Hotel Union Square

I’m not typically critical in a public way… but this hotel is very dirty and run down. Stayed late May to early June 2016.

After a long day of travel and you finally checked into your hotel. You would think a hot shower would be nice but you found out there was no hot water and you call the front desk ask about hot water, they told you «sorry, our boiler is not working» are you serious!!! How come you didn’t tell me the boiler is not working and there is no hot water when I check into the hotel??? The room is small and the window in the bathroom was broken too… My first time staying here and never again!

The room stunk like the hotel was build in the 1800, hidden and unnecessary fee of 15.00 was merely a money grab when you only need a room to sleep and no wireless! I would never let an enemy stay here for the price! Thanks, but never again!

Arrived 11pm. Asked for a refund at 11:05pm. It’s more of a hostel than a hotel. What a scam. Run!

This place is awful! First they have a Premium Queen bed room which has no desk. It’s so small hotel rooms in Tokyo will have a superiority complex. This is a first. What a dump. When you check in beware they charge you $ 15 service fee and take a 100 buck deposit. They charge you for wifi. Wow! Another first in the Silicon Valley of all places. What a rip off. Stay away from this place.

I booked this hotel not reading any reviews until after the fact. We should up early and we’re only going to check our bags in. We were able to get a room right away and we were upgraded!!! Mariana at the front desk was Amazing and helped us out before we even got there. The room was Perfect in my eyes and we are in the middle of tons of shopping. We are here Easter weekend and away from our kids for the 1^st time on a holiday, they had a basket full of Easter Candy for guest which brought a smile to mine and my husbands face because we are kids at heart! Perfect little place

We were in dyer need of a place and we booked this place the day of. Oh my goodness did we come across a find! The esthetic of the hotel is classic with a modern twist. The room was small, just a bedroom and a bathroom, but it was perfect for the two of us. It’s located in a nice place in San Fran and definitely feels like a place you can walk around in comfortably! The front desk service is amazing! We got upgraded upon arrival. All around a great place to stay in San Francisco!

Not sure if I just got a bad room but the pictures are deceiving and this place is definitely not as nice as it appears. No air conditioning. Only one towel in the room. Narrow hallways. Felt very creepy. My room also had a big sign for a fire escape and the screens were torn. I didn’t even stay there for an hour before booking a different hotel for the night

Parking is $ 45 per night FYI if you plan on booking here. So please don’t forget to factor that into your bill because apparently you can’t cancel without them charging you and they’re rude about it too.
All the pictures you see online are extremely deceiving. The lobby is small, the walls are chipped with a poor pain job, just walking in the hotel smells OLD. It feels very dirty. I honestly just wanted to leave ASAP. Please don’t stay here!
The only upside is it being in the heart of the city. Other than that, there’s no reason to stay here.

So terrible that we changed after a night.
I had this place reserved for 3 nights, but had to leave because it wasn’t clean, it was disgustingly dirty.
We checked in around 3pm and once the elevator opened I smelled pets pee since the hotel is pet friendly this wasn’t that shocking. Next we found our room and after trying 20 times the door got opened. We got in and it felt like it’s a prison cell. Tiny window faced to hotels ventilation system, super small bathroom. The pillows had hair on them, the chair was full of dust and bathtub hadn’t been cleaned properly.
We wanted to check out after 30min but the receptionist told us that we have used the towels so they had to charge us for one night. Unfortunately we stayed one night but the next day we ran away as soon as the sun came up.
one last thing, if you are choosing this hotel based on pictures on the various websites, then don’t, the pictures are deceptive

I LOVED this hotel and would absolutely stay here again. It’s in union square and we stayed here on a Saturday night, so after paying to park our total ended up being $ 476. Yikes, but it is San Francisco! The hotel has amazing old charm & character, but also very modern and sleek. I think my favorite thing was wine hour from 5 – 6 in the reception area where where they also had a great live performer.
We were on the 2^nd floor street side, and yes there is definitely street noise but not sure how you could avoid that anywhere in that area? We turned our air conditioner fan on which silenced it all. I also read reviews that said the room was very small, but it didn’t bother me so I don’t agree. We had two doubles and plenty of space.
If you are looking for something outside of the big box hotels, check this place out.

