Handlery Hotel

San Francisco Union Square Review

San Francisco's Handlery Hotel

Geary & Powell - Right off Union Square

Typical Room Prices: $175/night + tax

The Handlery is one of SFTravel's most popular hotels. It's an older hotel with a very central location at Union Square that offers very good rates for the area. Like most hotels in this area - there can sometimes be street noise from a variety of bars and municipal services depending on the location of your room. Rooms are older; smaller than many major $$$ chains; and a little worn, but the location is the key. Visitors describe most satisfied guests describe it as a great combination of hotel privacy with a "bed and breakfast" character of historical inns. Room service is available and has good reviews from travelers. The staff's general service for guests has good reviews across the board. Parking is valet-only. We recommend the Handlery for a budget choice near Union Square. You can save a lot of $ by making a few tradeoffs in this hotel's classic style. Don't expect a huge, modern room like a suburban hotel - it's a classic place in a central city location -- at a great price.

Carolyn writes, ".....Very nice hotel...robes, thick towels, clean marble bath, balcony overlooking the city, refrigerator and great service. We did take their advice and upgrade to a club room. We agree its worth the little extra.

We also took their advice and ate dinner one night at the Empress of China in Chinatown. Great food and great view! We would like to add that we ate dinner at Max's, just a block or so from the hotel--fabulous food! Don't miss it! Be sure and save room for their desserts. Their ice cream sauces are impossible to beat! We went back the following morning for breakfast and it was great too! The prices are very reasonable as well. Enjoy!"

Cathy from Chicago raves, "The Handlery gets a BIG thumbs up from my husband and me!! I believe it is San Francisco's best kept secret. It's a privately run hotel with it's own parking garage. We could take our car out as many times as we wanted without charge. Also believe it or not, no surcharge for energy costs!! Unlike most hotels in California.

It's located on Geary St & Powell right off Union Square. It's convenient to everything, shopping, restaurants, transportation, etc. Nice lobby with wonderful concierge service which we used several times. Has an outdoor pool that is surrounded by hotel rooms so you get the benefit of sun if you want it; I believe it also had a sauna but we did not use. It also has an in-house hair salon/barber shop. (Note: Just in case your readers are interested we had pizza delivered and it was no problem with the hotel).

Handlery Hotel Lobby

Our hotel room was one of the club rooms and it was great! You have to pay a bit more but we had our own balcony with 2 chairs and table; in room refrigerator, safe, sitting area (couch, 2 chairs coffee table) with color tv, desk and chair, valet stand for men's suits, electric shoe shine machine, wood removable hangers in the closet, 2 thick terry cloth robes, lighted make-up mirror at a seated vanity with cotton balls, swabs and hair dryer (if you're a woman you would appreciate this!), all the usual bathroom amenities with nice touches i.e. Neutragena soap. All this and more at a very reasonable rate of $185 per night. Maid service was outstanding. I can't say enought great things about the hotel. We highly recommend it.

We had breakfast at a several restaurants around our building and the best one was The Pinecrest on Geary, one block from Powell. It's a diner that seats about 40 people but the food is great - real sliced potates fried on the grill for breakfast - none of this frozen stuff....and the waitresses really hustle. It was comparable in price to all others but definitely much better in the food flavor category. Runner up was Lori's Dinner.

One dinner recommendation from the hotel was The Empress of China in Chinatown. The entrance looks unimpressive as it is a narrow storefront with an elevator. which you take to a 6th floor restaurant where every table has a view of the city i.e. Coit Tower. Food was outstanding and reasonably priced. Good service."