claes059

Review of my stay in the St. Regis San Francisco, December 2009.

Pics of my stay: http://travel.webshots.com/album/576562708RULvVA

Recently I stayed in this Starwood property, to be precise in the Christmas season 2009. Actually I had made reservations for the Westin Market Street hotel. But since we passed the St. Regis I first wanted to have a view of the hotel inside. The brand sign of St. Regis was not very clear in the evening and one could easily not see it when driving in the street.
Entrance is modern and warm, the receptionarea stylish and small. After a long flight from Amsterdam I was eager to have a comfy room. My first impression was: this is not a real St. Regis, when compared with the St. Regis Beijing. It was a really different feeling here.
Friendly and professional personnel at the reception. Dominik, a butler, showed us around. The bar area next to the reception area was very stylish and inviting with a modern and warm interior.
He showed us a room on a high floor with a nice view of San Francisco and surroundings. The room was very modern and spacious. I felt at home here, but still did not have a feeling this was a St. Regis. I did not know why.
At the reception they offered me a good rate, however still much more than the rate in the Westin Market street, but I decided to stay here.
I did not like the sofa and I preferred a comfy chair. I asked for a coffee machine and it was immediately delivered. Wow this was a very good service!
The bathroom is very stylish with a separate toilet and shower. The tub is deep and because the doors can be opened to the room, it is easy to watch tv when having a bath. I never used the small tv in the bathroom. Bath amenities of Remede are of an outstanding quality!
The King bed is very comfy and I liked it very much. The window blinds, lights etc. can be controlled with a small panel next to the bed. At first I found it annoying ( I was very tired), only when I managed to find a quick way to use it I appreciated it.
The interior of the room is bright and modern. However I did miss some sort of luxury items in the room so to speak. Some sort of art, a painting…. I do not know. I just did not have the feeling I was in a St. Regis. I did not understand.
Turn down service, they do not open the bed or put a small chocolate on the cushion. When I asked for it they did not know what I was talking about. I found that really strange. They did bring me a tablet of chocolate, a really nice gesture but is was not what I would expect in a St. Regis.

Breakfast was a la carte in the St. Regis. I did not like it at all, since you have to wait and wait. I ordered the continental breakfast. The majority of the a la carte menu was not healthy at all. I observed a men in front of me with 3 or 4 stapled pancakes with jam or marmalade. I was almost shocked to see how he could eat this for breakfast. Besides this example many fat items are on the menu here.
I made a picture of my so-called continental breakfast , so ridiculous it was. A smallish croissant, and some two small sweet pastries. Though the fruit was nice. The coffee was freshly brewed and tasted good.
But after this kind breakfast of $24,- excl. tax. I was still very hungry. I was longing for a good buffet breakfast with some selections of breads and cold cuts of meat…. But no way here!

The concierge of the hotel is wonderful, they go one step further in their service. One time they called together some cafes/retaurants for me because I wanted to have a cheesecake ( the cheesecake factory had lines of 2 hours waiting). And after 10 min. they gave me a print with the address and I could go to get my cheesecake!
When I talked about my disappointing breakfast, the reception called the manager of the restaurant. This appeared to be the lady who was standing at the desk before entering the breakfast room. Her name was Simone and she was from Germany. I spoke to her about my experiences and especially how I missed a breakfast buffet. She immediately showed her understanding, offered me a sandwich in the room. We had a talk and she told me in California guest preferred the a la carte, so chefs could show off their tasty products to the guest. And yes, many American do like the unhealthy breakfast products, I also noticed it in the Palace hotel. That is fine with me, but hay I am also a guest. And do not like this unhealthy fat breakfast products.
Mrs Simone asked me to have another breakfast in the hotel, to give them a second chance. They would not charge me for the continental breakfast and the sandwich. She told me continental breakfast in California is always as small as I had in the hotel. I could not compare it with the continental breakfast in Europe….!

Well my appetite was finished after eating my big sandwich with tasty ham and a healthy fruit juice. I was happy with this manager, mrs. Simone!

Though the bar had a nice interior, I was quite disappointed with the menu. The drinks are fine, but again the food situation was terrible. No cake , or a chocolate / cookie with a coffee or cappuccino…. And the menu was not very inviting for me either. They referred me to a coffeeshop, like Starbucks for a cake or cookie... During my stay I was quite disappointed with the food situation in this hotel. I did expect in a
St. Regis hotel more selections of food and especially healthy food.

