Comfort Inn by the Bay, San Francisco

...pleasent 6 nights in the Comfort Inn by the Bay in sunny San Francisco.

The building itself is typical of hotels within this chain, simple, basic, no frills, but comfortable and pleasent enough to stay in.
The entrance lobby is not vast, but big enough that it can easily accomodate several groups of people as you wait to check in/check out, etc. It has a few casual sofas, some hardback chairs, payphones and plenty of leaflets ...
...on reception 24/7 which is handy, and we found them very helpful. Being our first time abroad we where confused about the telephone codes and numbers, but they patiently went through it with us on more than one occasion!

There are only 2 lifts, which I must admit did prove to be a pain. We were on the ninth floor and sometimes seemed to wait for ever until one came up to our level, and even then, it was sometimes to full for us to ... more

I recently spent a very pleasent 6 nights in the Comfort Inn by the Bay in sunny San Francisco.

The building itself is typical of hotels within this chain, simple, basic, no frills, but comfortable and pleasent enough to stay in.
The entrance lobby is not vast, but big enough that it can easily accomodate several groups of people as you wait to check in/check out, etc. It has a few casual sofas, some hardback chairs, payphones and plenty of leaflets and similar about all things local.
There is staff on reception 24/7 which is handy, and we found them very helpful. Being our first time abroad we where confused about the telephone codes and numbers, but they patiently went through it with us on more than one occasion!

There are only 2 lifts, which I must admit did prove to be a pain. We were on the ninth floor and sometimes seemed to wait for ever until one came up to our level, and even then, it was sometimes to full for us to get in. They did have stairs, but these were behind alarmed doors and only for fire escape.

The room itself was comfy enough. We had 2 queen beds, couple of easy chairs, table, long cabinet/chest of drawers type thing with T.V on it and a sort of wardrobe with no front on it! There are in room safes - $5 per day if used - iron plus board, kettle and coffee maker with usual tea, coffe, etc and a clock/radio by the bed. The rooms were well laid out, and there was ample room for moving about.

The bathroom on the other hand was rather small, and thats putting it politely. The sink was actually outside the bathroom on a sort of vanity worktop complete with hairdryer - not very powerful - and a well lit mirror. The bathroom held the toilet and bath. As you went in, you had to semi leap in the bath to close the door behind you! The bath itself was possibly the lowest bath I had ever seen with an overhead shower! It was clean enough and well lit, but very small. The shower (to me the most important bit after a flushable toilet!) was very good though, varible shower head from light sprinkle to full pelt pin you against the wall jet stream.

Towels and bed linen are included and house keeping is daily. They partake in a water saving scheme. If you are there for more than one night, they will only change your towels if you leave them on the floor and they will only change you bedding if you leave the polite notice by the bed on the bed. Even if you don't want bedding changed, they still make up your bed as they would a fresh one and do a full clean of the room. I thought this was a very good idea, as I have always thought it pointless when staying at hotels that the bedding is changed every day.

We booked online direct with the hotel for our stay. We had the option of smoking or non smoking rooms, and also could request, bay view, garden view, etc.
We requested a bridge view, and we had just that. From our room you had a direct view to the golden gate bridge, not at all obstructed. This however did have it's drawbacks as it meant we were at the front of the hotel. The traffic noise could be heard quite well in the middle of the night,. As we were so busy in the day we just flaked out at night so it didn't really bother us, but I did hear a couple of other people moaning about it in the breakfast room. So if you think that this would bother you, request a garden view room which are based at the back of the hotel and are much quieter.

The breakfast room is again not vast, but big enough for it's purpose. As a couple we often shared a table with another couple, as the tables were all 4 person or bigger. The breakfast was typically 'continental'. Pastries, breads and preserves, fruit, yogurt, eggs and cereal. They also had 3 waffle machines so you could make a fresh waffle for youself if liked. Obviously this was accompanied by tea, coffee, juice, etc. It was a help yourself and tidy up after yourself type of service which I think suited the place well. It isn't a place where you would expect to be waited on hand and foot.

The location is ok. It is about 10-15 min walk from the main 'tourist' bit Fishermans Wharf, but anywhere else and it would be best to get a bus or taxi. Several different buses seemed to stop just a block away from the hotel. There are a few takeway places along the same stretch of road, but the nicer eat in places were again 10 -15 min walk away. We often came back during the night, and it was very quiet about, there seemed to be no obvious trouble.

Overall, it was a very nice stay. It cost us the equivalent of about £60 each night with breakfast included, which I thought was very reasonable for the service you receive.

I would stay there again if i was ever lucky enough to go to San Francisco again! 

...less