The Clift Royal Sonesta Hotel

The hotel is centrally located and just a block or two over from the core of Union Square, making it easy to access shopping. It's similarly located near Market Street providing easy access to MUNI, BART, etc. for transportation around the Bay. A nearby garage off of Mason provides safe parking that is reasonably priced for the city. Overall, we felt very safe, and while the Tenderloin is nearby it's easy to avoid if you know not to walk in a certain direction. Even if you do walk in that direction, the TL is arguably just as safe as other areas as long as you mind your business and be street smart. The hotel itself is beautiful, and our room size was great, featuring modern decor and showing minimal signs of wear. Hotels generally run fast but a few were out of order periodically. Our room had a mini-fridge and two storage drawers which made it convenient to take food back to the room after eating out. The fridge did have a minor leak, causing water to pool inside, but it didn't obviously affect the cooling or drip out of the actual unit itself. Even on the highest floor, you do hear street noises, so if you're a light sleeper, I would recommend bringing earplugs. We found this to be a very reasonably priced hotel with modern amenities and convenience; it was clean, and the hotel staff was nice. The Redwood Room is a great on-site bar for after-hours drinks.

We enjoyed our stay at The Clift. The hotel is easy to get to and being able to pull up directly outside to load and unload the car was really convenient. At check-in we were offered an upgrade to a suite for $40 per night, which we thought was very reasonable, so we took it. The suite was spacious, comfortable and had a good city view, and we were very happy with the room. The main disappointment was that the Redwood Room was closed on both nights of our stay. We had been looking forward to having a drink there, but unfortunately there was no opportunity to get a drink from the hotel bar at all during our visit. We also had $100 of hotel credit through American Express, and with the bar closed the only real opportunity we had to use this was in the café for breakfast. Other than that, we had a good stay. The hotel is well located, the room was excellent and the suite upgrade represented good value. It was just a shame that one of the hotel's main features wasn't available at all while we were there.

The Clift Royal Sonesta is a great hotel with excellent customer service. Our room was clean and comfortable. For us, the Sonesta's location near Union Square was ideal. We didn't rent a car, so we walked everywhere, including two Giants baseball games, the Ferry Building, Chinatown, and North Beach. The Sonesta's bar is located in the famous Redwood Room, which is historic and beautiful. Overall, I highly recommend the Clift Royal Sonesta.

The hotel is fine. The accommodation and cleanliness of the room was fine. The employees are pleasant. The rooms are not very soundproof. The decor in the lobby was nice but the sleeping rooms satisfactory. There is no restaurant/room service. However, for the price point, it lacks many items. It took me awhile to accept that I was paying to be in Union Square. I will be honest and say that my experience was soured by me not being afforded a complimentary upgrade. I booked my room through American Express which traditionally is at Bar rate (above market rate), so it was more expensive then the traditional room type and you are afforded various benefits, including a complimentary upgrade upon availability. So upgrades were available but not for free. Even when I went online I saw the rate I paid was higher than the cost of their jr suite. The gentleman told me that I had a base level room and could only be upgraded to a higher floor and not a different class. This was a hard introduction to the brand for me. No room service, no upgrades, and being called base level while spending more than others. It was a reminder of why I tend to still to Marriott and Hilton brands. I won’t be back and I wouldn’t recommend the property to anyone.

I have been coming to Clift for over 20 years however this experience was not exactly as luxury as past experiences. They remodeled and the lobby with large chair is now very bright and doesn’t have the same ambiance as the last. The Redwood room no longer has the changing digital art and less food options… Many past famous chairs have been removed throughout the hotel and replaced or seemed to be more for corporate / business conference rooms. There was no bellman to help with luggage, no room service (calling room service is a message to use food delivery services), no minibar or microwave. The overall experience seems changed more for a conference hotel than a boutique. The location is great and our room was upgraded which was nice. They did bring up a bottle of champagne for being there during Americas 250th birthday which was nice. The AMEX room upgrade was very large which again was disappointing to see no options for room service or minibar. Best part was the size of the suite complete with dining table and large windows with natural light.