I stay here once or twice a year as I did leave my heart in San Francisco many years ago.
I keep seeing people complaining about the small windowless rooms. If you check the hotel’s website prior to booking, it is clearly stated that certain rooms do not have windows.
I have found the hotel to be delightful, always clean, and the staff amazing. I generally stay in the sleep and soak rooms — I do not need a window, and the price is right. The beds are quite comfy, the rooms are immaculate, and who doesn’t love an art deco vibe? I will continue to give Hotel Union Square my business.
The location is amazing — just a few blocks up from transit and Blue Bottle Coffee.

This is not a good hotel. Let me give you some reasons why you should stay in almost any other hotel in this neighborhood rather than here:
1. There is no gym on-​site. In order to go to the gym, you must walk four blocks to their sister hotel. Change in their guest bathroom. Workout and then return to the Union Square Hotel sweaty and gross and catching a chill in the cool air of San Francisco.
2. I turned on the shower and low and behold — no hot water, just a lukewarm stream. Upon calling the front desk, I was told to run the water in my hotel room for 5 to 10 minutes. California water shortages plus the hotel signage announcing how much they care about conservation makes me think they should get this fixed right quick. Yes, yes, it’s an old building, but I’ve stayed in plenty of old building with adequate boilers that served up hot water.
3. No bar. No restaurant. The only thing you have is vending machines. It’s like a Holiday Inn but without the pool.
4. The rooms look cheap. Cheap, cheap. Peeling paint. Small windows that open up to a dismal brick wall. No natural light at all in the rooms.
The good? Nice staff. Pleasant hallways. That’s it. That’s what I got for ya’.
This is a one-​star review because really? If you’re super broke, you can get a better AirBNB for this price. This is a very, very sad place.

Perfect location, but hotel is very old and dark, the room not very inviting… I will post couple pic and you all decide. I ask for an other room, but front desk, told me — nothing available. This hotel we booked a week ago and we arrived at 10 am, waiting for room to be ready … I don’t think I would stay in this hotel again … Pic on website was beautiful, but in real life … And it’s not cheap .
I I had respond from person who is working in this hotel. Telling me again, nothing was available at the time, when we asked to change the room, because room where they put us was disgusting!
Point is –how room like this can even exist??? Is anyone pay attention to the chair in this room? Is it not replaceable? Old, damaged chair? Really?
What about just to fix the door nub? Is it not possible? Really? But to charge $ 350 for night it’s ok? Really? Shame !!!

My husband and I booked this boutique hotel due to location and price– and it fulfilled those criteria fantastically.
However– we won’t stay here again. Despite the face that the hotel itself is easy to get to via public transportation and convenient, and the lobby is very well done, the room we stayed in gave us the creeps.
The décor was slightly off-​putting. Maybe I’m not trendy enough but when we first walked into our room, there were two fans going with dimly lit lights accentuating the eerie and overwhelmingly red color of everything. I mean, everything– the wall paper, carpet, and tile in the bathroom.
In addition, there was an absolutely horrible smell in the room– somewhere between a musty old attic and something fermenting. After the first night, I couldn’t take it anymore and bought air freshener since they wouldn’t let us change rooms.
The air conditioning system is a portable unit that sucks air in through the fake window. It’s really loud and might be a contributor to the dank smell.
Something else that struck us as odd was the lack of natural light. And by lack of, I mean there was none. The two windows in the room led to a dark crawl space like chute, which we speculated once was open to air. There’s a tiny «window» in the bathroom that also leads to the same dark chute. This gave off a very claustrophobic vibe, despite the high ceilings in the room. We honestly could not tell what time of day it was, which made getting up in the morning a challenge.
The staff was friendly enough. We didn’t need anything beyond the typical check in. We did request a room change but they did not grant us that request, despite having open rooms.
After reading other reviews, I think that if you have the money to spend for a nicer suite or a room with a window, it might be worth it. I am creeped out enough to avoid this place and stick to a Marriott or Hilton or somewhere where I know what I will get, even if it’s a bit pricier.
We almost joined the group of reviewers on here who left and booked another hotel, but since we had booked in advance and paid in full, decided to stick it out.

I booked this hotel on Expedia because it was the cheapest I could find in a «prime location». Also, because I booked a Napa Valley Bus Tour that was going to pick us up at 8am by Macy’s so I wanted to be nearby. I would consider this prime location if you want to be around all the shops.
Cons:
–Our room smelled like puke. Not just a regular musty smell that you can air out with air conditioning or the fan.
–It’s right in the heart of Union Square so there was a lot of traffic. We walked most of the time but a couple of places we went to had to be Ubered to or back and it took so much time going through that traffic.
If I ever go back to SF, I would stay in the Financial District. It seemed to me like it was in between all the places we went to as far as China Town, Little Italy, Pier 39, and Union Square. It’s also much quieter and a nicer area in general.

