Kimpton Hotels Reviews

The starlight room is an amazing venue. The drag brunch on Sunday morning was spectacular.

Doorman Eddie was rude and unhelpful. Front desk clerk was very rude, they had spelled my name wrong on their reservation and acted like it was my fault. Had to ask multiple times for extra towels. Building interior is a bit worn down and dirty

I have stayed at the Sir Francis Drake many times and it is usually my top choice of hotels when staying in San Francisco for work. It's conveniently located to lots of stores and restaurants. Personally I love the ambience of Kimpton hotels, particularly the free happy hour each day, and the Sir Francis Drake doesn't disappoint!

Our room is super small and we didn't have a refrigerator. But everything else - customer service, lounge area, bar, location, and general ambiance of the whole hotel is just great!

This hotel is NOT worth it. They look really nice but the service is awful and the rooms and hotel itself is pretty and old and beautiful but definitely needs an update. There s a daily 25 dollar charge for the complementary WiFi and a 10 dollar voucher for every day you stay so you can eat at the hotel restaurant where the cheapest thing on the menu is a couple pieces of bacon for 8 bucks. The elevators take so long we used the stairs twice while we were there. We stayed in the 10th floor. The lobby bathrooms were continuously smelly with overflowing trash cans. We requested an extra blanket and it took them over two hours in which we had called twice and visited the office twice asking for our blanket. The staff was unobliging and rude except for the people out front who greeted you. The rooms smelled of weed and cigarette smoke. The only thing good about this place is the location.

Its okay, the room is fine and clean. There is no mini fridge or microwave. And im right next to a sidewalk loading dock that goes underground which is super loud and has woken me up at least 2 times a night.

I always have a good time visiting the Sir Francis Drake. The food is always good, the bar staff treats me right, and the bellmen are all quality individuals who always great me. Always stop by here to enjoy a drink and some bites.

Older hotel with smaller rooms on floors 17 to 20. Musty smell in my room and tiny shower. Wall paper peeling off in the bathroom.

The Kimpton Sir Francis Drake Hotel overall is a decent hotel. The staff were very friendly and I had an Amazon Prime Now package delivered to the hotel that was brought to my hotel room after I checked in. The hotel room I had was a one queen bed, and the room was really small. The bathroom was tiny and I felt I had no space to comfortably move around in the bathroom. The noise level on the street side of the hotel is loud, even at nighttime.

The hotel is old, but lacking charm. Housekeeping does a passable job, but there are very few in room amenities. Think one bar of soap, one roll of TP. We had to send half our room service meal back because the cheese plate was spoiled. The elevators are very slow and there was often a line of people out into the lobby waiting on the lift. This is the second Kimpton property I stayed at this month and I think I'm done giving the my money.

Beautiful lobby, friendly staff, and a fun sir Francis drake attendant (in costume and all) greeting you at the door. Rooms are nice but small (it's SF after all). Club on 21st floor that gets good reviews I'd that's you're thing.

Service was excellent.
Room was clean but, very noisy.
Not sure if it was noise from the elevator or a boiler room???
Overall, okay experience.
Happy we stayed at least once but, I don't think we'll be back.
Wasn't worth the expenses

Came here for wedding venue shopping, was unable to schedule in advance but staff was accommodating and friendly.

Very charming, wonderful location, and great hospitality. The rooms keep in the charm of the date of the hotel with small bathrooms, and older windows, but have updated decor, and all the modern features one would need to be comfortable. It is a bit like going back in time staying there. I would stay again and would recommend for those that like a boutique experience.

Great historic hotel in the heart of the City. Rooms are average, and yes, they have small bathrooms, but the courteous staff, and great location help make up for some of that. The bar has excellent bartenders, and we thoroughly enjoyed spending time in bar, which is located in the beautiful lobby. Although they didn't have the surprise I requested ready for my fellow travelers, I still enjoyed my stay. I would stay here again.

