Review: The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco

I’ve booked a spontaneous weekend city break in San Francisco, and The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco caught my attention with a current offer they have from the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts program. I’ve been curious about how my local Ritz-Carlton is like, and would like to compare it to my first Ritz-Carlton stay in Astana, Kazakhstan. I also decided to check out the nearby Westin St. Francis the next day.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco- Booking

As mentioned before, I booked this hotel for 1-night through the Amex Fine Hotels & Resorts. The time-limited offer with this hotel is a $100 food & beverage credit for the stay. With the normal Amex FHR benefits, the F&B credit then stacks to $200 for the stay! Plus, I had allowance of $64 daily for breakfast outside of the F&B credit. Ritz-Carlton brand typically does not offer free breakfast even to Marriott elite members, so there’s more value booking through Amex FHR.

With the Amex Platinum’s Hotel Credit, I was able to get $200 off the total room rate, and it ended up costing me $358 total for the night. It’s more expensive than what I’d normally pay for, but the $200 F&B credit helps bring more value towards this booking compared to its competitor the St. Regis which does not have the special offer attached. Weekday rates can double for this hotel!

For Marriott Bonvoy points redemption, expect to pay around 71.5-130k points per night due to its Category 8 placement. In my opinion, redeeming your points in this hotel is bad value, and I suggest saving it for other properties.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco- Location

The hotel is located in the Nob Hill neighborhood and is also situated right next to Chinatown set on a steep street. If you’re getting here on foot or walk around the hotel’s vicinity, then you’d want some comfortable shoes! Its courthouse-like building is one of the historical landmarks of Nob Hill with its neoclassical architecture.

Getting around the city’s other landmarks like Union Square are 10 minutes of walk away from the hotel, and the nearest public transportation (BART) is at the Montgomery St. station.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco- Check-in

I arrived to the hotel at around 5pm. There was a bit of a wait as the check-in desk is quite small with just 2 agents occupying the front desk.

The lobby interior is quite flashy.

I asked for a suite upgrade on the app a day before check-in, and I was able to get upgraded to the Nob Hill Suite, which is the junior suite of this hotel! The front desk then explained and confirmed about my Amex FHR benefits, including the $200 credit and stacking my Marriott Titanium benefits for points earned from the stay.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco- Nob Hill Suite

I was assigned to the 7th out of 9 floors, and is the highest floor for a Nob Hill Suite. The rooms hallway have a pretty old-school look.

The junior suite provides ample space for my lone self to kick back and relax. I really like the gray/navy blue color scheme. The colors make the room look elegant but not too stuffy like what a brown/gold color scheme would do.

Compared to the standard Deluxe Room, there’s more space by the window and sofas at the farthest end of the room.

The bed is firm but plush, which I really like on a bed. I also appreciated the body pillow that usually aids my ability to sleep. There are plugs on the beside lamps, but no USB-C sockets throughout the room.

There’s also an audio player with Bluetooth functionality, but setting it up was not very intuitive so I left it alone. But, it’s good enough if you want to play the local radio.

Oddly enough, a dog bed and bowls were placed by the wall across the bed. I didn’t think it was a problem, but it was a reminder that this hotel is dog-friendly. Still, it’s strange that they did not remove them from my room since the upgrade was confirmed in the morning of the day of check-in.

Next to the dog bed are the TV, pantry, and minibar. There’s internet TV and even a free HBO Max available.

The Nob Hill Suite comes with a small fridge to store your outside food and drinks next to the vanity table by the bathroom. Across the vanity table is the closet with a safe.

I received a box of chocolate as a welcome gift for booking through Amex FHR. The chocolates were good, but the welcome gifts definitely felt impersonal compared to many international Marriotts I’ve been to with a personal note from the guest relation or hotel manager.

The sofas next to the bed provide ample seating spaces, but they’re too hard to comfortably sleep on for a night, in my opinion.

There is a work desk to use your computer on and a QR code menu for in-room dining should you wish to order.