I’m only deducting a star because of the decal on the wall. Surely I can’t be the only one who is bothered by the decoration? I also didn’t really find the coat hanger in the corner with a trench coat and fedora that nice because it just made me very jumpy haha. But aside from the décor I have nothing bad to say about this place.
Service here was amazing. I arrived early on Sunday morning and since my room wasn’t ready I left my luggages with the hotel concierge and Kasia at the front desk said they will let me know via text message as soon as I can check-​in. Around noon, I got a text notifying me that my room is ready.
Room was clean and had a lot of lighting. Bed is super comfortable! Definitely one of the best mattresses I’ve slept on — firm but still soft. Pillows are a bit meh but oh well.
Bathroom was nice, had great amenities like shampoo, conditioner, soap etc but HUS went above and beyond and provided makeup remover :) Super nice, don’t you agree?
I didn’t get to try the coffee in the lobby during my stay but they offer a variety of coffee every morning.

1 1 1 1 review (single ones) goes to Hotel Union Square!
Kasia, who was the lobby assistant during the time I was there, was very accomodating and friendly!
The narrow hallways, reminded me of New York apartments. Their rooms and décor are modern and up to date. May I add, contemporary?
I liked how they provided makeup remover wipes. That was special.
Located in the heart of Union Square, it is super convenient to get around!

We got the Soak and Sleep room here for 1 night during the Unilocal 10-​Year Celebration weekend. The room was long but bigger than we expected. I feel like this place deserves 1 more star when compared relatively to the other options in the area (but I don’t have enough experience to say that for sure).
Pros:
— Convenient location right in the heart of downtown.
— Nice shower with excellent water pressure and temperature control.
— Comfortable platform bed, which you can’t even tell it’s a platform bed.
Cons:
— Even though the lobby might look white and modern, the rest of the hotel looks completely different. The hallways are narrow and covered in red. Honestly, it look like some scene taken straight out from a horror movie. No joke.
— Crappy air conditioning system, which is essentially a standalone space cooler. It was extremely loud and even though the unit is set to 62 (lowest setting), the room was still 75+. Turning on the ceiling fan and turning off the ceiling light helps.
— There’s this strange smell in the hallways and the room but we couldn’t figure out what it is. Maybe burnt tires or some strange cleaning supplies. Either way, just like any smells, your nose gets adjusted to it after a while.
— No exterior windows, which adds to the horror factor and the ventilation problem.
Overall, this is definitely one of the worst (or most unconventional) hotel experience we’ve ever had. However, when considering how last minute we made the reservation and the fact that we got the room for less than $ 200, I think it’s a win. The shower was nice and no, we didn’t get any bed bugs.
So if you need to stay in the downtown SF area and don’t want to shell out hundreds of dollars for a «normal» hotel experience, I would actually recommend this place. DO NOT come here if you’re claustrophobic. If you have a car, use one of the parking garage services near-​by. There are many options within 2 – 3 blocks.

Hotel Union Square is a strong four-​star experience for me. In fact, I hemmed and hawed over whether to go four or five here, as it really is a nice hotel. As others have done, so shall I:
Pros:
– Location is absurdly convenient — right on Powell near Market, in the middle of errything
– Staff is friendly and helpful, which is huge
– Rooms are clean, lobby is nice and decorations are chic
– My room (an executive on the 6^th floor) was huge.
– I was welcomed with a nice little gift
– I like the style
– Did I mention the location? If you’re a tourist, it doesn’t really get any better. Same if you’re doing business in SOMA
– Wine hour in the lobby with live music
– Concierge service
– Did I mention that the people who work here are rad?
– Wireless internet is free, and that’s how it should be at ALL HOTELS (Westin, are you reading this??)
Cons: With location comes noise. But it wasn’t unbearable.
Honestly I have had some higher end experiences in SF but those experiences come at a much higher price. The rates we got here during the VMWorld conference (when all those other hotels were gouging with $ 500+ rack rates) were fair. Hard to say what I’d compare it to with all rack rates being standard pricing, but really it goes to about a 4.5 star experience and that’s solid. So I guess I should round up to 5. Can’t say how I’d feel about it if I were in a smaller room and it were really cramped. But based on my one experience, I dig it.
I would stay here again in a heartbeat.