San Remo Hotel - San Francisco, USA 

We found out about the San Remo through an article on Budget Travel magazine's website, from which we've always gotten great ideas and tips for budget-conscious travel. We made our reservation over the phone, and found the staff to be pleasant. We booked a room with a sink, and were well informed that we would be sharing a bathroom. We selected a room (room 65) on the top floor, hoping for a quieter location, as the hotel's main floor (the 2nd, just above the restaurant) has lots of foot traffic. The rooms are tiny, but sufficient. The shared bathrooms were clean and adequately supplied. While we are fairly low-maintenance and laid-back travelers, we felt a little let down by the hotel. We had originally booked reservations at a local hostel, and had opted to cancel it in favor of the San Remo booking. Unfortunately, we found that the San Remo wasn't too far removed from a hostel-like feel. Overall, nonetheless, we had a pretty comfortable stay, and we appreciated that the hotel staff pleasantly and efficiently booked us a shuttle to the airport for our return flight home.

If you want to stay in a modern fancy hotel with your own bathroom and tv and a doorman with a lift, this is not the place for you. But if you want to stay in a cosy, quaint, spotlessly clean, charming place in a great part of the city, you've come to the right place. The San Remo is fantastic. And it's a BARGAIN. For us, we wanted to stay somewhere clean and central and have more money to spend on eating out, activities, etc. For that, the San Remo was nothing short of perfect. North Beach is a wonderful part of town, filled with great cafes, restaurants and bars. and we were far happier spending the significant amount of money we saved by staying at the San Remo in all those places! Don't stay near Union Square - it's overpriced, touristy and boring. Staying at the San Remo will make you feel like you've really lived like a local in San Francisco. It's still central, but it has far more character. And isn't that what good travel is about?! And if you find the rooms too small, do what we did; unpack your suitcase and use the shelves and cupboards. Pretend you live there. It's much more fun!

After staying in a wide variety of places in San Francisco, from the upscale Adagio near Union Square to the uh downscale Green Tortoise, we have finally found just the right place. San Remo has friendly staff, comfortable and tidy rooms (they're small -- but why stay inside when you're in the city?!), and well-appointed bathrooms so clean I never felt chagrined to share them with all the other guests. In fact, you'd be lucky to get bathrooms this clean in your own hotel room. The location, too, is close to bus lines, so we were able to roam all over the city. We also loved walking south to a to-die-for focaccia place called Liguria and breakfast at Mama's. On our future visits to SF, we'll always stay at the San Remo.