A Hotel For The Diva In You
Written: Sep 16 '02 (Updated Sep 16 '02)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: great location
Cons: semi-friendly staff
The Bottom Line: They offer a good location for a reasonable price. If you want Hilton/Marriott type accomodations, then you're looking in the wrong place.
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| Dhano923's Full Review: Diva Hotel |
While searching for a hotel for a weekend stay in San Francisco, my co-worker and I came across the website for the Hotel Diva. We loved the name, so decided to browse the site. We knew we wanted to stay in a boutique hotel in Union Square, so that narrowed our choices down somewhat.
Reservations
When we looked up the room prices on the hotel website, we were given a rate of $155 per night, for a two night stay (Friday and Saturday night). I decided to take a look on the Travelocity website, and was quoted a rate of $109, per night. (Both rates do not include tax.) We went ahead and booked through Travelocity, then realized that we were not asked if we wanted one or two beds. We called the hotel, and were told that the reservation had not come through, but to call back in 48 hours and they would make a notation on the account. They noted it when we called a few days later.
The Location
Hotel Diva is located at 440 Geary Street, near the corner of Powell and Geary. Union Square is one block away, making this a great location. There are many restaurants, bars, and theatres in this area, and the Diva gives you easy walking access. The Diva is sandwiched between a Starbucks and a California Pizza Kitchen restaurant, both of which have doors into the Diva lobby.
The Powell-Market cable car stop is also a block away, so you can hop onto a cable car and get around ($2 per ride). If you walk 2 blocks down Powell, you'll come to the Powell Street BART station. We took a taxi from the San Francisco Airport, and the fare was approximately $35.
Check-In
Check-in was very simple. We arrived at about 4pm, and were pleasantly greeted by the desk clerk. We mentioned that we would like two beds, and he said it would not be a problem. We were assigned to a room on the 6th floor (they have 7 floors), and were given 2 keycards, along with instructions on how to open the door, and also told that they serve continental breakfast every morning from 7-10am on every other floor.
The Room
At first, we couldn't get the room door open, so we called the front desk and the clerk came up. He showed us that you had to put the keycard in with some force in order for it to work. The room itself was very contemporary. The tall steel looking headboards, with one corner bent slightly, matched the mirror above the desk. The small sitting area consisted of 2 metal weave chairs with leather seat cushions. They looked uncomfortable, but they were actually very nice. There was also a small honor bar, and a tray with cookies, nuts, bottled water, toohbrush, razor, and a price list. Like most honor bars, everything was priced really high (the snack pack of Famous Amos cookies was $4.75!)
We had two windows that opened fully, one of which was next to the fire escape. There wasn't really any view, since the hotel is in between two buildings. The fire escape window had a view of a small side street, and a pool hall/bar, so we would just watch people shooting pool through the windows.
The bathroom was small. The sink area was a granite type sink with a round steel sink and modern faucets. The sink was located in an alcove of the room. The toilet and bathtub were to the left of the sink (the door opened outwards, which was good since the are was so small!) The toilet was fine, but the tile walls of the tub could have been a little cleaner -- they had some small mildew stains. The faucet in the tub also dripped, but luckily we couldn't hear it when the bathroom door was closed.
The closet had extra pillows, a small safe, and an iron and ironing board. The beds themselves were very comfortable, although the pillows were a bit lumpy.
Food
As I mentioned earlier, the Diva offers a complimentary continental breakfast. Down the hall from our room was the breakfast area, where they had fresh coffee, orange juice, muffins, danishes, toast, and croissants. The coffee was brewed on the spot -- you selected the strength and quantity, and it would brew it and pour it into the mug you place under the spout. The juice was also dispensed from a machine where you just press the button to pour. There was a toaster provided so you can make your own toast. We opted for the pastries, along with strawberry jam and butter. The breakfast was actually pretty good. The coffee was heavenly.
Since there is a California Pizza Kitchen next door, Diva also offers room service from California Pizza. I don't know if there is a charge for delivery or not since we didn't order room service.
Starbucks is also next door (opposite side) and they have all the regular drinks and pastries that Starbucks carries.
Service
The service was ok -- nothing extraordinary. The desk clerks were fine, but not overly friendly. The first night, we asked the clerk for dinner suggestions (we wanted seafood) and she was helpful in suggesting a couple of local restaurants within walking distance. For some reason, the male clerks were either very quiet or very stuck up. They weren't really rude, but they didn't go out of their way to talk to us either. Then again, they could have been carrying out the Divaness of Hotel Diva!
The consierge was a friendly man who was always cheery and friendly. The last day we were there, we needed to store our bags for a couple hours after we checked out before we left for the airport. He helpfully took our bags, checked them in, then when we returned, he called a cab for us, helped us out and told the driver where we needed to go.
Housekeeping did a good job in cleaning our room during the day, and left fresh towels and even more shampoo, conditioner, bath gel, and bar soap. (side note -- they had the cutest soap shaped like a gray fortune cookie!)
Would we stay at Hotel Diva again?
Maybe, because of its location and price. Other hotels we priced in the area were around $150. I definitely wouldn't pay full price for what we got, but at $109 per night, it was fine. the service could be a bit friendlier, and the bathrooms could use some work, but it was a comfortable place to stay for the weekend.
Hotel Diva is located at 440 Geary Street, in the Union Square area. Their website is http://www.hoteldiva.com.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
Dhano923
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 - Top 1000 |
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Location: SoCal
Reviews written: 260
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About Me:
After a long hiatus from Epinions, I'm itching to write reviews again!
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