My mother-in-law and I stayed at the Harbor Court 7/23-7/28/08. Not only did we love San Francisco, but we also really liked the Harbor Court Hotel.

The staff was fantastically helpful and friendly, the amenities were quite nice (things like the complimentary cookies and milk at night, apples anytime, lemonade during the day, free wireless internet in the rooms for those with laptops, cotton balls, q-tips, as well as shampoo, conditioner, lotion, etc. make a difference for me), and the location was really convenient to public transportation, as you are within a few blocks of the Embarcadero Station where you can catch any number of trains or other MUNI transportation, the BART, or the California Cable Cars (go early in the morning on a weekday for no line). You can also catch the F line right to Fisherman’s Wharf within a block (ask the hotel staff how). Also, all of the rails that go down Market Street end at the Embarcadero, so it doesn’t matter which you take.

We loved the post office being right across the street, the access to the Ferry Building and farmer’s market on Saturday, how close we were to some of the best chocolate in the city (two places in the Ferry Building and Fog City News – fogcitynews.com), and the comfort of the beds in the room.

The hotel lobby and rooms are nicely decorated, although the view from our room of the courtyard was terrible. We saw a bunch of huge pipes…if you’re there for a while spring for the view of the Bay Bridge if you care about that sort of thing. It would have been nice to have two beds, but the hotel doesn’t have any at all.

They let us check in early and held our bags until 4pm on the day of check-out for no charge.

P.S. For the best postcards, you must check out Avant Card at Grant and Bush in Union Station. And you should go to the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie Factory in China Town. It's a bit hard to find, but you can handwrite your own fortunes and the lady will put them in a fortune cookie right in front of you.

Overall, we loved our trip and would definitely stay at the Harbor Court again.

I found this hotel on travelzoo and for the price of $109 per room/night it seemed great value considering the reviews on tripadvisor.
Unfortunately we were disappointed when we got there - the rooms were tiny - and one of them (607) must have been a converted cupboard as it had a tiny strip window 6 ft from the ground - the colours were a depressing brown. There was no air conditioning in either room.
The location is in the financial district - good for if you are in town on business or shopping in Union Square - for us though Fisherman's Wharf was a better and more happening place to stay with children.
Staff were very nice - they mentioned that I would have to pay a $100 early departure fee as I agreed to it when I checked in (I don't think so!) and were quite happy to waive this when they heard what rooms we were in (602 and 607).
So no I would never stay here again - or a Kimpton Hotel for that matter - I find it incredible that there are so many positive reveiws for this hotel on this site.
By the way this is my first ever negative review on tripadvisor!

The Harbor Court Hotel, I understand, was converted from a YMCA building, which tends to explain the rather small rooms and on this visit, the very small bathroom. You could barely get the door closed because there was so little space when you were inside the bathroom. We did not have a view either, our room looked at the wall of another building. But from the lobby, with its lovely glass decorations, you got a great view of the Bay.

Those were the only detractions from our weekend stay. The hotel's location almost next to the Bay Bridge and in close proximity to most things a visitor would want, e.g. the Embarcadero and Union Square, is very much a plus. If you don't plan to spend much time in your rooms, as we did not, the small size is not a real problem.

The Harbor Court is part of the Klimpton hotel group and is like all their hotels I have tried, very good on service, cleanliness and comfort. We got an excellent rate for this hotel. The use of the YMCA next door was free. Like many other Klimpton hotels, there was free coffee in the morning and a wine and cheese reception in the evening.

Overall, we were very pleased with our stay.

I stayed at the Harbor Court for business in July 2008. Now let me start by saying that I am not an inexperienced visitor to San Francisco. I think this is important only because the room rates tend to be expensive in this city and you tend to end up with a small amount of square footage for what you pay.

My first problem with the hotelm began before I ever checked in. I had reserved a room for one night and my plans changed and I called to extend the stay. My rate was $135 so I called the hotel to check in one day earlier and was quoted a rate of $299. I immediately hoped onto expedia with whom I had originally made the review and they had a rate of $135 for the same room. I told this to the person on the phone and they indicated they would match it IF they could also find this rate. Ten minutes latter they honored the rate of $135. Moral of the story, although the Kimpton Website says they gaurentee the best rate....shop around.

Upon arriving at the hotel no one was out front to offer to help with the bags, although this may seem like a nit, in San Francisco when traveling by yourself you need somone to get the bags and take the car so you can check in without getting a ticket.

Upon checking in I was told that I would need to get new keys the nnext day as I had two seperate reservations...although not the end of the world, it was not convenient when staying more than one day since I have to expense all of travel back to my company I have twice the number of receipts that I needed.

The room was nice (small, but again this is SF) but the view was amazing! If you stay her request the "View room" which has amazing views of the bay bridge and the Island!

Service was luke warm the entire visit, depending on the website you look at they will give from 3.5 - 4 stars....my experience has been that service is better at some of the other Chain Hotel Properties.

This hotel is good for business travel if your stay involves business SOMA or the financial district (near the embarcadero) any further than that and this property will be too far our of the way. Holiday visitors would be better to stay closer to Union Square or the warf as this is where you will most likely spend your time.

I think this hotel counts too much on the location, and does not have enough substance to make it 4 stars.