The Hotel

The Hotel Stratford is a gem of a place.  At one time, a decent, if not elaborate, hotel, it was allowed to run down into something disreputable.  The C-two hotel group took hold of it and has transformed it into one of the best deals in San Francisco. 

Think of it this way.  What if you had a great aunt who had a small spare bed and bathroom that she rarely used?  It would be clean, right?  And cozy, with small amounts of plain, but serviceable furniture.  And you would be treated well.  Perhaps missing the luxuries of the nearby lavish ladies, but with a charm of its own... and cheap.  And what if this spare bedroom was in Union Square? It wouldn't suck, right?   In fact, you'd know you were one of the lucky ones.  That's how I felt Saturday night. 

We had a room overlooking Powell, with the cable cars right underneath.  I kept the window open well into the night to listen to the gorilla play the guitar and only closed it when he left, and the drummer began.  It wasn't too loud when the window was closed, but the street noise was just a part of being in the middle of things. 

In our suite, only one of two of them, I think, we had three windows that opened, one in the bathroom and one in the sitting room.  There was a full bed, a bit too soft and bouncy for my taste, a TV, a closet, and a sink in one room.  A short hallway with a closet and a bathroom separated the two rooms.  The bathroom had a large, new shower.  In fact, everything was bright and shiny and... clean.  The front room overlooks Powell Street and includes a desk, a small sofa, a fridge and coffee maker and two tables. 

The hotel offers two hospitality hours in their tea room, overlooking Powell.  The breakfast is better than most, with cereal, bread to toast, and fruit.  A full complement of coffee, tea, and two juices is available.  The tea room opens again at 3:00 and has tea, coffee and biscotti available. 

While we were there, I lost track of all the languages I heard spoken.  This is certainly a place to brush up on any language you might speak, as the clientele is certainly a diverse one.  
 

If you would like to book this hotel, we have been given a discount.  http://www.hotelstratford.com/ , our discount code is FOS242.