chix

Any recent experiences here? I am looking for the best Hilton type property in the SFO for award stay .... Convenient to get to downtown. The properties in the city are sold out :-(

cblaisd

"Best" is really very relative to your priorities. If easy BART access is the most important, there's really not another East Bay choice that is as convenient with BART just a few steps from the door.

cblaisd

Well, never say never....

A five-night reward stay found us here when we wanted a property with an indoor pool (not easy to find in the East Bay) so grandchildren could come over and swim.

The good: The layout is much improved from last time. The seating in the breakfast area has been expanded. There is now a coffee station at the back of the lobby so you don't have to brave the breakfast crowds to get a cup of coffee. The breakfast buffet selection is very good (and the pastry choices extensive). The staff continues to be affable and helpful in the extreme! (Using the "message us" in the app in advance got us upgraded to a larger top-floor suite, plus a complimentary snack tray on several days). The valet parking staff are polite and helpful and fetch cars quickly. The front desk staff helped me get a document printed for a meeting (but see below as to why). No complaints whatsoever about every staff member I interacted with; all were affable and professional.

The not-so-good:

Remind me never, ever again to schedule an Embassy Suites stay on a holiday Friday/Saturday night! On Friday night there had to be 200 children/young teens running and screaming. The manager's reception on that night was 30 people deep (most of them children) getting snacks. The staff tried to keep up with the mess but it was difficult. Breakfast the next morning was also an utter zoo, with 25 people in the omelette station line, pastries picked over, etc. The pool probably had 100 children and a handful of adults on Saturday morning.

The internet was so awful that it could not be relied on. It was sometimes adequate in the outer room of the suite, but totally useless in the bedroom. And it continues to be an embarrassment to Hilton that its "Premium" internet speed tops out here at ~4Mbps



(During my stay, I had a meeting at a local Holiday Inn. It's plan ol' internet was 66Mbps!)


And then a lot of small things:

• Several of the stalls in the first floor men's rooms stayed out of tp for quite a while.
• I never went in the first floor men's rooms that the trash can was not overflowing.
• There's a lock entirely missing on one of the stalls in the south first floor men's room.
• The north and south doors were supposed to be locked at 11pm and opened at 6am. The north door was never locked that I saw, and the south door, even in the day, was locked.
• While there are three elevators, the center one was apparently inoperative. Two elevators is not enough when there is any sort of crowd.
• Lots of little signs of deferred maintenance and less-than-optimal housekeeping: only about 1/3 of the lights about each elevator cab on the first floor showing which floor the cab is on work; there was the same pieces of trash in the elevator for days.
• Our entire stay, the printers in the Business Center didn't work.

But, once again, I will say that the staff couldn't have been nicer or more helpful to us.

(Also, if BART proximity is a consideration, the hotel is next door to a BART station)

thunderlounge

What, no mention of the koi?

I end up here for work a few times a year. Convenient, decent enough, but if I had other options I would skip it.

Maxwell Smart

Any recent experiences/updates? Looking at staying here on Fri/Sat Labor Day weekend this year, 4 adults plus teenager, so pretty much the only option unless booking 2 rooms.
Will be traveling/visiting Berkeley and San Francisco.

Only other option would be ES SFO Waterfront, which is $40/night higher for room and $10/day higher for parking.

smmrfld

Neither of those locations are convenient to SF or Berkeley. You’ll be spending a lot of time in a car or on BART, plus searching for parking, etc. Not ideal.

storewanderer

Both locations are poor for SF and Berkeley.
Very inconvenient. Basically you must plan to use BART all the time to get to SF and Berkeley.

Have not been to the WC property since before COVID but it is right next to BART (fares for 6 people will add up very fast) and you can park free at the BART garage (park at your own risk; I've done it and had no issue many times; but I'll say it again and others in the area will tell you: park at your own risk).

SPN Lifer

Actually, the Walnut Creek Embassy Suites could be very convenient indeed, depending on how far your destinations are from BART stations.

And you get to avoid the hassle of parking there. Going to Berkeley, however, will require a transfer.

https://www.bart.gov/system-map

Maxwell Smart

Fully understand about location and convenience issues, I'm familiar with moving around the Bay Area (even have a Fasttrack transponder!). Going to visit family and friends as opposed to a full-blown sightseeing trip, and will be in the area for roughly 48 hours, of which only a chunk of Saturday will be spent visiting SF.

Given the size of the group, ES is the best option other than multiple rooms at greater cost, given the holiday weekend. Walnut creek more convenient than ES SFO Waterfront since would be picking up family member in Berkeley enroute to SF.

So my question still stands, any recent reviews/experiences at this location?