Elevators take about 10 minutes and the water pressure is very weak. Nice views though.

The hotel staff was extremely helpful and friendly. The private bar service we requested for our event was great, though the high tea could have had some more savory options. Otherwise we were very pleased with how smoothly everything went. I can't say enough good things about the high level of service!

Beautiful hotel! Love the location and the interior lobby bar is gorgeous.

Service is great. Rooms are small, but don't let that dissuade you.

The management at this hotel has zero integrity. I was booked for a conference that was cancelled because of covaid virus. As soon as I found out I called, more than 30 days out and asked to cancel the reservation. I asked if there will be any charges and was told no since I canceled 30 days out. 3 weeks ago I was charged for the cancellation by the hotel. I called to ask about it and got the run around. I was transferred to the front desk and eventually they hung up on me while I was on hold. Called again, and was transferred to accounting where I left a voicemail, but did not get a call back. I called again and was transferred to the front desk, then reservations and then accounting where I left voicemail and but didn t get a call back. I ended up calling my credit card and they removed the charges and told me its taken care of and I m not responsible for it

Had a rough start to our stay but the staff stepped up and addressed the issues. The remaining stay was a great experience. Rooms small, only half the elevators work and 2 that work are slow.

Large room was oddly shapped with a small hallway leading to the closet. Seemed like a waste of usable space. Walls were thin.. woke up to the sounds of people talking and kids arguing.

The room was comfortable and the staff friendly and helpful. The chair in the room was quite broken, though, and even on the 10th floor there was a lot of noise coming from outside.

A really sad place that is old and tired and a bulls**t amenity charge of $25 + tax per night was a real surprise.
The lifts are a nightmare at busy times and I queued 15 mins to get up to my room at around 6pm. No complementary water in the room - $7 to buy. No tea/coffee making facilities in my room.
On the plus side it is close to lots of other places that aren't awful.

It was a very unique experience staying at the Kimpton Sir Francis Drake hotel.

The power went out city wide the first morning of our stay. SFD staff kept us informed, and the hotel made sure to get us water, snacks, even free wine.

Everyday I had to walk 11 floors because you had to wait for an elevator for 10-15 mins

Very central location. Beautiful building with some funky decor.

Expected better. Parking doesn't exist (they only staff one valet so forget it, you spend 20 mins waiting for the guy to take your ticket), and the events team doesn't talk to the hotel staff so everyone just sends you on a wild goose chase to find answers.

Nice hotel in downtown San Francisco. Staff was very helpful and the bar inside was great. The room, although a little small was a good fit for my stay. Would come back again.

Hotel was well organized and packed with Christmas visitors

If your looking for a nice hotel just somewhere to stay this is the place. Nice rooms and good views.

Micro rooms. They could have made up for this with decent room service. $18 cheese plate was laughable.

Paid $60 to get my car damaged. Dishonest valet drivers.

Classic and beautiful and the restaurant was on point as well

Historic hotel in the heart of San Francisco. The rooms are exceptionally small for the price and they do not have a driveway so access via car is tricky. Essentially you leave your car parked on a very busy street in an active lane. After hours they do not always have a man there. We checked in late at night so valeting the car was not an issue but we were surprised that the neighborhood was so sketchy at night. Thelobby is beautiful and the bike rental is a unique surprise.

Great location and very nice hotels. The room is a bit small but it is next to Union square.

Paper thin walls was surrounded by kids that started screaming at 6am in the morning.

We have always been treated so great whenever we stay here. They always go the extra mile to make sure that we are happy and satisfied.

Nice rooms and friendly staff. I had an issue with the hot water in my room, but the staff took care of it immediately, and upgraded me to a new room and offered free breakfast for the inconvenience.

Rooms are old and small . The staff do not give a dam about you . Been all over the world stayed in all sorts of hotels . 2star to 5 star . This is at the bottom of my list . Don't go there

I enjoyed staying at this Kimpton hotel. We had a great view of Union Square , and being on Powell Street meant easy access to all the touristy shopping and attractions.

