MightyTravels

I posted a review with a number of pics on my site. Might be helpful!

http://www.tjacobi.com/13232755/holi...ter_review.php

Editd by Moderator
Older posts could be found here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/inter...ve-thread.html

FLYGVA
co-moderator IHG Forum

CalItalian

I stayed here at the end of September 2012. This hotel SUCKS. Stay away. All rooms are not the same. Here's my review http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...ECK_RATES_CONT (if it doesn't link property, my review was posted September 26, 2012).

There is a reason why this hotel is rated #134 in San Francisco on Tripadvisor.

jetsetter

I'm thinking of staying here for a 5 night stay as a Spire elite. It seems attractive that it is right next to the Bart Civic Center station, and also I have some meetings on Market Street. It would be best if its say right on the same block as the subway station.

Can anyone comment about the water pressure in the shower? Also how about the overall condition of the rooms, etc.

I'm also thinking about the Intercontinental SF on Howard
St. but that is a lot more points, and it may be further from the subway station. I think its 40K vs. 60K points. The pro at the IC might be the club lounge, but then again your paying a lot extra.

Can anyone also comment on the elite recognition?

CalItalian

If you like homeless bugging you endlessly, enjoy the smell of urine and second hand pot, stay at the Holiday Inn CC. It's not a good area, especially at night.

Your answer about the shower is in one of the most recent reviews on TripAdvisor https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...alifornia.html

Do yourself a favor and swallow the fact you need to spend more points.
The Intercontinental SF has an incredible staff. You'll be treated very well even if you're not an Ambassador. Much better area, too.

rfrost

+1. To be fair, when I stayed there about 20 months ago, the staff was lovely, but I was very uncomfortable when I walked outside. I live in NYC and am accustomed to seeing the homeless, but this felt like the epicenter of a seriously disturbed world.

Kacee

I also would not recommend staying at Civic Center. It's really become quite unpleasant in the area surrounding the Library and Civic Auditorium. I'm there pretty frequently for court hearings and I walk several blocks out of my way from the BART station to avoid that area.

The IC location is also less than ideal, but at least it's not in the middle of a homeless encampment. It's only two blocks to BART.

MDtR-Chicago

That block is really bad but it's just one block to get to the subway. There is a BART entrance in front of the Hotel Whitcomb, so if you can make it around the corner, you're in the subway.

It's certainly not something I would recommend but it's not necessarily something you should rule out, if there are compelling reasons to be right there. (And you won't be traveling alone at night.)

Kacee

That's a fair point, but OP is looking at five nights. That sounds really unpleasant to me.

rbAA

I stayed at the HI CC earlier this year. I lived in SF (the Gulch and Twin Peaks) and even went to law school not far from the area, decades ago. The area hasn't really gotten any better in that (long) time, so pass on it. Also, Zero elite recognition (I'm Spire-RA.) Whereas, the IC SF is great, especially if you can work in Lounge access. Easy walk to BART or most areas, even to the Ferry Building on a nice day. Plus, I like the restaurants in the IC area.

MDtR-Chicago

I take back everything I said.

Friday evening, around 6:30pm, I had to make a quick stop on the first block of Market, from Van Ness, toward Civic Center. Walking out of the Muni subway, there was a guy at the top of the stairs, pacing back and forth, yelling loudly at the street about everything wrong with society and how it wasn't his fault.

Half way down the block was another guy talking to himself, walking back and forth erratically across the sidewalk.

My plan was to walk down to Civic Center from there to catch BART. This was sketchy enough that I turned around, took the Muni subway one stop to Civic Center, then switched to BART.

Walking from one end of the station to the other, I saw another guy, inside the station at the Hotel Whitcomb entrance, pacing rapidly back and forth near the stairs and mumbling incoherently.

That's probably too much for a tourist to process - what if you make a wrong turn and get lost? What if you give off any signals that you are an easy target?

Not worth it.

davidw70

DavidDTW

It has been under renovation for a while. I wonder if that was planned with the switch in mind?

username

I just found out today talking to a friend in SF. Kind of sad. Even though the location is not the best, it is on the BART line and reasonably priced. I have stayed there a few times over the years and every time it got better. I wonder what the deal was...