We've stayed at many hotels in SF, and this is one I look forward to staying at often. World class service from the door man to the ladies working the floors, and unbelievable five star experience with the front desk. If I knew the gentleman's name working the desk early evening of 9/1/8, I would lavish him with praise. He really made our stay a special experience. Highly Recommend this hotel for San Francisco luxury at an affordable price, great location near shopping, dining, cable cars... Excellent opportunity for business travelers, family vacations, and they even accept pets, we saw beautiful little dogs with their happy companions. Beds are float in the clouds comfortable, can't say enough good things about the Serrano, play the check in game and donate to your favorite charity!! Thank you Serrano & Hotwire for showing the way...

We stayed five days at the Serrano making it a long labor day weekend. The hotel was very busy but operations were smooth. It is an excellent place to bring a little child - the crib was brought in no time to the room and we had a high-chair in the room for the entire duration of our stay. The room was very quiet, we were lucky to be on the 15th floor where we almost couldn't hear the traffic down there.
It's true that the standard room we had was on the small side but it was OK for the three of us. The restaurant (Ponzu) where breakfast is served is OK but not so much my style and rather expensive. San Fran has better places if you go out there! Also be aware of the minibar: it's full of goodies but no free lunch!
Location is very convenient with easy access to the city (we walked to Fisherman's on the first day) and public transport on Market Street and the shops. If you take Powell Street to go to Market St you can avoid the Tenderloin area which I'd advise

First let me start by saying that the staff at the Serrano was wonderful! The door man greeted us each day by name and the concierge was most helpful in giving us information regarding city. The hotel is centrally located to Union square which makes catching the trolley to all other sites (i.e. China town, Fisherman's Wharf) easy, however, if you go 1 block down and to the east of the hotel you will be overcome by Homeless people. This made me feel extremely uncomfortable and is definetely something I'm not accustomed to seeing while on vacation. The rooms are really small. As my husband said, "I can't even change my mind in this room let alone my clothes". And the closet smelled bad. We stayed 3 nights and I have to confess that I was excited to move on to our next hotel. I wish I would have listened to my husband, gone for modern, and stayed in the Financial District instead of being sucked into the charm of a bygone era.

This hotel is ok to stay at when visiting San Francisco. It is only 5 minutes away from the Powell cable car station (by foot) and also very close to Union Square (great shopping, Saks, Macy's, Neiman Marcus, plenty of well-known brands). 5 Starbucks in walking distance. The rooms, at least the one I stayed in, was fairly small, with a very modern TV. The room was ok, nothing outstanding. Donwside: You cannot open the window, the air is quite stuffy and the windows are steamed up from the outside, not possible to get a great view over San Francisco. They do wine-tastings in the entrance hall. The staff was helpful but not over-friendly. The waiters in the breakfast room struggled with English. For breakfast I expected more, no buffet or anything. The bagel I had was rather plain. The restaurant in the hotel was very nice though, Asian-style cuisine with very friendly and polite staff. The food was good. The staff made the dining worthwhile, you felt very welcome.
The doorman said not to walk to the direction away from the Hilton (you can see the Hilton from the serrano Hotel), apparently not a nice area. If you can afford more, I would still recommend to stay elsewhere.