The Westin St. Francis is a hotel in San Francisco found in a great location but is in need of a refresh and better service (aside from the concierge desk).

Booking

We needed to be up in Northern California for a family event and so needed a hotel in the Bay Area. We debated staying at the Grand Hyatt SFO after our excellent stay there before, but unfortunately there weren’t any award nights available and room rates were quite high. So instead we decided to try out the Westin St. Francis.

We booked the property using a 35k free night certificate (topped off with 9,000 Marriott points) and a 50k free night certificate. I find it harder and harder each year to get a good use for those 35k free night certificates so I’m generally happy when I find a use for them. Cash rates tend to hover in the $200 range, making for just an OK use of points. But it’s better to use these free night certificates than to lose them (since they expire a year after earning them).

Earning Marriott Bonvoy points

If you’re looking to earn Marriott points quickly, you could look into picking up a Marriott credit card. Both Chase and American Express offer Marriott credit cards.

Full disclosure: in this section are refer-a-friend links where I may earn some points for referring. There is no requirement to use the below referral links to apply but note your offer may differ when going directly to the card issuer.

Chase offers the Marriott Bonvoy Boundless credit card that gives a sign up bonus of three 50k free night certificates for spending $3,000 in the first three months for a $95 annual fee.

Or you can turn your eyes to American Express:

• The Marriott Bonvoy Bevy (not an affiliate link) offers 85,000 Marriott points for $5,000 spend in the first six months for a $250 annual fee.
• The Marriott Bonvoy Brilliant (not an affiliate link) offers 100,000 Marriott points for $6,000 spend in the first six months. It also comes with instant Platinum status but with a higher annual fee ($650).

Since Amex credit cards are generally one-in-a-lifetime, it might be worth waiting for a better deal to come by.

Arrival and First Impressions

We took the BART over to Powell Street station. It was then a couple of blocks to the hotel, a relatively easy walk with mild hills. The entrance signs of many buildings along the way were nicely decorated with flowers and the Westin St. Francis was no exception. Just inside the entrance was a foyer with a flower backdrop and just beyond that was the front desk.

We found the front desk just on the left. Check in was thorough, with the agent mentioning quite a bit about the hotel, though it felt as though he was merely reading off a script. We did arrive early and thankfully we were granted early check in.

Just around the corner was the concierge desk (which I’ll mention more about later) and the elevator up to the guest rooms.

The Room

We took the elevator up to the 23rd floor. This hotel is one of those hotels where the elevator starts off indoors and then goes outside as it climbs (the Westin Bonaventure in Los Angeles is another that comes to mind with a similar setup). That provided the kids some extra entertainment on the elevator ride (and made it fun for other guests to see them react in the elevator). Once on our floor, we made our way over to our room for this stay (2396).

The room itself felt in need of refurbishment. Everything felt a bit dated, as though the hotel was living off its accomplishments from the 80s or 90s. The beds weren’t particularly comfortable. There is a desk but unfortunately it does not recognize optical mouse movement well.

The bathroom felt a bit uninspired, with a very industrial-looking toilet mixed in with what appeared to be the same tiles used for the floor and shower walls. And I’m pretty sure I’ve seen this exact vanity before at many other hotels before. Toiletries are the standard Westin variety, which is to say it’s pretty unmemorable.

The view from the room was fine. There wasn’t much of a skyline from the direction we were facing. But note that the window doesn’t close all the way, making it very noisy when it’s windy. We discovered this the hard way when the room became quite loud around 3am one morning, creating some unpleasant sleep issues.

Amenities

After the check in process completed, the front desk provided a card and told us to walk over to the concierge to receive items included in the resort fee.

We ended up in a very lengthy conversation with the concierge here, as he was incredibly happy to share some of his life stories with us as he saw how excited our kids were to be here. I’m always thrilled to have an engaging conversation with someone, and we continued our conversation throughout our stay.