There’s only 1 window looking outside to the city from the room. Unfortunately, there’s not much to the view, unless you enjoy looking at the columns. They’re pretty columns at least. If I’d be assigned to a room towards the opposite of the hotel’s main entrance, then I may have a sweeping view of the city from the uphill of Nob Hill.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco Nob Hill Suite Bathroom

The marble bathroom has a vintage feel to it.

The toilet has its own separate room. I’m kind of bummed it’s not a Japanese toilet like what they have in the Palace Hotel 10 minutes away. It would be a bit out of place, but a fun novelty.

Shower pressure is alright, and no bath salts provided if you’d fancy a bath in the tub.

The Ritz-Carlton brand has moved on from Asprey London Purple Water to Diptyque Paris Philoskyos as bath amenities. The new Diptyque amenities have more subdued fragrance, and I think I much prefer the old Asprey amenities.

There’s a note that warns you about taking the Diptyque amenity bottles out of the room. You’ll be charged $50 + tax per bottle.

Two bathrobes are provided in the room, in closet and the bathroom door.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco- The Lounge Lobby Dinner

To take advantage of the $200 food & beverage credit, I reserved a table for 1 at The Lounge Lobby for dinner. I took the liberty the next morning to take pictures of the Lobby Lounge where nobody’s there. The lounge gives off the old boys club vibe, but still quite pleasant.

This is not to be confused with the Ritz-Carlton Club Lounge which you have to pay separately or book a room with access. I did not get it as it wouldn’t make sense to do so with the $200 credit in hand.

For dinner, I ordered bread service, ahi tuna tartare, steak au poivre, and gateau breton. Formal clothes not required. All items presented and tasted splendidly, but service was a bit of a miss. I had many of my requests for more water delayed while waiting for a quite long wait for food to come.

The total came out to be $150, and I gave the rest $50 as tip to use up all of the credit. If you happen to underuse your credits, you can simply give the rest as tips or add in extra rather than waste them away! Do so on countries where it’s acceptable to tip, of course.

Overall, a quite enjoyable free dinner experience! Menu of the Lounge Lobby can be found online.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco- Parallel 37 Breakfast

The breakfast restaurant is Parallel 37. With the Amex FHR booking, I had a daily allowance of $64 just for breakfast. The interior felt more chic compared to the Lounge Lobby.

After a meat-heavy dinner, I wanted to change pace with sweet breakfast, so I ordered a glass of latte, butter pancakes, and the “Fog Lifter” parfait. Delicious, but heavy breakfast. They were enough to made me skip lunch! Menu can be found here. I went above the daily allowance after tips and left with out-of-pocket cost of $10.50! I can say that the service at Parallel 37 was better than last night at the Lobby Lounge.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco- Fitness Center

There’s a gym at the 1st floor (basement). There seems to be a spa service as well, but it looked to be closed indefinitely. The hotel also doesn’t have an indoor/outdoor pool. Gym equipment come with varieties of cardio and weight machines. Cold water bottles are stocked on a fridge as well to bring to your room.

There’s a bowl of fruits on your way out after you’re done with your workout.

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco- Other Amenities

The hotel has a courtyard on the second floor with a gazebo in the middle. It was raining at the time, so nobody was there.

There’s also a wine tasting lounge at the lobby that I didn’t try.

Then, there’s also a gift shop for Ritz-Carlton branded merchandise and perfume shop at Krigler.

Conclusion

The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco is not a bad hotel, but the value proposition just isn’t there. The hotel charges more than the nearby Palace Hotel and W, yet it doesn’t really bring anything to stand out and justify its higher price. The service felt impersonal, which I’d expect the opposite from a Ritz-Carlton. It’s also possible that my first Ritz-Carlton stays in Kazakhstan sort of bring unrealistic expectations to the brand.

The hotel’s also showing its age despite its renovation in 2015 with not-so-modern amenities. Of course, this is where it’s subjective with some people preferring a historic feel. Even so, I’d recommend the Palace Hotel from Marriott’s Luxury Collection instead if you’re looking for a historic property as it will give you a better bang for your buck.

The good things I have for this hotel is the gray/navy blue color schemes for the rooms which gives a pleasant surrounding without feeling too stuffy from it. The food taste from the Lounge Lobby and  are also excellent, and I’m glad I was able to try them all nearly for free!