(Background: I live in San Francisco and arrange hotel rooms for business and family visitors on a frequent basis. I personally check in at the counter and deal face-to-face with the hotel staff. I personally check each room and inquire about the stay--comfort, quietness, etc. I also arrange room service gift baskets, wine and cheese trays, etc. as well as dinners that I attend. Since I arrange rooms the next time around, as well, I find out whether the guests would wish to return to the same hotel. Although it is rare that I actually sleep in the bed, I have arranged, inquired, interacted, inspected and tested the rooms so much that I think I can comment on them fairly.)

Here is a hotel that is hard to get to, but is worth the trouble. The hotel is just above Union Square (a hefty uphill walk) and just above Chinatown (a less hefty walk).

When you get there, the lobby appointments let you know that the stay will be special. Understated but luxurious, marble (and such potentially gaudy trim) but tasteful, the main lobby has a lounge area in the middle with a view that looks over part of Chinatown. To the left is the dining room and to the right is the front desk and entrance to the rooms.

Before the rooms, plan on either having dinner here or at least Sunday brunch. The brunch offers a prix fixe menu with caviar (yep, all you can eat) plus the other assorted fixins. I haven't found another caviar buffet in the City. (Brunch cost is about $55 per person, and includes a server's tour of the buffet area.) You have to reserve EARLY for any dining at this hotel, however, because the locals (like myself) eat here too. The dining room has a relatively new chef of distinction as the prior chef left to open a namesake restaurant, and the new chef draws high ratings. Harp music accompanies dinner. The prix fixe menu allows 3, 4 or 5 choices plus an incomparable cheese selection. The prices are actually quite reasonable, especially in this city.

Anyway, to the rooms.

Well, the rooms are clean, well appointed, well-cared-for with high quality furniture. They don't have a lot of tears, nicks, cuts, rips, etc. in the furnishings as you would hope.

The beds are perfectly comfortable and the bathrooms are large and well appointed. Just like you expect.

The regular rooms are like other high-end rooms; nice but not terribly big. Their website lists the square footage of each room, so you can use that as a guide. The views vary widely.

Some rooms have a view of the water, some of Chinatown, some of nothing much at all, some of the interior courtyard (where Sundary brunch happens, either indoors or outdoors, depending on how early you get your reservations).

The downside probably has to do with cost and location. Unless you drive or take transit/taxi, there is a bit of a walk up to the hotel.

But, this aside, the hotel lives up to the expectation of a Ritz-Carlton. The service, facility and rooms are impeccable and the restaurants, as expected, are top notch in their own right. But, just as you might expect from the New York Ritz-Carlton at the southern border of Central Park, some of the rooms have a "partial view" meaning, the curtains are better left closed.

If you go, pay a touch more for the view, if that is important to you. I guess it is to me and I think it is to a lot of people who come to this particular city.

Anyway, I am trying to be fair and I am trying to list the faults of the hotel. It is hard to do. Just wear the hiking shoes!

HEY - DON'T FORGET that American Express has significant discounts at Ritz-Carlton hotels for the down seasons, provided you book well in advance! I didn't book far enough in advance and the same room was $150 more expensive because it was too late to use the Amex discount.



Recommended: Yes