Stanford Court Hotel

If a certain popular lager made cities, then I would say they had a hand in San Francisco.
On our arrival in San Francisco we were welcomed by the usual (well over an hour) wait to pass through international customs clutching our various forms and have our eyes and finger prints scanned. Its a laborious task after such a long flight, but we all expect it and are reassured that out there, waiting for us, is the hotel we so long to get to.
Arriving at The Stanford Court Hotel was a breath of fresh air from the grey and hostilities of the airport. We were welcomed into the hotel by friendly door men and were given the warmest of welcomes from the reception clerk, Rochelle. Upon viewing our booking we were offered a deal to upgrade our room to a Deluxe with city views, we accepted this gratefully. The only drawback to accepting the upgrade was that the room was not ready and we would have to wait an hour, this we didn’t mind so much as we were near to starvation after a dismal provision of food on our flight!
Rochelle was ever so helpful in advising us of ways to occupy ourselves whilst we waited, giving us maps and lots of advice on transport and areas to see. So off we went to tackle the steep streets, where we discovered the hotel is in a fantastic spot for getting anywhere you want by public transport, do not rely on getting a taxi in San Francisco! On return to the hotel we were shown to our room. As we were upgraded we were very excited to see what our new room was like, an excitement that didn’t last long! I’m not saying that the room wasn’t a nice room, it was very nice, but it was just like walking into something out of Dynasty in the 80''s (I cursed myself for not packing my shoulder pads!). The room was extremely clean, the bed huge and as promised a fantastic view of San Francisco centre.
The bathroom was also very clean, however it was the bathroom that really showed the signs of its last refurbishment in the early 80's. All in all we did wonder as to what the initial room we had booked was like and if it was worth upgrading. My advice would be to go for the cheaper room as you don’t benefit from the extra space as there is just too much to do in San Francisco so you don’t get the benefit, especially if there for less than a week. I cannot really say a bad word about this hotel, our stay was extremely pleasant with very friendly staff and a good level of professionalism throughout (it was nice to have the bed turned down for our return). Even though the decor of the hotel was dated in style, its was definitely not of low quality.
San Francisco is an amazing city, my only disappointment was that we did not spend long enough there. There are so many places and areas to see that you do need well over a week to see the whole city. There are many homeless people around the city and we were warned that you do get asked for change etc a lot, however we only experienced it twice in the time we were there. To list everything to see would take a long time as I enjoyed this place so much (even more so than New York!) and my advice would be to see everything!
You have everything you can imagine there and with so many communities there is a great range of fantastic restaurants to try. Must do's from my visit; Shopping - Amazing shops and easy to get around. Alcatraz - Try a night tour and book on-line before you go. Muni Pass - Essential, public transport is great and the Muni Pass easily pays for itself. Japan town - Such a tranquil place with great little shops. Ghirardelli Square - Chocolate Heaven. The Cheesecake Factory - Need I say more?
I would recommend San Francisco more then anywhere I have been so far and is great for an independently booked holiday.