Hotel Carlton
1075 Sutter Street
(at Larkin St)
San Francisco, CA 94109 (415) 673-0242
- Price Range: $$
66 reviews
Neighborhood: Union Square
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25 Reviews for Hotel Carlton
A cold water dispenser is on the top floor and ice is at the first. Front desk calls to check if everything is okay. There is a ceiling fan, no air conditioner. You will hear your neighbors talking through the wall but you don't have to request early check-in to register early.
No complaints really. Yeah, the walls are thin, but if it werent for stupid inconsiderate guests who speak as loud as they can and keep going in and out and in and out of their rooms slamming the door every time maybe people wouldnt have a problem!!!!!! ughhh.
Anyways. The staff was really nice, and helpful. We kept asking them for maps because we kept losing them, and they didnt mind.
The only thing.... 1. the rooms dont have a heater. or an air conditioner. and 2. We called the lobby and asked for water, and they said that the restaurant charges for mineral water but there is ice on the first or second floor. ... ?! what! no water? I was kindof pissed off and hungover at this point so i just tap-ed it. It didnt taste too bad, but be sure to let tons of ice melt so you have water I guess.
Other than that, no real complaints. The hotel is decorated quite nicely and I like the look of it. A bit strange, but still cozy. And it isnt in a bad area at all! Even if you do walk down a few streets its still not bad. Im definitely more scared in LA.
All in all, I would come back for sure.
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Really cool hotel for a super great price. All the staff people we dealt with were awesome and the complimentary wine hour was very nice too. We rolled into SF around 9am and they let us check in which was super cool of them as most hotels aren't down with this at all. I'd gladly stay here again.
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Great start to our stay. The guy at the front desk cant do enough for you. They even ring you when you first get through the door to see everything is OK! Love the decor , the condition of the internals of the building - the big closet - the arty lifts and the location is fairly good. The walk to union square is easy. We also liked the way the room was serviced - not bad for $110 a night. Parking seemed to be a prob and the lot across the road seems better value than the valet. All in all a good stay...watch out for the $1 donation to charity when the bill comes!
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I had a pleasant experience at Hotel Carlton. It's clean, simple, and well located with a warm and welcoming lobby downstairs. I did, however, run into some problems with the hotel management.
The lobby has comfy sofas and interesting books/games to keep yourself amused. I was greeted by a friendly front desk man who said, "You look kind of chilly, why don't you sit by the fire and relax?" There are copies of the daily newspaper and complimentary wine from 5-6 PM. However, when we were checking in, they couldn't find our reservation (although I think that was Expedia's fault), which involved lots of phone calls, waiting around, and proofs of ID before we got a room key.
Our room was comfortable and roomy with a soft king size bed, large walk in closet, wifi, clean bathroom, and a large window (although the view was not the most breathtaking - we were looking into another side of the building). On top of that, the room was quite affordable and they have HBO - wooo!
Union Square was about a 15 minute walk away, but the hobo friendly Tenderloin is just a few blocks south. There were a few nice looking bars down the street. Next door to the hotel is Brick, which was a nice place to have a drink. There is a restaurant in the hotel which looked nice and has supposedly won a bunch of awards, but we didn't actually eat there.
Minus one star for the $30 parking fee as there is parking across the street for $20.
Also minus one star for the checkout. The hotel desk man asked if we'd like to donate $1 to charity and when we agreed, he charged us $5 instead (although I am more than happy to donate to charity, this just seemed kinda shady).
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Decent hotel nice staff pet friendly, but this is not Nob Hill! The neighborhood is frequented by tranny-tutes, not a problem for me, but it is an interesting hood. Free wine half hour daily and the house wine is decent. The restaurant in back has some excellent food.
This hotel has been mentioned positively in Conde Nast magazine and I believe that the assistant manager Theo is probably the reason! Want to practice your foreign language skills? Chances are someone on staff can speak your language of choice. The rooms are clean and comfortable. Not fancy and the view isn't anything to speak of but if you're traveling with your pet this is the place to stay! The price is reasonable as far as SF hotels go.
Even though I mention the neighborhood being interesting it is as safe as anyplace else. Like any city you just be careful. A little local color always adds spice to a place and SF is not Disneyland.
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First off, let me start by saying : I love Joie De Vivre Hotels. I think the chain makes it's point of giving each hotel it's own personality. So when I had a friend coming in from San Diego, who didn't want to do the Motel 8 thing, yet wasn't able to afford the Hyatt or the W, this was my middle ground.
$140 a night for a room with 2 full beds.
