Cheap Means Good for Value Traveller!
Written: Aug 23 '07 (Updated Aug 23 '07)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Cheap for SF and is conveniently located
Cons: Breakfast sucks and carpets are dirty
The Bottom Line: It is your best choice in $75-80 range in SF.
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| rabodzey's Full Review: Regency Inn Sfo Airport |
Regency Inn Sfo Airport
I stopped at Regency Inn SFO during my last trip to California. The only reason why I picked this place was that it had most average reviews on Hotels.com. Apparently half of the reviews there come from hotel employees and other half from actual customers (guess which ratings are always higher). Thus I figured out that if I go to a place that had five 5* and five 1* with average of 3*, I may end up in a 1* rat hole easily, on the other hand, Regency Inn had most of their ratings in 2*-3* range and it appeared to be a reasonable rating for low-end Inn in $75-80 range.
Finding Regency Inn
The biggest problem with Inn is that their map is WRONG! The address they give (411 East San Bruno Avenue San Bruno, CA 94066) is correct, but their own map on the hotel site gives a different location on West San Bruno Ave. Thus I wasted 35 minutes of my time to find that crippled place. At the end I prevailed and found that in fact hotel is very conveniently located: it is just 5 min drive from car rental facility so I could drop car any time easily. One thing you should keep in mind is that San Bruno Ave has a lot of gas stations, but gas is 50c more expensive there because of car rentals proximity. I saw $3.35 tag on these compared to $2.79 on gas stations 10 min away. Thus, do not fill in on San Bruno Ave.
One BIG minus of this location is the landing and taking off aircraft: they are quite noisy. On the other hand, by 11-12 planes almost stop flying and nothing bothers you at night.
Checking In
I checked in day before my arrival and there was only one room available ($85 for king-sized bed for two). This was a handicapped room, but it was quite big and had a spacious bathroom. Hotel personnel was very nice and helped me with directions and maps. We received plastic keys and were all set.
Rooms
Before arriving at Regency, I tried to take a room in Holiday Inn Express in Downtown SF: $250 a night! Man! $250! For freakin’ motel!
Regency charged $85 including taxes and $75 next day (booked through booking.com). Given that $175 difference, I was very tolerant to the room and hotel itself: I was ready to stay in a tent there!
Rooms were neat and even modern. It appears that it is a Californian custom not to wash carpets in motels and hotels, but I did not care much. Apart from that the room was very spacious, the bed was… very reliable and well…useful. We had a fridge, TV, microwave, even a table! Two chairs, huge bathroom with large mirror.
In the morning we got a "breakfast". It was some awful cookie with some kind of jelly on it and coffee with artificial orange juice. It all tasted like a pee. I did not care at all about breakfast quality, but my partner did. Basically, we had to go for breakfast somewhere else.
When we came back in the evening, the bed was in exactly the same state as when we left. I came to reception and asked if it was a custom there not to change the linen and sheets. The problem was taken care of immediately. It appeared that I forgot my T-shirt on the bed and they did not want to touch it… Good sign – means they would not take my laptop either (by the way, there was no safe box there).
Shuttle Service
It is very important to note that Regency has a shuttle service available: you need to call 01 from airport Hotel Shuttle stop phone and ask for Regency Inn. They will send a shuttle that will arrive in about 10-15 min to pick you up or drive you back to the airport. This is free of charge and you do not have to leave tips as hotel pays them. Very useful.
Conclusions
Regency Inn is a low cost hotel-motel with reasonable quality of rooms and service. Do not rely on their breakfast and book through booking.com in advance. They are located very conveniently close to highway 80, subway Bart and SFO airport. Make sure to get directions via google maps and not on their website.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
rabodzey
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 - Top 1000 |
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Member: Alex
Location: Cambridge, MA, USA
Reviews written: 68
Trusted by: 18 members
About Me:
I enjoy writing essays on various topics, especially if it helps people.
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