WA BH had a better soft product overall but worse elite treatment. Ymmv.

I prefer the STR Astor Suite vastly to the Premier Room at the Four Seasons. Is it reasonable for me to expect a space-available upgrade to this suite again next time? I don’t know. This will be my default SF hotel for the foreseeable future and we will see what my long-term upgrade rate is. The butler team really encouraged me to return on my final night. I don’t remember the last time I was asked to come back to a hotel like this so I am looking forward to it.

The spa was closed. Restaurant seemed closed too. Gym was open. Bar was supposedly open but I never saw it staffed. They had a bottle of Yamazaki 25 on display. I asked about it and no one had any idea what I was talking about. Oh well.

Overall, great hotel. I will be back.