Included in the resort fee are some reusable water bottles and cable car tickets. While you’re only supposed to be given two cable car tickets, the concierge ended up sneaking us a few extra (eight in total) so our family could have a round trip. Each cable car ticket is good for one passenger going in one direction. It was an extremely generous offer for him to give us extra tickets. If you end up only riding the cable car in one direction, I recommend taking the bus back. It’s cheaper, lines are much smaller, and it’s faster.

As a Platinum or higher member with Marriott, you can either choose 1,000 points, breakfast daily for two, or a wine tasting for two. Breakfast is either at the grab and go location or a full American breakfast buffet at the sit-down restaurant. Here you are given one voucher to use for your whole stay so make sure you get it back if you are here multiple nights.

Breakfast at Oak Room

The front desk raved about the Oak Room restaurant and mentioned we should use our daily credits here. The entrance to the Oak Room was immediately next to the elevator. In terms of ambience, I’d have to say it was in the style of underutilized conference room? I have to say that the experience was a bit underwhelming. It wasn’t clear to me if this was a temporary setup while the main dining area was under maintenance, but I hope that was the case.

The food was about in line with what you might expect at an airport lounge. Staff members mentioned the baked goods were made in house, but weren’t too memorable. The eggs here definitely of the powdered variety.

Ultimately, you could use your $25 daily f&b credit here. I wouldn’t fault you if you do since you need to use it or lose it, but you’re better off with using it elsewhere (see below). The kids cost us $15 each (plus tax and tip), so the $25 daily credit mostly covered our expenses for the morning.

Breakfast at Cafe Rito

Cafe Rito is the quick service restaurant here at the hotel. Quite honestly, this might be the first time I feel the quick service restaurant at a hotel is significantly better than the sit-down dining experience at the same hotel.

If you’re using your elite breakfast here, it is easier to stay under budget. You are offered three items per registered adult, up to two adults in your room. So between the four of us, we could choose six items. The eggs here were not of the powdered variety and the food tasted much fresher than what’s offered in the Oak Room. If I ended up in this hotel again, I would skip the Oak Room and only dine here.

Service

Outside of our interactions with the one concierge that were simply exquisite, service at this hotel was severely lacking. The front desk at check in was merely going through the motions. There was also a lengthy conversation with a manager at check out who refused to offer both days of the $25 food and beverage credit simply because I used the credit on the day of checkout.

In this case, we stayed here Saturday night and Sunday night. I used the credit on Sunday and Monday. The manager insisted the rules state that it must be used on Saturday and Sunday, but the card offered at check in detailing the benefit doesn’t say it anywhere, which was the point I was trying to make. He eventually acquiesced but insisted on making his point about this hidden rule and continued to strongly comment that I was wrong for my opinion.

It’s been a while since I’ve met so much resistance from a customer experience perspective over something that ultimately just sounded like a hope for breakage on this benefit. It honestly left quite a sour note at the conclusion of this stay since this was the last interaction I had with someone at this hotel.

Odds and Ends

I find it quite strange that the hotel provided a refillable water bottle as a welcome gift but then didn’t have water stations positioned throughout the hotel. The only one I could find after wandering around the whole hotel was partially hidden aside front desk behind a planter. They truly should consider having more water stations located throughout the building.

The cable car stop is located immediately outside hotel and has much shorter lines than the start of the line (one stop away). Don’t bother going to the true start of the line. You don’t gain anything extra by going there unless you’re looking to just waste your time. Start it right outside the Westin St. Francis and you’ll have a happier time. I have found they don’t fill up the cable car fully with the expectation they will pick up others along the way. Sure, you won’t get a seat, but you will save at least half an hour waiting in line.

Recommendation: Better to Skip

I was hopeful for this hotel when booking it but found the hotel was in need of a remodel, especially since it was a struggle to get a good night’s sleep given the window that didn’t fully close. Customer service here was also lacking outside of the one strongly positive concierge team member here. The next time you’re in San Francisco, I recommend staying elsewhere. I feel you will have a much more pleasant experience.