St. Regis San Francisco

This was our second visit to a St. Regis hotel. The first was in Aspen, in the very off-season. Although we enjoyed our stay at the St. Regis Aspen, I don't think we'd consider it one of our favorite hotels or anything.

However, St. Regis is part of the Starwood Hotels megacorporation. We have a Starwood American Express Card, which means we are constantly accumulating "points" we can use for free hotel stays like this one. So we'll probably keep sampling the St. Regis hotels, as long as we can stay there free.

Of all Starwood's brands, the St. Regis has always, in my mind at least, been a little hard to categorize. For instance, W Hotels is hip and trendy, Westin seems to be aimed at well-to-do business travelers, and Sheraton is kind of the middle class brand (though not always). St. Regis, on the other hand, I've always considered to be the luxury brand, but Starwood also has Le Meridien and that is also a luxury brand. Maybe high end and lower end luxury? I don't know. It's a bit confusing.

In any case, we looked forward to checking out the St. Regis in San Francisco. You really can't beat the location, right next door to MOMA (Museum of Modern Art) and a block from Market Street. The hotel itself is pretty Moderne or minimalist - take your pick. Mostly marble and stone, steel and glass. I liked it, but it's definitely not a warm homey place where you'd want to spend an afternoon chilling in the lobby.

Our room was comfortable and in excellent condition. It had all the amenities: flat screen TV, another in the bathroom (why? I don't know), nice comfy bed, desk, armchair. Though one quibble, if you put an armchair in the room, which I appreciate, I really do, because I hate watching TV from bed, then do me the favor of putting arms on the chair. Other wise it's pretty uncomfortable to sit in, as I can't drape a leg over the arm and I always feel like I'm sliding off the chair onto the floor.

The room had a bedside universal remote with a large flat screen panel that controlled the temperature, lights, window shades, and probably would have allowed us to access our bank account to see it diminishing by the minute, if we had felt so inclined. One small problem was that there didn't seem to be any way to actually turn off the lighted screen at night, and it was a bit bright. Like searchlight bright. We ended up draping a towel over it, but knew it was sitting there, lurking. Probably watching us.

The bathroom had a set of shutters between the bathroom and the bedroom. Mary dislikes this feature. Does anyone actually leave those open? I'm not sure why the shutters exist. If you want to watch TV while relaxing in the tub, there's already one in the bathroom. Do people have conversations while one is in bed and the other is taking a bath? Is it romantic and I'm a little too old fogey to get it? Many questions, and not many answers.

The service at the St. Regis, from start to finish, was pretty impeccable. The desk staff was knowledgeable about pretty much everything in town and gave clear and concise directions that even I was unable to screw up. I visited the lobby bar to sample some liquid libations and it measured up nicely. Nice snacks too, once it was confirmed that I was a guest and not a random homeless guy wandering in off the street. In my case it's not always clear, I guess.

All in all, the St. Regis was an excellent hotel. Not quite as fancy as our last stay in San Francisco, at the Four Seasons, but very nice nonetheless. And if you're looking for something right next to MOMA, you can't beat it. We'll certainly consider staying there again - especially if the room is free.