Review: San Francisco’s Sheraton, Fisherman’s Wharf

San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities for a hotel room in the US. When we were looking to head down for a business appointment the options were looking grim. Luckily, the hotels near Fisherman’s wharf are usually quite cheap in comparison to their downtown cousins.

Fisherman’s Wharf is great for shopping, dining, and a quick 15 minute drive to downtown, so staying there was super easy. The Sheraton was around $240 a night, but we were able to find a cheaper rate on another website and used the Best Rate Guarantee from SPG to get the rate down to $128.

Once we got there, we made sure to pay with our SPG credit card to earn 3x the points. If you don’t have the card, then make sure to sign up here. The sign up bonus is a fantastic way to make sure to get a cache of points! You can now get the American Express or the Chase version since Marriott and SPG are all one family.

The hotel is located just one block from the Pier so it’s easy to get some good dinner. Parking is really steep (at $50 a night) but street parking is free! Just make sure to pay attention to the street cleaning schedule. One side of the street is Monday/Wednesday and the other is Tuesday/Thursday.

Where’s our upgrade?

When we arrived to the hotel, we were told that we were upgraded to a Deluxe room. We originally booked a traditional room, so that indeed was an upgrade. The problem? Starwood states that platinum members get upgraded to the best available room including suites. When I looked on the app, I noticed that there was both Loft rooms AND suites available, so it seemed strange that we were only in the deluxe room.

I brought this to the attention of the man at check-in, and he said that all suites were being blocked for paying customers only.

OH HELL NO!

After a few back and forths with the check in agent, the manager was called. Sure enough, platinums ARE entitled to the best available room, and the suite was granted. Duh…

The moral? Know your rights as an elite member and if you’re supposed to get a benefit, make sure that you do!

We finally head up to the suite. The room description said that it was a loft with “modern contemporary furnishings.†I’ll let you decide for yourself!

The Room

Just to the left of the entry was a mini fridge, coffee machine, and sink. A large four person table in the dining room with a small buffet behind. The living room portion of the suite came with a large L shaped sofa and small 32†TV.

a room with a couch and a window a mirror on a wall

Just through the double doors was the bedroom with King sized bed, sitting area, and another small TV.

a bed with two lamps on a table

a room with a white chair and a yellow curtain a tv on a table

The bathroom was, without a doubt, the worst bathroom I’d see in any US hotel. London and Paris have boutique hotels with small bathrooms, but this one put them to shame. The outside of the bathroom has enough shelf space for a family of 5 to get themselves ready, but I couldn’t even get a picture of the toilet/shower area.

 a bathroom sink with a mirror

In order to sit down you’ve got to take the toilet paper off of the roll. In order to ENTER the bathroom, you’ve got to straddle the toilet to shut the door. For a suite, you think you could have removed some of the counter space and made the bathroom larger, but alas, no.

a bathroom with a mirror and towels

Breakfast

A quick night’s sleep and we were eagerly waiting a tasty breakfast. Apparently we should have stayed at another property, because this breakfast sucked. The sad part is that they charge $26.95 plus tax and tip for this disgrace.

Here’s the cereal and fruit.

a table with a variety of food items on it

Sheraton Fishermans Wharf

Juice.

a group of drinks dispensers on a counter

Look at the quality of the mushy oatmeal and grits! Can’t you tell by those ladels used to slop the food on your plate? Gross. Reminds me of a middle school lunch room… or prison…

a row of silver pots with food on a table

Sheraton Fishermans Wharf

Some scattered soymilk and yogurt.

Cold cuts and fruit.

food in a buffet with plates of food

Sheraton Fishermans Wharf

“Coffee†and pastries.

Here’s what I got for what would have been $26.95. Hooray. Exciting, eh?

Next time I think we’ll head to the IHOP next door. At least I know $7.95 will have got us about double the food.

a stack of pancakes with whipped cream and chocolate topping

Courtesy of IHOP

If you’re looking for an inexpensive and clean hotel in San Francisco, this is really the place to be. So long as you don’t mind taking an Uber or the public transit to get into town, it’s very easy to do. 

Points redemption was a bit expensive, and it sure wasn’t worth $250 a night plus tax, but if you can get a best rate guarantee then this hotel has the potential to be a good one.

Just remember to fight for those upgrades!

Author: Jon Nickel-D'Andrea

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7 Comments

  1. I have many fond memories of this dump–NOT!. The last time I stayed there, I was with a female colleague, and she had her own room. She arrived ten minutes after I checked us both in and they grilled her as to what relation she was to me. They were certain she was a prostitute!

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  2. The same thing happened to me when I was at Sheraton Kauai Resort back in July. After both front desk agent and manager refused to upgrade me to a suite, I had to call SPG in front of them. Fortunately, the SPG agent explicitly told the manager that the hotel HAD TO upgrade a platinum guest to a suite. Because most of the resort was under construction and this bumpy check in wasted me over 30 min, I requested my 16,000 points back at check out, which of course started another argument with the hotel manager and director…

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    • It’s amazing what happens when you call them out in person, right?

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  3. Nice to be forewarned. Wasn’t breakfast free as a Platinum?

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      • So, some breakfast was included. The cold “continental” breakfast was free, but if you wanted to pay as a hotel guest, you had to pay $26.95. Still, I would happily pay somewhere else and get something warm and decent.

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  4. I’ve stayed at this place a few times while traveling to SF for work. I also had a sub par experience very similar to yours. I complained but they don’t care, and I stopped staying there and took my business elsewhere.

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