Clift - San Francisco, USA 

I really like this hotel. Stayed for 4 nights in late June, booked a deluxe room and was upgraded to a very nice and spacious studio king. Yes, the bathrooms badly let the rooms down, but overall I think this is a very good choice for a central, mid-priced, stylish hotel which has a clubby vibe. Staff were all exeptionally friendly. On a previous stay there were problems with sound-proofing, but none this time. I'd recommend you ask for a quiet room, either at the end of a corridor, or on a corner. I'd definitely stay here again.

Upon checking in, our room (610) smelled so strongly of cigarette smoke my fiancee had an allergic reaction and did not sleep all night. We spoke with John, the manager on duty, and he could not fix the problem - according to him, the hotel was completely sold out, and we might be able to be moved to another room the next day. The bathroom was tiny, as was the room - far below our expectations for a hotel at this price point. Also, the bathroom was poorly maintained - the caulking around the tile was loose and moldy, the shower head was so intense we could not take a shower without extreme discomfort from the pressure of the water. Furthermore, the iPod dock was not functioning. The following morning, we requested and received a larger room (1225). This room was larger, and more up to our standards. It smelled of stale cigarette smoke, but not as horribly as our previous room. There were cigarette burns in the carpet, even though this room was non smoking. We felt as is there were no rooms that did not smell like smoke, and so we settled on that room. After being in 1225 one night, we received notice that we were checking out that day under our door, even though we were due to check out the next day. I had to return to the front desk and resolve that problem. During our stay, the wait staff in the restaurant was extremely inattentive and aloof. The service we received there was the worst restaurant service we have ever received. Overall, the staff was pleasant, though not very friendly, did not remember us, and was not very welcoming. My fiancee and I will not stay ever again at the Clift, and we would advise you to do the same.

I stayed at the Clift for five nights, and I recommend this hotel if you are looking for a hip, sometimes loud, and fun place to stay in San Francisco. The hotel is a few blocks from Union Square. I liken the Clift to a higher-end W hotel. Cool decor, young staff who are eager to help (much more so than the Ws I have stayed), great food and drink, and a terrific night scene in the Rosewood Room (bar/ultra lounge). I strongly recommend a suite. The standard room is too small if there is more than one person in the room. I would not classify the Clift as an excellent value, but I will stay here again. All the employees, especially the concierges, did their very best to make me and my party happy. No complaints at all with the service. Spent two nights in the Rosewood Room. This lounge is on par with most Vegas ultra lounges.

The Clift is a wonderful hotel, but as the reviews reveal, you either love it or hate it. Here's my take: If you like to dress in Nikes, cargo shorts, T-shirts and baseball caps, you'll hate it. If you booked online with price being your only criteria and didn't do your homework, you'll also hate it. The decor is an acquired taste. It's pretty "out there" when you first walk in, but that's the point. Very dim lighting, and the furniture looks as if Tim Burton decorated it with leftovers from the set of "Beetlejuice" They really stress form over function, but the crazy seating in the lobby is really quite comfortable. From our experience, everyone on the hotel staff was friendly and professional, from the doormen to the bartenders in the Redwood room. The rooms were very comfortable also. Bathrooms were on the small side, but this hotel is not about hanging out in the bathroom, or watching TV, for that matter. Again, I think ones experience at the hotel depends totally on perspective. If you embrace the quirkiness and have a positive attitude, you will love the experience, from the atmosphere to the staff, but if you walk in and immediately feel as if it wasn't what you expected of a 4 star hotel and you don't fit in, you will find things to complain about.. To those people, I'd suggest that they do a little research next time and stay somewhere else.

We ended up at the Clift because there were a lot of events going on in San Francisco the weekend we went, and every where else was booked. We hated it. The furniture in the rooms is really cheesy and cheap. Our friends' room was supposed to be an "upgraded" room, and when they saw our room, they realized that not only was their room smaller, but the bed was even smaller (a queen instead of a king). After a lot of complaining at the front desk they finally got a different room, and it was fine, but I wouldn't have called it upgraded. Our friends also got gift certificates for the restaurant there, and when we went to use them we were told that there was no way they could get us in, they were completely booked. After a little more complaining at the front desk, they did let us in, but it turns out we would have been better off had they just turned us away. Everything is extremely expensive, so I thought it would also be extremely good, and it WAS NOT. It was so bad, I had a couple bites of each thing and left hungry. It wasn't just marginal, I could not eat it. My friends and I sat wondering if we just ordered the wrong things, or if everything on the menu was that bad. Breakfast there is good though, not fantastic, but good. The service is not great, the whole place is kind of snooty and cold. For the price of the Clift, I would expect much, much more. When I read the bad reviews before we left I was still optimistic, thinking it couldn't possibly be that bad. I was extremely disappointed to discover that the bad reviews were right on.