Bedbugs!

This is just to warn anyone who is thinking about staying at this hotel: The hotel itself is nice and centrally located in downtown, only one small problem: there are bedbugs. Be careful if you decided to stay there. After working with the homeless population for many years I know what they are and know what problems they can cause.

The staff also seems to be uninterested in you as a guest and have little to no input when asked questions about the city.

Excellent Location

We booked this hotel at the last minute when we couldn't get any other hotel. It actually turned out okay. This hotel was in an excellent location! It's located in the middle of Union Square and just two blocks from the BART system. We had some small problems when we got there (i.e. the windows wouldn't open, could not get internet working) but the staff was very helpful and nice. They came to fix any problems that occurred right away. Furniture for the rooms were directly out of an IKEA catalog. Standard room were a little on the small side, enough space for two though. There's no air conditioning. When we went in August, weather was very cool, a little on the cold side. If that's going to be a problem, make sure you ask for a fan when you book your room. All in all, this hotel was exactly what I expected for the price I paid. I wouldn't mind staying there again though.

I will never stay there again

We went there for the great location and the pictures that were advertised. Our first night the toilet didn't flush properly and backed up. After calling down to get it fixed, we were told that that it was common for the 7th floor and no one could look at until the next day. She said that she would look for a plunger. WE NEVER HEARD FROM HER AGAIN. I went down the next day and yelled at them; it was fixed within the next 5minutes. The noise was incredible, never-ending, not just street noise but construction all through the night. To top it off, when leaving, I asked the front desk to order a taxi for a certain time to go to the airport. We were standing around for about 15 minutes waiting. When we asked the front desk clerk if she ordered a taxi, she looked at us blankly and said that we didn't ask her to get one. She finally remembered, after we quoted our earlier conversation, and finally ordered one.

So I guess that the moral of this story is, you get what you do not pay for. If you want to enjoy your stay in Sanny Franny, DO NOT GO THERE.

Do Not Stay Here

We stayed at this hotel for a week from 4th to 11th July. There are several problems with this hotel:

1. Read the small print before using the phone. We didn't and got charged $200 for two phone calls. On talking to the manager of the hotel, he told me that he usually recommends people don't use the phone at all during their stay. On closer inspection, tiny print on the phone claims that there is a hotel surcharge added to all calls. The manager did not know what this was.

2. Don't let them wander off with your credit card. When I arrived home I checked my credit card balance online to find some strange entries had appeared. Not only was there the ridiculous charge for the phone bill but two extra charges made after I had left the country. Following a complaint to my credit card company, these charges mysteriously "disappeared".

3. Make sure they know when you are checking out. We were staying for a week which was booked through Expedia. The hotel managed to get our check out date wrong twice during our stay, it was quite embarrassing to be asked why we hadn't left!

4. Take your ear plugs with you. Opposite the hotel is a large building site where they are renovating a six storey building. Not likely to be completed anytime soon and the builders work from 7a.m and on weekends.

Good location, clean and roomy budget hotel

This hotel is a not a bad hotel in terms of cleaniness, price and staff helpfulness plus it was surprisingly roomy too. The comfort factor was good also, however it does not have air conditioning so it did get a bit stuffy at night, (keep in mind that i went at a time just before summer started and it was still quite cold in the nights). I did open the windows but it got too noisy(we had a room on the 7th floor facing Powell St)! Another thing I found disappointing was the fact that the walls were quite thin as I could hear the chatter of the occupants next door as well as the TV at 3am! If you are thinking of staying at this hotel, I would suggest that you ask for a room NOT facing Powell St and maybe on a lower floor as the 7th floor being the top floor probably absorbed all the heat from the sun during the day - don't forget I did not go during the summer so imagine if it was a very hot summer's day! Overall it is a good, very clean hotel for the budget conscious.

Loved it so much

I am still very excited. This Hotel was really great. I would love to go back there. It was almost like living in an IKEA store! The rooms are very clean and roomy. These nice rooms and colorful decorations make you feel welcome and happy. :-) The Herbert is located downtown next to a cable car station. There are many little restaurants, coffee bars and bakeries in the neighborhood. They also provide a great variety of soaps, vanity kits and other beauty products. I just loved everything about the Herbert Hotel!!

Great value

We booked the Herbert Hotel after seeing pictures of a room that looked like straight out of an Ikea catalogue, and true enough, the entire interior bore Ikea labels, down to the glasses in the bathroom. The decoration was done very tastefully, in my opinion. However, they should buy other towels, Ikea towels apparently aren't made for heavy-duty hotel laundry use and looked a bit grubby even when fresh. The size of the room was decent, there was plenty of room for the king-size bed, two cupboards, a table with a chair and an armchair.

The location is great, right next to Union Square. There's a cable car right in front of the house. The rooms are in the upper floors, though (ours was on the 7th), so the noise is bearable. The walls are a bit thin, we could hear our neighbors' TV, but not what they were talking.

There's no restaurant in the hotel, but plenty of choices just around the corner.

Nice room, location that can't be beat and a very decent price - a great value in San Francisco!

Poor Service, Toxic Air

We had the misfortune of renting 3 rooms over the New Years period of 2004-2005. Since the rooms were prepaid, we were forced to sit though 3 days without heat and when the radiator did kick on, it filled the room with a toxic fumes, that left my asthmatic girlfriend gagging & coughing. We asked for a spaceheater to heat the room and our request was ignored. Finally, on the 3rd night, we bought our own space heater and was able to have a decent sleep, without waking up coughing up a lung. We found out that the whole hotel was suffering from this toxic scent and when we asked for at least a partial refund to cover the cost of the heater or the lack of sleep due to the dangerous chemical scent, we were told "That's too bad about your stay". The rooms are OK and the location is decent, but it doesn't over-rule the fact that the hotel would endanger it's guests with toxic fumes and ignore their request to find other ways to heat their rooms. A very ameteur operation and we will NEVER stay there again.

Great location/Great Deal

best location, the hotel it right in the heart of the city, there area lots of great shops restaurants, Johnny Foley's is a great pub just up the street. Really great deal, I still can't believe how nice the hotel was. If you are traveling on a budget like we where you can't beat this spot!!

SUPERB LOCATION

This hotel is in a fabulous location right in the heart of Union Square so very handy to transport, shops etc.

The hotel facilities are VERY basic so don't expect anything more than a bed and a place to shower! The rooms are funky and look like they were used for an IKEA photo shoot.

If you want a bargain for your buck and somewhere clean and in a top notch location and on a budget The Herbert is certainly one of the best palces to stay!