Le Meridien Review

San Francisco's Embarcadero Center

The Le Meridien is a very nice hotel and has an ideal location for doing business in the City's Financial district. Le Meridien in San Francisco was marketed as the Park Hyatt until 2006. It is also located in a retail/office complex with many nice although not too exciting restaurants. The Le Meridien's prices are high (see below), but bring walking distance convenience to many Financial district locations. Great service as in all Hyatt's and better furnished than most normal Hyatt's in San Francisco. Our rating is a "B+" for convenient location but bland.

Gerry writes, "The Le Meridien San Francisco is truly the only place for the discerning business traveler. During the month of April, my husband and I have had the pleasure of staying here for nearly 3 weeks, and every day has been a pleasure. For the past year we have been traveling and have stayed in numerous hotels, and never have we encountered such a level of service.

Our room was very roomy and welcoming, I believe that we stayed in a suite. Handsome wood paneling is the first thing that we noticed upon entering. There was a room divider that served as a swivel T.V. holder and storage, and it was very clever in how it really differentiated the sleeping area from the eating and lounge area. The attention to detail was incredible, from the beautiful glass lamps in the bedroom to the hand held spray nozzle in the granite bathtub. It came with every amenity you could think of, plush robes, free bottled water, and Ghiradelli chocolate at night!

The hotel itself had a classic elegance. The floral display in the entrance was beautiful, and it was a pleasure listening to the nightly pianist. In the morning, a complimentary coffee and tea station was arranged for the guests to enjoy. There were plenty of nooks to have conversations in the lobby, as well as a "library" that was a perfect informal meeting spot for interviews, meetings and the like.

Not to mention, the Le Meridien had a complimentary 24-hour business center, in which we could have DSL access, and work on documents at the quiet and private computer stations. Faxes, copies, and FedEx were all handled here as well and the concierges worked till late at night to assist in such manners.

Although we didn't have a chance to use it, the hotel also had a complimentary 24-hour gym, which featured new equipment, and headphones so you could listen to the TV directly, instead of it blasting you with noise the moment you walked in!

However, the main reason the Le Meridien stands out from any other hotel is their level of service. It would be hard for me to say which department or which individual was the best because everyone, from the bellman, to the engineers, to the concierge, really always had an incredible level of professionalism accompanied with a smile. I could go on and on and name every department, but I won't! There was no request that was too insignificant or too outrageous for them to handle. Everything from making a last minute reservation at Bix, to arranging for the complimentary house car service, to providing strollers was done incredibly quickly and with aplomb.

It was impossible to open the front door by myself, cross the lobby without being greeted by name, or without friendly faces coming forward to assist me with any bags! We almost felt like you were coming home because everyone was so welcoming and really remembered us.

In short, my opinion after staying at the Le Meridien San Francisco is that this is a rare find, a hotel that offers all the perks of staying in a large, luxury hotel, along with the quaintness and charm of a small bed and breakfast!"

333 Battery (Financial District)

While hotel prices fluctuate rapidly -- prices recently quoted ranged from $210-$320 with a median price quote of $290.