Embassy Hotel - San Francisco, USA 

My wife and I stayed here pretty much by accident -- Expedia told us that we were going to be staying at "Embassy Suites"! Since we've stayed at an Embassy Suites before, and liked it, we were considerably disappointed when we found out that there were no "Suites" in the name. That being said, we were pleased by this hotel. Before we go any further, please know that this property is old, old old. How old? The elevator door has to be swung out, manually. The heat is from radiators, and there are no individual room controls (we did have to call down to ask them to turn up the heat several times). But, we also found this place to be clean, clean, clean. Some other reviewers said it's noisy, and maybe their rooms were. We, however, can flat-out state that we had the QUIETEST hotel room we ever had. The continental breakfast is nothing to write home about, and the parking lot can be cramped and tough to navigate, but seeing that we were expecting Embassy Suites and would up getting the Embassy, we were much more pleased than we thought we'd ever be.

My mother, sister and I needed a one-night room to attend my sister's graduation from culinary school. We searched our usual haunts (I've been to SF about 14 times in the last 18 months) but the prices were so high, I couldn't make it work. My sister then told us about The Embassy as it is where the culinary students get discounted rooms for their friends who come to visit them. Let it be known, I was skeptical. However, I was pleasently surprised. Check in was easy, the staff was friendly. Our room was no five star, but it was appropriately cleaned and maintained. We had 3 people and had no problems with the beds, showers, toilet or any other issue mentioned in the previous reviews. As far as the noise, it's San Francisco. Duh. Only the newer hotels are equipped with sound proofing street noise, and most of those don't do that great of a job. The area isn't the best, but it's not that horrible. The culinary school is across the street and one of th dorms is next door...no way is this an area that is "that bad" Would I stay here for a romantic getaway? No. However, I needed a place to sleep that was at a good price and that's what the Embassy delivered for us. I would suggest this place for budget travelers who don't mind an older place.