When the Hotel Becomes the Disappointment of the Journey

San Francisco is a city many of us dream of visiting—a place associated with innovation, technology, beautiful landscapes and a unique urban culture. But sometimes, the place you stay can completely change the way you experience a destination.

During our short holiday in San Francisco, finding reasonably priced accommodation was already a challenge. With hotel prices being surprisingly high, we eventually booked the San Remo Hotel, knowing that it was an old property with shared bathrooms. We accepted those limitations before arriving.
What we did not expect was the overall condition and level of service.
The room had an unpleasant smell, the carpet appeared old and unclean, and the bed sheets felt worn and not particularly fresh. Several basic facilities also had problems—the Wi-Fi was unreliable, bathroom door handles were not functioning properly, and there were issues with lighting.

For an old hotel, some limitations are understandable. But age should not mean compromising on basic cleanliness, maintenance and hospitality.

What made the experience even more disappointing was the interaction with a staff member, Mr. Dav, when we raised the Wi-Fi problem. Instead of receiving assistance or an attempt to resolve the issue, the response was essentially that nothing could be done and that we could choose to leave if we were unhappy.

As a guest, that response was difficult to accept.

The hotel itself is an unusual experience. The building has been divided into numerous very small rooms, creating an extremely compact environment. Walking through the property, you cannot help but wonder how much the building has evolved over the years and what standards apply to such configurations.

This experience made me reflect on something bigger than just one hotel.

People travel to San Francisco expecting to experience a modern, innovative and world-renowned city. When the accommodation experience is significantly below basic expectations, it can influence the way visitors perceive the destination itself.

An old building can have character. A small room can be acceptable. A shared bathroom can be understood. But cleanliness, functioning facilities and respectful hospitality should never be considered luxuries.

For us, the San Remo Hotel became one of the biggest disappointments of our San Francisco trip.

If you are considering staying here, especially because of limited or expensive hotel options in the city, know exactly what you are booking and carefully read recent guest experiences before making your decision.

San Francisco itself remains an incredible city with so much to experience.

But sometimes, one hotel can become a story of its own—and unfortunately, this was not the story we wanted to take home.

Genuinely the worst imaginable hotel experience that could be imagined.
To start off with the least offensive, the room was seemingly decorated by a Union soldier remembering the good old days. Our room was decorated in full Abraham Lincoln-themed regalia.
From there, the front desk staff is incredibly rude. When trying to get basic information about the shared bathrooms for our rooms being out of order, we were dismissed and told to basically “deal with it”.
On top of that, after a full night of travel up until 2am, we were woken up at 5am by construction that never ended. This went on for every single day of our stay.
Our room was shaking from 5am until we eventually gave up and just got up for the day at 9am. They failed to mention that construction runs daily from 5a-6p in the booking. If you want to sleep don’t stay here.
I went to the front desk and requested a rate reduction or a full on refund for the stay, but got met with the same rudeness and a refusal.
Giving up and going on with our stay, it was time to use these shared bathrooms. There was another surprise! The shared bathrooms are filthy! I was willing to look past the shower tile likely having the dead skin of the founding fathers ground into it, but that was not where the biohazards ended. There was miraculously mold in the body soap dispenser! Somehow this hotel found a way to form mold in the presence of something antimicrobial. In addition to the filth, the water pressure was akin to that of a guinea pig’s sipper tube.
We had gotten in the rhythm of starting our days like Yankees in an active warzone, but we were not prepared for the screaming match between the front desk receptionist and a passionate Irish Catholic at 4:30am.
This lasted just about 25 minutes, giving us a blessed 5 whole minutes of sleeping before The Iron Brigade started in with jackhammers!
The location is right off the fisherman’s wharf, but I definitely recommend staying near Golden Gate Park for more to do. This would also provide ample distance from the biohazard that is San Remo Hotel.
I think a stay in my car and showering at Planet Fitness would’ve been more sanitary and favorable to the nearly $700 dollars I spent here for the duration of our stay.
I tried to dispute the charge, but as a final kick out the door San Remo refused.
I don’t know how this place is at 4 stars. Maybe they’re paying for these reviews because there is simply no way. There is not a single positive about this place that I can come to. Honest Abe does not approve.

LOCATION IS AMAZING FOR FISHERMAN’S WHARF!!!!

Me and my boyfriend stayed here for three nights during the week and we really liked it!
First off if you have kids or cant do stairs this is not the hotel for you.
We did the private bathroom room ( room 31) and I am so glad we did. Definitely highly suggest going that route. Only reason I gave the room 4 stars is because the shower door was not put on correctly so if you didnt pull it up and into the shower water would literally be all over the floor but once we figured that out it was fine. Theres a small dresser type thing next to the sink and the lamp on it was wayyyy to big and falling apart so we didnt feel comfortable using it. the acutal room was clean and the bedding was very clean and I checked it really well.
They ARE remodeling a bunch of rooms right now but we were never there during the day so cant say if it was noisey. We were directly above the kitchen so early morning you could hear some pans and dishes being moved around but not really an issue for us, we wanted to be up early and see everything we could. We didnt hear anyone else staying as far as noise which was a plus.
LOCATION IS AMAZING FOR FISHERMAN’S WHARF!!!!!!
we felt safe even coming back to our room at 11 at night. It is sooo close to so much! Theres a mexican restaurant on the corner that was pretty good. A trader joes on the next block down. A mini mart ( the cheapest we found there) going the opposite way of fishermans wharf from the hotel. Avoid the 711 close to fisherman’s wharf on the walk there from the hotel. Insanely expensive and very sketchy. I didnt even wanna use my card there its that sketchy.
For the price its 10/10!!! I would definitely stay here again. We walked 33 miles in 3 days but again we wanted to see as much as possible and really experience this part of San fran.