Cornell Hotel De France

* Four stars with some concerns and comments! My partner and I stayed for two nights (April 3-5, 2026) for their birthday celebration. We looked at the reviews beforehand and we were pretty confident with what we read - we assumed there would be some quirks we wouldn't exactly love, but I wanted a different experience for us. The staff were incredibly sweet, I have no issues there! I do have an issue with the fact that we had a room key with no key-fob that could buzz us in whenever we went out. We had to manually do that, and although there was someone at the desk 24/7, it still was not exactly convenient. The breakfasts in the morning were cute - we loved the dining hall in the basement and the unique elevator (that broke down once when we were here, but it got fixed)! The breakfast setup was tiny, and we were sort of battling greedy guests to get some stuff on our plate. I have to say, out of everything, the worst thing we saw from this hotel were the other guests. They were incredibly rude to the breakfast staff, constantly nagging them about things being empty or out even if THEY were the ones to make said items empty or out. Barely anyone returned their plates - especially not the big families, even though there was a clear spot to put the plates at the entrance/exit. Very deplorable behavior on their part, and I truly hope the kitchen staff has better guests :( We tried to help them a few times with plates because we felt bad. Even if the other guests were treating them bad, they still were as sweet as could be. I really give them credit for that. About the room, I feel like my comments come more from concern rather than anger and judgement, hence my high rating. We did enjoy our room, but we noticed some dirt spots that could possibly be some sort of mold? Quickly, we saw that there was slim to no form of ventilation. The bathroom had no fan and we thought we had no way to open the windows because we tried and it never seemed to work. The first night, we called down to the front desk about ventilation - they claimed they had a fan for us in the closet, but the fan didn't exactly look clean, so we decided against it. We also asked about the windows and we were told "if you can get them open, you can have them open." I was kind of baffled by that response - we didn't end up using the windows the first night. The second day, my friend helped me get the windows open for a bit to get the humidity out. Being on the 5th floor meant we had a l o t of humid air. The windows had no screens on them, which can allow mosquitoes in, and one of the windows has access to the fire escape that the general public could possibly have access to. I feel that maybe in the future, they could at least put some screens on the windows and have them refurbished in a way that would give ability to open them. I understand that they didn't have AC in the rooms due to how old the building is, but when you can't safely open the windows either, it's kind of .. a tough situation. I could only get one of the three open the day we checked out, so we could air the room out a bit. Someone also tried to come into our room on our second night, but we assumed it may have been a drunk guest who assumed our room was theirs, given that they eventually left after not being able to get in. No knocks, just trying to use their keys. On a second note, we were also not given a Do Not Disturb sign, but on our second day, we saw that other rooms had one. We usually have a DND sign on our doors due to what we bring along with us when we stay at hotels. We assumed no one would clean our room until checkout (since we noticed no one ever did the first day). Looking back on the experience now, I feel that we should've been given one upon arrival, as whoever came in our room to tidy it saw some things that probably wouldn't have been the best to see, if you know what I mean ;) Overall, we really did enjoy our stay and the building's charm and staff are what kept us happy. Thank you guys for having us for my partner's birthday and if we ever need to be close to Union Square again, we will definitely come back and book a bigger room :)

I stayed at the Cornell for 5+ weeks 25 years ago when I had an internship in SF. I loved it and have always wanted to go back. In March 2026 I did get there with my son and grandchildren. The recent poor reviews I’d seen made me wonder if I was making the wrong decision. But upon arriving I knew it was a good one. And my family agreed. There are affable and helpful staff at the desk; I met a woman who’d been in housekeeping all those years back in 2001 and still working there…what a special treat!; the breakfast had many choices and provided the chance to meet others staying at the hotel; rooms were comfortable and the beds were great; the proximity to so many things we wanted to do and see was wonderful; Union Square was in superb shape, with ping pong tables where the kids enjoyed picking up the paddles. The muni pass we downloaded with the desk clerk’s help allowed us passage on every conveyance, and we also walked and walked and walked. I recommend the 1910 Cornell to anyone wanting a friendly hotel, central location and somewhere different from the kinds of hotels they may usually frequent. We all loved our stay and, happily, those negative reviews did not present a preview of what we would experience.

We spent four nights at Cornell Hotel De France in March 2026. The Good: 1. The location is great. Right by Union Square, walkable to so much! Cable and bus stops near by. 2. They serve breakfast. Continental +, eggs, bacon, juice, cereal, yogurt, waffle maker. Fruit on one morning. It takes the person putting out the food about 30-45 minute to wander out with all the food. If you go right when the breakfast opens, to get out exploring, you will be limited on your food choices. 3. Very unique, quaint boutique hotel. The old building and old elevator were fun to see. 4. Our room had a decent sized bathroom and closet. At least big enough to put one suitcase in...we had three suitcases for three adults. 5. The rooms and hotel are a little quirky (think butler dog statue in the hallway holding a plate of hard candy) but it was fun to stay somewhere not cookie-cutter. The Not so Good 1. No air-conditioning. It just so happened it was a warm spell in SF in March at 85 degrees. There is a portable fan put in the room but was not adequate. The bathroom does not have airflow or a fan so it got very steamy and hot. 2. The smell, think of an old basement at grandma's house. 3. There was only one key to our room. We were told if we wanted our room cleaned we had to leave the keys behind, the key included the fob that opened the door to the outside hotel entrance. After having no one respond to open the outside door for us for about 10 minutes (twice). We decided we would keep the keys from then on and not have our room refreshed. We had it cleaned and new towels on only one day because of this. 4. Staff really does not want to be there or they need to get trained in the hospitality industry or maybe they were just really inexperienced and this was their first job opportunity? Would I stay there again? No, but it was a different/fun experience.