Continuing our summer road trip, we headed northward from the Central Coast enclave of Pismo Beach, where we stayed at Vespera Resort on Pismo Beach, Autograph Collection, to our second destination – San Francisco, where we’d stay at the InterContinental San Francisco.
Review: InterContinental San Francisco (California)
Image: ihg.com
At A Glance:
- Official Website: InterContinental San Francisco
- Average Nightly Cost During Stay (When Booked): $336
- Loyalty Program: IHG Rewards
- Loyalty Category: N/A (38,400 Points)
- Discount Applied: IHG Rewards Credit Card Free Night
- Room Type as Booked: 2 Double Bed Room
- Room Upgrade: Higher Floor [IHG Rewards Platinum]
- Resort Fee: N/A [IHG Rewards Platinum]
- Parking Fee: $76.38 [Overnight Hotel Guest Rate]
Booking/Redemption
Location & Parking
The InterContinental San Francisco is located in the Soma neighborhood (which lies between I-80, Union Square and the Tenderloin District).
Getting there required some navigation through the tricky streets of downtown San Francisco, but the hotel was otherwise easy to find.
Valet service went for $67 per night for hotel guests (really $76.38 with taxes and fees) or $72 (plus taxes and fees) for non-hotel guests.
FHOP Tip: Due to the current spate of car break-ins, I wouldn’t recommend parking your car on the streets of San Francisco (and if you do, make sure you DO NOT leave any valuables in the car) – especially overnight. Be smart and park you car in a secure place like the valet. You don’t want to make any unintended contributions to the piles of “San Francisco snow”.
Lobby
The lobby was upscale and business-friendly, in a styling that was typical for many InterContinental Hotels.
Image: ihg.com
Front Desk & Check-In
Check in at the InterContinental was quick and easy with professional staff who thanked me for my IHG loyalty and offered me a room “upgrade” to a higher floor.
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Welcome Letter
Room Key
Elevator Area
View From The Elevators Area Window
Walkthrough Tour: 2 Double Bed Room
Room Entrance: Double Bed Room (High Floor)
The room, like the rest of the hotel, was very clean and seemingly tailor-made for business travelers.
Overall, the room was elegant and appointed in the vein of what one would expect from a Fortune 500 boardroom.
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Room Amenities
Keurig? Boo.
Closet
Bathroom
View From The Room (Sunset)
View From The Room (Morning)
In Room Dining Menus
Dinner/Menu At Bar 888
For dinner, we opted to try Bar 888, the restaurant/bar in the back of the lobby in the space right before Luce Restaurant.
We went with the Spaghetti Marinara and the Fish Tacos (and a beer to wash it down, of course). The Spaghetti was “just OK”, but the Fish Tacos were good (if not overpriced for what were essentially street tacos on blue tortilla).
Bar 888
Spaghetti Marinara ($25)
Fish Tacos ($25)
Breakfast/Menu At Bar 888
We were back at Bar 888 for breakfast where we went with the Haas Avocado and Scrambled Farm Egg Toast ($23) and the Classic French Toast ($20). Both plates were delicious.
We found it strange that we enjoyed the breakfast at Bar 888 so much more than the dinner.
I’m including the In Room Dining Breakfast Menu here as it is the same (minus the IRD fees)
Haas Avocado and Scrambled Farm Egg Toast ($23)
Classic French Toast ($20)
Swimming Pool
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Fitness Center
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The Bottom-Line: Review: InterContinental San Francisco (California)
The bottom-line on our stay at InterContinental San Francisco was that it was a fine and good stay, but nothing that blew our socks off.
The hotel had average service, clean rooms, a nice lobby (which seemed to be overrun with local San Franciscans working from the lobby where they could catch the Wi-Fi) and was in a location near some great restaurants and just a short taxi ride to many of SF’s biggest tourist attractions.
Bar 888 was a decent dinner option, but an even better spot for breakfast.
While this particular InterContinental hotel – with its dark woods, dark paint, and dark carpets – is a fine hotel for business travelers, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it for couples, families, or tourists in general.
With that said, if you are looking to book a room on IHG points or use up an IHG Rewards Free Night Award, the InterContinental San Francisco is a great option as you can sometimes find the room for under 40,000 points on nights where it can go upwards of $330 (that’s a pretty good value for an IHG point redemption).
Final Rating: 7.5 out of 10