It's a boutique hotel, and a small one so don't expect 24 hour valet service or anything like that. The staff was super nice, and even made 5 copies of the room key so that my friend could give us copies of the keys to rest in between going out and in case someone in our large group needed to come back and freshen up.
The lobby was cute and warm. Lush warm couches that you can sink into, some sort of fusiony restaurant (only saw it passing by), and elevators that had maps and post cards all over. They have free wine from 5-6pm I think, nightly which is a great way to start off your evening.
The room was neat clean, and very San Francisco in terms of the walls and the floor. The beds were cute with clean linens, cute decor and an adorable little baby blue dresser. There wasn't any internet in the room as far as I could see, but then I only was in there for 30 minutes while a friend changed, and an hour to take a nap. Free wi- fi in the rooms, and it's "green" which for me means synthetic pillows and something good for the environment. It reminded me of staying in a friend's flat in their spare room. I didn't notice the carpet or the bathroom much but I wasn't really staying there overnight or anything. More like napping from 11pm to midnight in between barhopping.
The area, is Tendenob, kinda in between the Tenderloin, but 2 blocks off of Polk Street. I wouldn't walk around with my purse clutched tightly to me for dear life, but I also wouldn't flash my Chanel bag around or wear a miniskirt walking home from the bars.
For the price, not a bad deal. It's not going to be the Four Seasons, but it's better than Motel 8 or Holiday Inn.
i used to stay at hotel carlton before i moved to sf, and this is always a recommendation of a great place to stay for out-of-towners. here's what i tell them: it's a great boutique hotel if you're not super high-maintenace and are able to appreciate character. it's a bit on the 'bohemian-chic' side, which is part of the appeal. the rooms were always very clean, the location is central- you definitely do not need a car if you are staying here. it's in the tender-nob, so true, you could find yourself in the tenderloin, but there's certainly worse things that could happen (you could, for example, find yourself in the suburbs which is waaaaay scarier then the TL). you're not paying 5-star prices, so don't come expecting 5-star accommodations, but you'll still get a lot for what you pay.
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Category: Hotel
Location: 1075 Sutter St., San Francisco, CA 94109
Price: $90 to $180
For Flo's birthday we decided to stay in the city at a small boutique hotel. I found this hotel at jdvhotel.com. I booked the one night king size room with breakfast for about $140. We arrived early on wednesday way before the check-in time of 3 pm. We walked in and were immediately greeted by the staff. Even though we were there early, they allowed us to check-in since the room was already available. We rode an old-fashioned elevator that had an eye catching map of the world with memorabilia such as postcards, stamps and airline tickets. We got a corner room on the 3rd floor. The first impression one would get when you enter is basically cute. The room was a little too small but had a homey feel to it. The bathroom was also small and probably needed to be updated. The bedsheets were hard to the touch (less than 200 thread count) and the pillows will kill your neck. Despite the little things I did not like, I still enjoyed the breakfast which was not bad at all. The staff was really attentive and courteous in this hotel and I noticed that they cater to a lot of European tourists. I could see why it wouldn't be attractive for other people but for a small hotel they have pretty good service. I also like the fact that it is an eco-conscious hotel. I would categorize this hotel as budget friendly, functional, and unpretentious. It's definitely no Ritz-Carlton but I would recommend it for a simple night in the city accommodation
Approaching the hotel, you will soon realize that you are staying it what looks like the worst area of S.F. imagineable. The streets immediately surrounding the hotel are filled with transients, drug addicts and prostitution. Once you have made it into the lobby, however, you will feel as though you have been rescued from the filth. The lobby is pleasing, with a beautiful fire place, cozy seating, intersting books and acabinet filled with games. But don't plan on spending your nights in a spacious room. The rooms are furnished with double beds (better not be on the heavy side) and a 19" TV (no VCR or DVD). The bath towels felt like sand paper. And if you plan on sleeping in, you can forget it! The walls are paper thin and you can hear a whisper in the hallway. Not to mention the housekeeping crew sounding like they are yelling at each other from one end of the hallway to the other end and slamming doors. Mind you, they start clearing about 8am. There was also the sound of some type of object rolling around the hallway or the floor above us that led me to believe there was thunder storm outside. If you primary concern is price, this place will suffice. But if you are looking for comfort, peace and pleasant views, Hotel Carlton is not the place.
