JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square

We are platinum members and love the brand. I first would like to say that this comments are constructive for the hotel, not a complaint. We traded a couple of free nights for this stay. The staff is super welcoming. The price of the room if we had paid was over 2,000 a night. The room was great, everything worked and nicely appointed. The first suggestion that i have have to do with the restaurant organization. We were given a choice between points or continental breakfast, we chose the breakfast. They gave us vouchers, that i find archaic with today’s technology and they make a point to give the vouchers for the breakfast and that makes you feel that they want to make sure that you are not a crook who will come and get a free breakfast. It would be so easy just to put a note in the computer and avoid this silliness. I hope this changes, it would be easy with today’s technology. The second part was that the breakfast staff has no discretion. I was not hungry so i wanted to have only some fruit and a couple of croissants. That would have been cheaper than ordering the cereal or oatmeal. I was told that I could only have one. My wife and me really laughed about this policies that only makes the hotel look bad and you feel mistreated. I tried to talk to the manager to give him this constructive suggestions. Again this is not a complaint, we loved our stay and love the brand. The manager was too busy and send us a card to write to him. I hope the brand changes this voucher and policies for other brands as well. I go to another hotel from the brand in Oklahoma City and they also have the voucher system that is ridiculous although there you can eat all you want. Im writing this on behalf of all guests so you make us feel more welcome in things that would be easy to fix. I also take this opportunity to thank the brand and staff. We loved our stay it.

The furniture in my room was very worn out and I could hear everything from my neighbor's room. Unlike other JW Marriotts, this one felt really anonymous and way too busy to provide great and attentive service. Constant reminders that everything needed to be paid extra did not help. Breakfast staff seemed really overwhelmed, I went to one of the bakeries the following days instead. Smoothies were very good, though. Also exceptional valet parking!

For those used to staying at JW Marriotts or similar level of luxury or higher, this property will be likely underwhelming. Those that a hotel of this level is an infrequent splurge may find it satisfying depending on the rate/perks you got. We paid a little over $300 a night including all fees/taxes but as AMEX Platnimum members got about $300 total in credits/perks (per room) for a 2-night stay including an $80/day breakfast credit. So it was about like staying for $150/night with no credits/perks. Given location/amenities, I think up to around $200/night would be a fair discount rate (as of Summer 2026) Location: is good for tourists and the area in general feels safe and clean as the city has cleaned this area up a bit from previous years. Parking: $94 a day for valet (no self park.) Yep, welcome to Downtown San Francisco. You could valet park in the small garage across the street for $32 but no in/out privileges. Lobby/Check-in: It's an atrium style hotel with lobby on the 3rd floor. Check-in was easy. Lobby is nice with bar and lots of seating. They have their climate control too cold though in the Lobby. Dining: There's only one restaurant at lobby level with just a view of the building next door. Prices are very high but short of outrageous considering you are in a JW in the middle of San Francisco. We thought it would be hard for 2 people to use the $80 credit for breakfast. Not so when average breakfast entrees are in the $33-$38 range. Wait also ate dinner in the restaurant. The food for both breakfast and dinner was excellent. Not Michelin Star level of course and overpriced, but actually pretty impressive. Note there is a setup for a Buffet Breakfast (were told it is $52/person when open) but they didn't run it on Saturday or Sunday so there was a bit of a wait to get a seat in the restaurant for breakfast. Rooms: They are nice but feel a tad dated with pretty small bathrooms. Views will vary but likely will be of the side of another building through what I call 'prison windows' which is smaller than average window opening inset withing a concrete looking surround. Bed was comfortable, mattress felt a little stiff/tired, linens very good, overall good beds but nothing to write home about. I had read the reviews and although I typically stay in this level of a hotel I had tempered my expectations and so the stay was satisfying and served its purpose. However, if you want to be less prone to having a ripped off feeling: a) Use valet across the street or SpotHero app to find cheaper in/out parking nearby and b) go elsewhere to non-hotel restaurants to eat and drink.

Room was good, comfortable bed, no lounge, good fitness center, in a good area, hotel is a little dated….charge a destination fee for what I don’t know

We stayed at this hotel from July 2–4. The room itself was excellent—spacious, comfortable, and thoughtfully laid out. The location was also fantastic, with most of the major points of interest within easy walking distance. The bell staff were always very welcoming. However, unfortunately, that's where the positives ended. Both check-in and check-out were painfully slow, with only one person handling all arriving and departing guests. Breakfast was the biggest disappointment. As Marriott Bonvoy Elite members, we received complimentary continental breakfast, but we understood that we would need to pay à la carte for our son. Ironically, our son actually has a higher Marriott Bonvoy status than we do—Platinum Elite—but because the reservation was under our membership, we understood and accepted the policy. However, both the host and our server repeatedly reminded us that we would have to pay for him. After being told once, the repeated reminders felt unnecessary. Service was also extremely slow. Our server took quite a while to come to the table, and then it took about 20 minutes for our simple order of yogurt, fruit, and oatmeal to arrive. On July 4, the experience was even worse. The hotel was busy, but we were told the wait for a table would be 10–15 minutes. We ended up waiting over 30 minutes. We were also informed that breakfast would be a buffet instead of the usual continental breakfast, but no one mentioned that the buffet would cost $50 for our son. Had we known that upfront, we would have chosen to eat elsewhere rather than pay that price for what appeared to be a simple buffet of scrambled eggs and pancakes. After finally being seated, we wanted to order some food from the menu for the third person. We were told we had to wait for our server who did not come to our table for about 20 minutes. We ordered yogurt and fruit, but after waiting another 15 minutes with no food, we decided to leave and have breakfast somewhere else. As we were leaving, the hostess apologized and offered to let us get yogurt from the buffet. While we appreciated the gesture, by that point we were so frustrated with the repeated delays and lack of communication that we chose to leave. While the rooms and location should be a 5/5, the consistently poor service—especially at breakfast—overshadowed the positives resulting in this lower score. We left disappointed and would not stay here again unless the hotel's service improves significantly.