What a beautiful building! Service is amazing as well.

Rooms are somewhat dated. Beds are lower than a typical height standard. Water pressure in shower is not very strong. Towel hook is broken. Lighting is very off. Starlight Room above the hotel is a plus and the location is good for work.

Stayed here two nights. Hotel is a little over-the-top for decor but my room was nice. Lobby bar is good but gets very crowded. Hotel is well situated.

Me and my boyfriend come in to spend his birthday weekend. Very disappointed with both the service and the rooms. Very small room, not good air circulation and unprofessional customer service.
We vowed to never stay at San Francis again, and we are telling all our friends and family to do the same. Not worthy.

Elevator takes 5-10 minutes with 1/4 out of order. Otherwise reasonably nice and well located

This hotel almost had it all. Charm (check), great location (check), great bar (check), amazing door man (check), great elevator service (no check). If it wasn t the waiting for up to 10-15 minutes for an elevator, this would have been a 5 star review. 15 floors with little kids and dogs in tow isn t doable via stairs.

Beautiful establishment. Friendly staff. Clean lobby and restroom.

We just went to the summit to see the views. You can freely enter and go up.

I really enjoyed my time at the hotel. It had a great location and the rooms were comfortable and clean

Amazing service great hotel can be a little pricey kudos to Eddie great personality very helpful hope to see you next time Eddie thanks for all the great help the place across the street you recommended was awesome

I've stayed at this hotel a number of times and it's always been a great experience. Big clean rooms. Friendly staff. Lots of options for food and entertainment in walking distance.

High end hotel. Great for a weekend get a way to the city. Walking distance to Union Square and other bars, clubs, and restaurants. Piano and wine bar was great. Fun place to stay and play!

While the building is beautiful, I wouldn't stay here again. The receptionists barely acknowledged me when I walked up to check in and then both continued working on seemingly non-guest items for several minutes before finally helping me.

The room itself was small and covered with a la carte drinks and snacks, which detracted from the experience. The bathroom door frame was weirdly cracked and frayed and the mechanism holding the shampoo, conditioner, and soap containers was broken.

When I woke up, I found a small cockroach on the outside of my luggage which was thankfully closed. The location is great and the furnishings were fine, but not a great experience otherwise.

Boutique hotel in a vintage building. Friendly doorman was able to provide suggestions for reasonable self-service parking nearby. Rooms are clean and well decorated, though a little aller than is average today given the vintage nature of the building. Lobby area doubles as a bar that seems to be frequented by locals.

Everything was amazing!! I had spoke to Nick at the front desk before arriving and he provided world class customer service! He helped with all of my questions and went above and beyond for my stay. During check in and during our stay, all of the front desk staff was friendly and accommodating, they were awesome!! Everyone working here is super friendly! The hotel is beautiful, the location is great and the room was spacious and clean with nice amenities. I would highly recommend staying here.

Very bad experience. They treat people who book on travel sites like second class citizens . They have zero respect .Especially the oriental guy with glasses at the front desk . He was extremely rude. It's sad because the hotel has a lot of potential. All they have to do to be successfully is remove that person. The doorman and baggage guys on the other hand were very professional.

Avoid this hotel if you can!!! Between the teeny tiny rooms, the broken phone in the room, shredded/torn up blinds, micro sized bathroom, and much needed maintenance they need to throw the whole hotel away!! Plain and simple ...don't stay here it's not worth the money.

Rooms are poor quality and smoking and dirty
If try to complain they offer (Anthony) to cancel reservation. Horrible services

Room is a bit pricey and too small for the price. Great location tight in the middle of town.

Worst ... few outlets & difficult access. Adding a decent desk lab would solve this, but they haven't.
Lock box non functional; called & "someone will be up soon to fix it" ... still not fixed 24 hrs later.
Water hot pot only available by request, but they not enough for the requests. Bath is tiny, tub has no grab handles, and almost no drawers in "main" cabinet.. TV (which I don't use) takes up > 1/2 of "main" cabinet top ... waste of space.

