Hotel Carlton, a Joie de Vivre Hotel

First stay in S.F. so hotel was booked based mainly on price & reviews. Family vacation with one child (roll-away fit easily in room) for 3 nights. For S.F., hotel was reasonably priced. Staff was wonderful & reacted to all requests swiftly w/out any hiccups. Decent sized rooms for S.F. BUT....there is a hospital across street so be prepared for sirens ALL NIGHT. Other than that (obviously not controllable at this point), hotel was great. Quaint, older, very clean, great staff, very noisy/thin walls. Wouldn't recommend for anyone needing too much sleep (like me).

Hotel Carlton was great! Awesome location, just a short walk from Union Square. Staff were among the friendliest ever, and I've travelled a lot. Very helpful in orienting us to the city, providing maps, suggesting places to visit, and making us aware of neighbourhoods to stay away from. I was staying with my brother and they happily changed us from a room with one bed to a room with two. Even offered us free alcohol! Decor was charming - decorated with travel photographs and relics. VERY comfortable beds! Only downfall was our room overlooked Sutter Street, and we sleep with the windows open, so it was kind of loud through the night at times. But overall a great experience, I will absolutely stay here next time I'm in SF!

I love the fact that they have a wine reception. One of their staff members recommended an awesome Italian restaurant for us to visit. They were very speedy in calling us cabs when we needed them. Sometimes it can get a little noisy from the traffic but it slows down at night.

Although the hotel is old, the interior has been remodeled so it is very pleasant and clean, with fresh paint. It is about 15 minutes walk to Union Square and it is near the Tenderloin. Staff were friendly. Overall, a good value. Valet parking was $30.

The hotel is centrally located, near bars, restaurants, stores,and bus lines. The friendly staff was very helpful with knowing bus routes,walking distances, and booking ground transfers to airport. My only knock is that the hotel charges you to use their business center(computers, printers, etc. Free at all the hotels I've stayed. I waited to print my boarding pass at the airport, a bit of a hassle.

all of the staff were great, very helpful and personable.I was bothered by the peeling paint in the bathroom also mold on the tiles that could be cleaned up.Very little space for your cosmetic items could use a better shelf in there.The street is very noisy at night. It made it hard to sleep as well as the terribly squeeky doors in the bathroom and closet. I requested they fix them and they did right away, but they were starting to squeek again before we left.Bed linens were special I had never seen any as nice in a hotel before. Wine tasting a nice idea also enjoyed the decor in the elevators.

Blocks from Union Square in the Tenderloin district. Close enough to the cable car lines to make it somewhat easy to get around.

My 26 yr old daughter was not happy with the location as it was close to a seedy section of town. We were able to walk to a nice restaurant and shopping eliminating parking issues. The best experience of our stay occurred when the very nice maintanence man was able to retrieve my sunglasses from the elevator shaft (they had fallen when we were on our way to check out).

nice restuarant recommendations, walking distance to trolley

The accommodations were a bit spare, and some soundproofing would be nice, but the staff was very friendly and helpful, and overall it was a very nice experience.