Intercontinental Mark Hopkins Hotel

Our favorite hotel when staying in San Francisco! Great location, amazing views and super nice employees!!!

The location was perfect where you can walk to Trader Joes for water, walk to the pier if you like steep hills and the cable car is just one block from the hotel. Atmosphere was professional and they had a person at the desk who could help make reservations for your dining or sightseeing tours. Atmosphere was beautiful with roof top restaurant looking over the entire city and with periodic dancing with professional band. Rooms were clean, terrific views and spacious. Value: worth the money spent; cleanliness: cleaned every two days unless requested additional day. It was spotless. Noise level: quiet; Amenities: never used as I went exploring the city. NEVER GO TO THE TENDERLOIN AREA AS ITS VERY DANGEROUS.

Compared with some other reviewers, I feel quite fortunate to have been allocated a room that I genuinely liked, with a wonderful view of Alcatraz from my bed (see picture). The room was clean, quiet, sufficiently far from the lifts, and the bathroom worked perfectly. Perhaps my Diamond Elite/Ambassador status helped? I live in England and have a real appreciation for historic buildings like this one, so I fully understand that age inevitably brings certain maintenance challenges. Hearing and feeling the wind blowing through the corridors and lift shafts doesn’t bother me. However, waiting up to 20 minutes for a lift is simply unacceptable. Of the hotel’s three lifts, one is permanently out of service and another only travels as far as the 15th floor. It also makes me question the hotel’s investment priorities. Considerable funds appear to have been spent refurbishing the exterior façade while essential internal infrastructure remains neglected: unreliable lifts, recurring TV signal interruptions and unstable Wi-Fi. The age of the building, however, does not explain the lack of some very basic services: * There are no tea or coffee-making facilities in the room, yet complimentary hot drinks are only available until 10:00 a.m. Why? * The minibar has been removed, leaving room service as the only option—and that operates on very limited hours. Why? * The laundry service was frustrating from start to finish. I was first promised delivery by next day 6:00 p.m., then 7:00 p.m., then 8:00 p.m. After chasing several times, I was eventually told it would be available at breakfast the following morning. Instead, someone knocked on my door at 9:40 p.m., despite my Do Not Disturb sign being displayed. Why was such a straightforward request made so complicated? * During the day, I tried calling the Front Desk, Room Service and Instant Service. Each number simply rang and rang without anyone answering. It genuinely felt as though the hotel had been abandoned. * As a last resort, I emailed Reception, only to receive an automatic reply stating that emails were not monitored at weekends. For a hotel of this calibre, that is simply not acceptable. On a positive note, the catering staff were consistently friendly and helpful, and David at reception provided a warm, professional welcome at both check-in and check-out. One final observation: almost everything is expensive—food, drinks and hotel services alike. That said, I suspect this reflects San Francisco in general as much as the hotel itself. Like a heavy Nob Hill fee of $35 per night. Overall, this is a beautiful historic property in a superb location. Unfortunately, inconsistent service and operational shortcomings prevent it from delivering the premium experience that its reputation and pricing promise. For that reason, I rate it 3 stars—and that’s largely because I have a genuine affection for historic buildings. The hotel has all the ingredients to be exceptional. Unless execution improves, however, it does undermine an otherwise outstanding property.