CLEARLY no one who has written a review for this place has ever stayed in a really nice hotel. I just stayed at this hotel this past weekend. First of all, I had called to get a late check-in because my friend's flight was over an hour delayed and we had to go meet some friends for dinner as soon as she got in. By the time we made it to the hotel after being completely exhausted, it was about midnight. The guy at the front desk asked for my name and then stated that he could not find our reservation. My friend and I were about to slap him silly when he said "Just Kidding"...haha...NOT laughing. Then after he handed us our keys he asked if we knew where we were and if we needed a map. We said we would take a map and then he proceeded to continue his VERY amateur comedy act by saying "First of all, you're in the hotel lobby". Are we supposed to laugh at that?
When we got to the room, that's when we thought it was a joke! The room was small and the carpet was nasty. I was afraid to walk around barefoot. My friend was smart by bringing her slippers. I laid down two bathmats in the bathroom so I wouldn't have to walk on the tile. They only give you two sets of towels. I'm sorry, but I need one for my hair and one for my body so I called to ask for more and they only brought us one more set, one of which was a bathmat. I guess even they knew their floors were foul. The walls are also paper thin and you can hear people talking, showering and watching tv in the room next door.
We chose not to eat breakfast in the hotel and venture out instead. Besides, what the hell is Middle Eastern Fusion? I'll pass... The day we checked out, we had more comedians at the front counter asking us why we wanted to leave. Puhhhlease...save the humor for someone who cares. I like dumb humor and all, but these guys were just dumb. And the two times we asked them to call a cab, we ended up hailing a cab on our own. It is by far the worst hotel my friend and I have stayed at in a long time. It's not worth the money and it's not even close to anything. I'd rather be in the heart of the action, instead of having to walk 15 minutes to Union Square, for example.
Book this hotel at your own discretion and bring slippers. Leave the black light at home. Ignorance is bliss in this case....or better yet, just book at a NICE hotel like the Renaissance Parc 55 downtown. Pay extra to feel clean! And if you want the comedy act, pay for a better one than what you get here.
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I had read all the positive reviews on this site and others and booked a standard room for a friend's wedding in the city.
My boyfriend and I arrived after a 6am flight (not recommended) and asked for a early check in around 1pm. We checked into room 308 by a metal staircase.
My first impression of the hotel: cute, small, boutique type hotel. elevators are strange but I guess that's a San Fran thing.
An hour after trying to nap in the afternoon, I woke up, took my sleepy ass downstairs to ask for a new room. I can not tell you how LOUD the room was. Every five minutes, I heard the doors slamming, the house keepers talking VERY loudly in Chinese (no offense but loud consistent talking is annoying......when it's in another language you don't understand, it's even more annoying.....i know this because I'm Korean).
And the worst thing was that you would constantly hear a noise that sounded like someone was rolling their suitcase across a concrete floor. Needless to say, unless you are deaf or my boyfriend who can sleep through anything, you will NOT be able to get a good nite (or afternoon) rest.
When I had described the suitcase rolling noise to the front desk ppl, they seemed like they had never had a complaint before of that noise. I could not believe that anyone else that had stayed in that room, would have been able to stand that noise. Apparently, we, figured out that it was the laundry shoot that the housekeepers used. They said the housekeepers only would work until 3pm but I asked for the move anyways.
Room #2 (614) was away from the laundry shoot (which is on every foor). I didn't hear the laundry shoot noise but I did still hear every conversation in the hallways, the doors of ppl leaving and entering (hello ppl! you HAD to have also heard that noise yourselves....wouldn't you think of closing the doors quietly? That's what I did)! In this room though, what we heard was the conversations of our neighbors.....as clearly as if they were standing in our room. The walls are so thin in this place.....I'd hate to have been next to a couple getting busy. :)
Summary: stay here if you have to. I'm sure for the price range, it's probably better than a holiday inn. However, if you can spend about $50 more, stay somewhere where you'll be able to sleep. The ppl that work there are VERY nice, the rooms are well cleaned, etc. The hotel itself is not. If they can somehow make the walls thicker, it would be a nice hotel.
An affordable boutique hotel. I looked at a bunch of rooms (recently done) and thought they were charming (as was Theo, the manager). Those things, and its proximity not only to its own in-house restaurant Saha, but to all the Tenderloin has to offer (Brick, lots of cool bars), make it a good budget-affordable choice in SF. ($95 on-line at their web site as of 8/20/07 for a deluxe King.) A Joie de Vivre hotel, which means free wine from 5:30 to 6 and a bottle of wine when you check in if you sign up for the Joie de Vivre membership. They are a green hotel and have free wi-fi (did you know the french pronounce wi-fi "wee fee"?). The only downside to the "green" is that they have synthetic pillows, not down. Rats. Rats again.
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The Carlton is a very decent boutique hotel in lower Nob Hill.