Great hotel, classic architecture, friendly staff. Wonderful area. Super classy building. Rooms are clean, well equipped, and a little small (but what you'd expect for downtown San Francisco). Rooms are not dank and dark like other reviewers have suggested.

Note: they will charge you a $22 fee at checkout unless you have a rewards account with Kimpton. You can sign up free online and can evem do it during checkout to get the fee waived. But if you do it ahead of time, you'll get a $10 bar credit and free WiFi!

A classic full service hotel, that does not hold back on its service standards. All the staff from Doorman to all the inside staff give the best service anywhere.

BEWARE OF THE OUTRAGEOUS PARKING FEE OF $67 per day WITHOUT NOTICE.
No wait.. they have a notice: it's posted by their front door in a little frame. .. good luck finding it..

We booked a room with 2 queen sized beds through their reservation department.
Once we got to the hotel,
we wanted to change to 1 king which was cheaper on the booking site, but they said they didn't have it available. Ok. They gave us an "upgrade" to the Deluxe room. When we got in the room; it was the smallest room imaginable with ONE queen size bed. Made us wonder how does their Regular room looks like!?
Later on, after dinner, we inquire about so called "deluxe" room and explained the situation to a different receptionist. She was very kind and apologized immediately and gave us $50 per night discount.
Which made us think, that the first guy knew exactly he is not giving us any upgrades and left us with a bad feeling to begin with.
Upon check out, when we looked at the bill, we realized that they charged us for 3 nights of parking even thought we stayed only 2 nights. $59 rate plus $8 tax - total $67 per night per parking with NO MENTION of parking rate anywhere in the confirmation email. I repeat: THERE IS NO INFORMATION ABOUT PARKING RATE ON THE CONFIRMATION EMAIL. We arrived on Friday night at 8 pm and left on Sunday at 12pm.
Finally, after very unpleasant conversations with different people they removed erroneously charged fee for the extra night but they "forgot" to remove tax.
So we had to go back to the reception and talk about it again.
All of the mentioned above made us wonder: are they all incompetent (reservations, check in, check out) or they are just simply crooks?
You decide for yourself. We already made our decision.
P.S. Starlight room - "a place to be!": outdated decor of 20+ years. Waitress in tasteless uniform with 1/2 inch runs in her stockings. No further comments. Advice: Come up with your own drink to enjoy the view.

Classic 1928 vintage hotel. Beautiful on the inside. Very nice staff. Rooms are clean.

Nice hotel, close to Union square but slowest elevators in existence

Disappointedly average. I expected more from the Kimpton hotel. Previously had stayed at the Kimpton in Chicago a few times and it was wonderful. This one is very outdated and needs a renovation ASAP. The wifi feels like it s dial up Internet from the 90s. 3 stars for the staff who were super professional, friendly and hospitable. Wouldn t stay here again, or at least not until they upgrade the rooms.

Very ornate. Harkens back to a different era. Staff are friendly and knowledgeable, happy to give directions around the strange and confusing streets.

This hotel deserves two stars ONLY FOR THE POSITION and the view (which, however, depends on the room assigned to you). The rooms are very cramped, without a fridge, there is not enough space to place the objects, on our double bed there was only one bedside table and there was even a hook in the bathroom on which to hang the towel for the shower. The staff was kind in the norm, of the two common bathrooms in the hall one was out of service and the second blocked. The window panes were very dirty and the cleaning generally left something to be desired throughout the hotel. As icing on the cake, as well as being affected by street noise, we had a room on the 20th floor and on the 21st there is a room where in the evening loud music is played which actually ends quite early (around 11 pm) .

Least friendly front desk staff of any hotel I've been to in SF

Exquisite in every detail. Its location allows it to be in the center of all the activities of the city.