We stayed here late August 04 for three nights, the views of the bay were fantastic. The roof top pool was the main reason we booked this hotel and it did not disapoint. Views of Alcatraz and the Transamerica building made it very worth while. The room was reasonable and clean, it was not anything special. The bed was fine but order extra pillows!The food was very good if not a little expensive, but this is an expensive busy city. The parking was an added bonus, and the cable car stop was a few blocks away, not too bad in the day but we did feel a little uncomfortable at night!

I chose this hotel since we wanted to be close to Chinatown and it was not affected by the hotel strike/lockout. Much nicer hotels could be had for the same price. The location is great but this hotel has not been updated since the 1970's. The bathroom is very small. The door barely clears the toilet which is flanked by the sink and bathtub. The other problem is that it is a full flight of stairs up from the street (most guests use the $35/day parking garage). It does have good security- you cannot access the guest floor elevators without a room key. I was disappointed by SF Chinatown. It was empty Friday and Saturday nights so was not conducive to much exploring. Stores and restaurants were open but very few people in the streets. It is busy during the day.

In June 2004, I spent 4 nights in San Francisco. I had booked at the Holiday Inn Financial district, because they were offering the best last minute deal I could find (around $100/ night standard room, $140 executive) and I assumed that a business hotel chain would be reliable. Also, the roof top swimming pool and spa sounded nice. Rooms were described as recently renovated. I upgraded to an executive room, which was supposed to give free access to the business center. The room was spacious, and had a breathtaking view of the bay. The king sized bed was comfortable. But decor was ugly and looked dirty (impossible to tell if it actually was, with a mottled mustard and khaki-ish colour scheme). The bathroom looked like it had not been renovated since the 70's! The tub was stained and had no plug, the shower didn't work properly, the walls around the bathtub/shower were not even tiled, they were plastic. I was reluctant to bathe, frankly. As for the "business center", it consisted of a small room with a couple of computers wired to a printer. You could get the key at reception. The roof top pool is minute, but has a great view. And the spa is fully booked weeks ahead anyway. I couldn't wait to get out of there, and only stayed 1 night. I found last minute vacancies at the very pleasant and luxurious Omni nearby, for a similar price to the one I was paying at the Holiday inn, and moved out asap. I believe the property was about to change hands, in which case this review may not be relevant anymore.

We stayed at the holiday inn from 6-13 nov 2004,the hotel is an average 3 star but the views from the hotel are second to none.If possible ask for a bay view room on a high floor,the views of the bay are breathtaking.The best thing about this hotel is the location,across the road from Portsmouth Square,the heart of Chinatown,a 5 minute walk to North Beach the Italian district and 15 minutes either direction walking to the shopping district of Civic Square and the tourist thoroughfare of Fisherman,s Wharf,definately 10 out of 10 for location.For breakfast i would reccomend the Garden Restaurant outside the hotel,on the left,as breakfast in the hotel is overpriced and poor,similaly if you need a camera film etc the hotel shop is way overpiced so walk across to Chinatown and get your goods in the shops there.We would stay here again but that is down to the location,the best in San Fransisco,rather than the hotel itself...........