Next day I had high expectations of my breakfast. They treated me special, one lady of the waiters served me and the manager had a talk with me. Very nice. I asked for some different breads, cold cuts of ham or chicken, fruits and coffee. And so it happened! Quality was fine, service professional and friendly. Range of different kind of breads: two. The fruit was of a perfect quality. The meat was of a biological farm, the meat I have at home too. I liked this!
Next day when I had my 3th breakfast I expected more sorts of bread ( I told them I liked that and I would come back) . However beside having cold cuts of turkey instead of chicken, I had the same breakfast again. Not very exciting. And, no I did not want to have the unhealthy food on the menu.
Service here was personal, very friendly. But hey, I do prefer a breakfast buffet, no waiting and you can make your own choice. Beside this buffet the restaurant could offer a menu for extra options like omelets etc.
It was the first time after more than 10 years in Starwood hotels I encountered this. Each breakfast did cost me $37 +tax.

I had dinner in the quite famous Ame restaurant located in the hotel. The interior of the restaurant was modern. I ordered a salad and a red wine. They both tasted very good, and I enjoyed it very much. I had a nice Rioja wine. Service was friendly.
Since the menu offered in general fish and seafood, which I do not like, I took the steak. I was quite surprised I did not like the taste of it. Moreover the meat was somehow fat and with tendon in the steak. So it was not a treat for me. When I told the waiter he went to his manager. He took care of it and they did not charge me for the meat. I think a very good service.
I concluded I was not very lucky with the food situation in this hotel.

The Remede Spa seemed to be wonderful. I had a wonderful swim in the beautiful pool. Very relaxing. The fitnessroom is just perfect, with a range of machines. I was great to have a work out here!

In general I enjoyed my stay in this hotel. Service is very friendly and perfect. I especially liked the staff of the reception and the concierge, they made me feel very welcome. It would be a reason to come back when in San Francisco.
But the food situation here makes me run away!!! I was very, very disappointed with this hotel, though they made it up to me. I was really happy to leave and having buffet breakfast in the Palace.
I did not have a feeling this was a St. Regis hotel. I had this feeling from the start. It is hard to describe why I had this feeling/experience. Perhaps it’s just me?
So, I guess I will not return, or the food situation must change here!

See pics of my stay: http://travel.webshots.com/album/576562708RULvVA

gabo02

Great Review & Pictures. Might be better if posted in the Master Thread or merged.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/starw...thread-10.html

SanDiego1K

We'll merge it in a week or so. When someone goes to all the effort to give us such a great trip report, we like to let it stand for responses before merging. The OP has consistently over the years given us many trip reports for properties around the world, and we are grateful for them.

/mod

bsdstone

Thanks for the thorough review!^

tagv12

Very nice review and pics, good some tips. I'll be staying there in August.

JFKSFOLAX_friend

Absolutely. This review should be incorporated in the Master thread.

And, the OP kept saying over and over and over how this property didn't feel like a St. Regis. I agree...it is night and day when compared to the NYC St. Regis, for example. This hotel is much more like a super fancy W, in my opinion.

Edited to add: This property also reminds me of the Le Meridien Bangkok...it's very modern, nice and fancy. When I think of St. Regis, I think old school. You couldn't describe the St. Regis SF as old school.

friedablass

Thank you for the great review ^. We can use more of these here from honest to goodness FTers.

Thanks again!

moefl

You are right about giving him his dues^

NDDomer86

Thanks for the pictures and review! Not sure if you were aware or not, but one of your pictures contains your full name. Not sure if you want to photoshop it out or remove it, but I know some people are anal about that .

claes059

You'r welcome, thanks for the advice, I have removed the picture!

claes059

Thank you!!

bigguyinpasadena

If you had kept the Westin ressie the St. Regis's food would have seemed like manna from heaven!
And that Palace breakfast buffet is $30 after tax-I am thinking the St. Regis would have to charge about the same.Too rich for me thank you.

I visited a friend who was staying in a suite at the St. Regis-it felt like a W with a nicer finish.I also visited a friend who had a suite at the Four Seasons-now that is a luxury hotel!

claes059

Thanks for your message. I actually had brkfst buffet in the Palace. And in general I liked it much more, despite the small selecion of healthy foods.
I have seen the suite and I did like it very much, very spacious and a nice view. The bathroom was very large and stylish. However I did not like the interior style. I did like the interior of the St. Regis Beijng much more.

claes059

You're welcome. Ofcourse every guestexperience is subjective, but I try to give a honest review. The pics do give objective information however!

jmr50

Comprehensive review, and I do agree this doesn't feel like the St Regis NYC in any way. Half the time, I think Starwood don't know what the brand stands for.

The only other thing I'd add would be that expectations around breakfast are very culturally specific. This is an American hotel in an American city, it isn't unreasonable for them to serve something that conforms to that as their standard fare.

I also had to laugh a little bit as the OP complained about unhealthy food in one paragraph, and the lack of cake in the next.

That said, thanks OP for a great review.