We returned Sunday from yet another amazing 3 night weekend stay for our annual December culinary weekend at the St Regis San Francisco. As usual, our stay was sublime. (This was the 4th stay for me/us this year.)

We were booked on a AAA rate of $355, a very good deal, indeed, for this hotel. As always for me as both an Ambassador guest and a frequent guest at this hotel, I was upgraded to my "regular" Metropolitan Suite on the 19th floor.  

We had booked the hotel as usual but had explored other options due to the recent Marriott strike in San Francisco, which impacted this hotel along with the Palace and W hotels. Because we were bringing our 110 lb Rhodesian Ridgeback, we had reached out to the Ritz-Carlton San Francisco, unaffected by the strike, but they were unwilling to accept our dog--even as the St Regis has been waiving their 35 lbs pet weight limit for us for many years now. The RC has a limit of 30 lbs. 

Sadly, while the RC was unwilling to accept our dog despite the long history of our stays with him at the StR, the Four Seasons was more than willing to accept us with our dog--this despite their even stricter 15 lb weight limit. The Ritz-Carlton looked stern and rigid, and particularly unaccommodating, in stark contrast. I actually have spoken with the GM of the RC SF about this, and they are planning to review their pet policy for such circumstances. 

Fortunately, the strike ended in early December, allowing us to continue staying at our favorite St Regis. 

The hotel was decorated again for the holidays. 

And the hotel was particularly hospitable to our dog, Macallan. He definitely feels at home here!

Even in the bar:

He is named Macallan, after all. 

Check In

I had been pre-upgraded to the Metropolitan Suite on the same day the Marriott strike had been tentatively ended in San Francisco (early December). 

I also asked for early check in and was notified that the suite was ready for us at 2 pm. Unfortunately, flight delays caused us not to arrive until 4 pm anyway.

The FDA recognized me, as usual, and processed my check in with barely any time at all. I also was greeted by the GM, a lovely woman who definitely brings added charm and grace to the role. 

Room

Our home away from home Metropolitan Suite is well documented:

The Wifi worked great, as always--speeds from 70-80 Mbps up and down. Shower pressure was good, and the little bidet function for the toilet was always appreciated. (I've recommended they consider adding Toto toilets or toilet add-ons for the suites, at very least, when they do their upcoming renovation--supposedly to start in May 2019.)

Air con also worked like a charm--once they turned off the motion sensor and the hot water feed for the bedroom. (They normally do that in advance of my arrival, but someone forgot this time!) The bedroom was preset to 65 F and living room preset to 67 on our arrival, but the bedroom got down to 62 F to my utter delight (and my husband's horror again). 

Service

Service was great, albeit again with a few minor misses.

The biggest miss for me was that the air con hadn't been "VIPd" for me prior to my arrival--with the motion sensors turned off in the bedroom and living room and the hot water intake turned completely off for the bedroom. Still, one call and the engineer apologized and had it done in short order. The air con worked great otherwise.

The biggest surprise for me was that there was no welcome amenity on arrival or shortly thereafter. Minor in the scheme of things, but not something I'm accustomed to ever experiencing at this hotel. I asked about it the second day, and a welcome tray of meats, cheeses, breads, and fruit was brought up for us after our Alcatraz afternoon. 

Otherwise, service was amazing as always.

The concierge team really outdid themselves for this stay. They helped us get our booking at (now 3*) Atelier Crenn well before earning its 3rd star. They also helped us with tickets for Alcatraz. Most impressively, they got us into 1* Bar Crenn only a few hours before our Atelier dinner after we wondered if we could stop in for a round of drinks before dinner. That was a tough get at the last minute, yet the head concierge had it arranged for us in about an hour! And we had one of the best tables for the 4 of us at Bar Crenn, to boot. 

The butler team was wonderful, as always--though for the first time in eons, I didn't partake of unpacking and packing, since the dog was a bit of an issue and since I only had a carry-on. Butler morning coffee service was a little slower than usual, but otherwise was great. 

Housekeeping was truly excellent, always working around our coming and going with the dog. They even tried to do turndown around the dog, but we told them not to worry.

Bar service was outstanding. When I didn't like my first Manhattan, they brought another and never charged for either. (They almost always make a great Manhattan here.) They were always checking on us for all of our nights/afternoons. 

Restaurant service was also impressive. The first morning, I ended up ordering two entrees, one beyond the normal Platinum benefit--but they didn't charge me. Every morning, staff whom we'd met over the years would stop by to say hello and check in with us. It really was like coming back to our family.

We even enjoyed the complimentary car service (in the Lexus this time, not the Bentley) to dinner at Californios--even though it was just outside the official 2 mile radius. 

Everyone treated us like family yet again. Wonderful service!

Dining

We only had breakfasts at the hotel, as we had dinners booked at 1* Mourad (around the corner), 2* Californios (a 10 min drive), and 3* Atelier Crenn (15-20 min drive), as well as lunch at 1* In Situ. 

Breakfasts were wonderful.

Location

We love the SoMa location. It was a mere 10-15 min walk into Union Square and up to the Ritz-Carlton. It was a mere 30 min walk back from Pier 33 after our Alcatraz excursion. It was a 10 min drive to Californios. It was a 15-20 min drive to Atelier Crenn. It was a 1 min walk around the corner to 1* Mourad. It was a mere 20 min drive each way to the SFO airport, as well.

Overall

There's a reason we always return to this hotel. This is my favorite city hotel in the USA in my favorite city in the USA. Hands down.