Step out of the lobby and there's a cable car stop right outside. We loved this way of getting around and bought a 3 day MUNI pass for $18 which more than paid for itself. The hotel was ideally situated for getting to all the main attractions easily and we'd definitely stay in the Downtown area again as a base for sightseeing. Our room was small, but fine for a city hotel and we decided not to ask to move. The guidebooks were spot on with the description of the hotel: faded grandeur and the old chipped bathroom tile, but comfy beds, no skimping on decent toiletries and overall we were very happy.

The staff were all very helpful and professional, and the concierges were brilliant at suggesting and booking restaurants. Top tip: All the guidebooks recommend breakfast at Sears Fine Foods directly opposite the hotel (queues every day) but we ate there one day and every other day went back for the breakfast in the hotel restaurant - Scalas. Food and service was excellent and the bill was not that different.

this place does not merit any kind words. where to begin.....my travel agent was not able to get me a room at the Parc 55 were I typically stay for business so i ended up at the sir francis drake. never again. the furniture was old broken down and dirty, the carpet sticky, the hallways musty, and the bathroom just dreary. Pay the extra whatever it may be and stay somewhere else. Oh, almost forgot the the one nice thing was that the cleaning crew decided to leave me a big glob of crusty grape jelly on the coffee table. thank you sir francis drake for a dismal experience.

I booked a room thru Hotels, at $277/night. I arrived late at night and went to get dinner at La Scala before going up to my room. The food was terrible. I get to my room around midnight, it reeks of smoke. I asked for non-smoking but they gave me a smoking room. Furthermore, it was below the Starlight lounge and I can hear the music pounding thru the ceiling. I called to complain and they said there's nothing they can do because the hotel is sold out. They would've offered me a discount but since I didn't book the hotel directly, they can't do a thing. Later, when I received my credit card statement, not only did Hotels charge me, so did the hotel. I called to complain and instead of giving me immediate satisfaction (the accounting dept. was closed for the night), I had to call back later to complain. I'm never using Hotels again and I'm never staying at another Sir Francis Drake.

I travel to San Francisco often but usually stay at the Westin St. Francis or the Clift. My wife arrange this stay based on a conference she was attending. I was disappointed by the hotel and do not believe that the relatively cheaper rates (compared to other hotels in the downtown area) make it worth it to stay here. The main basis for the disappointment was the room itself, which I found small and unattractive. Placing the veneer of "vintage boutique" did not make it any more appealing. The closets were too shallow to put coats in. The bathroom was particularly difficult to manuever in from a space perspective. The embedded hair dryer in the bathroom had a large piece of casing missing and smoked when turned on! While we were given a replacement, amazingly the original smoking dryer was never replaced. I would put even odds on the possibility that it will not be replaced for a while. The placement of electrical outlets near the desk was very inconvenient, forcing me to work sitting on the bed. Finally, the room service was "temporarily unavailable" two out of three nights, which was frustrating.

I will say that the wireless access was seamless, but I think that this should be expected of most hotels in SF.