My mom stayed at this hotel during a visit June 07. I live in the neighborhood, LOVE IT. It's a great choice if you want to stay on the edge of touristville and be in a real neighborhood.
The Neighborhood: walk 15 minutes to the east and you are in Union Square where one can shop at Neiman Marcus or the GAP. Walk 7-10 minutes south and you will be in the Tenderloin where one can meet some charming sex workers and stub your toe on a used syringe. Head five minutes west to inexpensive bars and restaurants on Polk Street. Take a 10 minute hike northeast and you are at Grace Cathedral. Perfection !
The Hotel: Love the lobby decor. Love the huge maps that serve as wallpaper in the elevators. The building is old, but maintained OK. Room decor was IKEA meets Pottery Barn, spare and minimal. Bathroom was clean. Noise not an issue. It was a functional room for someone who needed a decent place to sleep. The room was not romantic or luxurious, but it was fine for a non-honeymoonie trip to SF.
I'm giving the Carlton 4/5. It's an old building, so its a little worn here and there. But I really don't care, I'd prefer 'a little worn' to 'a little prefab'. Replacing the hallway carpet is a good idea.
I'm totally sending my mom back to the Carlton (she snores). I definitely got more than mom paid for.
Absolutely fabulous hotel. The staff was friendly, informative, helpful and personable. We had a bit of an ordeal trying to figure out where to park, so when we came in the doors we were greeted by Theo (best hotel front desk person in history) with a "You look like you've had a rough day, how about some of our house Chardonnay?" All tension melted, and I dubbed Theo a saint as he lined us out with a room on the ninth floor with a pretty great view of the city. The staff was always there to recommend restaurants, events, maps, and give info about the local transit system; and all this saved us a lot of headaches. The decor is nice, and the cozy, classy feeling extended to our room. The room was cleaned and amenities refreshed daily. It was so nice to come back after a long day of tramping around the busy streets of San Fran to come back to a wonderful, quiet, clean room.
They don't have a pool or hot tub, but our bathroom had a deep soaking tub so that helped to fill my need. I believe they even had wine tasting events some evenings, but we were too busy to be involved with that. All in all, just a wonderful visit. I would easily stay there again.
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Cool little boutique hotel. It's definately worth the price. I booked a 3 night stay Mon-Thurs. The rate was ~$102 + $25 for parking; but I saw the sign in the garage and it stated $20/night. I didn't question it though because I figured hotel guests had priority.
Service was good-great as the others have mentioned... but I do have a few things to mention:
-upon arriving, one of the baggage handlers advised me that I was free to park on the street but I should be aware that cars get broken into pretty often
-i read about rooms being a little cold and that the toiletries stink (from another website)... The rooms do not have heaters; but you can call the front desk and ask for a space heater.
-the first room we were in had rust all up in the bath tub and the non-slip pads were BLACK!? -ugh... but the staff was able to move us to another room the next day; we were actually upgraded to a deluxe(?) room. The extra space was definately noticeable, but this room was extremely cold during the night ( I actually got sick the next day)
It's hard for me to say that this place was clean because the carpet in both rooms was dirty; large stains everywhere. The walls weren't in the greatest condition either. But I suppose it's due to the age of the hotel.
I was told that the hotel was owned by Diane Feinstein and a handful of other investors...
The location is pretty good (for the money, once again). I've stayed the Pan Pacific, which was supposed to be a 5 star hotel (that place is definately NOT worth it and the staff was the worse!.. but that's another post); and I'd have to say that this hotel was more enjoyable.
I probably wouldn't stay at this hotel again, though. As another Yelp-er said.. it's an "okay choice".
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Sweet little hotel in an off-the-beat-track neighborhood. Close to downtown, but not downtown. Decent rooms.
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this is a great hotel. if you don't mind staying slightly down the road from the union square madness, you can get all the charm and style of a boutique hotel at a better rate. the lobby is the standout--it has a large open space and is decorated with exotic pieces for a well-traveled, kind of hemingway-ish feel. think cuba, asia and africa.
the rooms are small, but adequate and still stylish, and it's very clean. we put our guests up here for our wedding and were able to get a very reasonable rate. the staff was easy to work with and even remembered my parents when they went back to stay here again.
their restaurant saha is a romantic space with fabulous arabic cuisine. they hosted our rehearsal dinner and did an amazing job.
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Clean and comfortable, with staff people who were a lot nicer than those at the other budget hotels in the area. They have a restaurant, Saha, which looked fun, but we did not eat there. The location was pretty good, but is a little too near the North Tenderloin area to be ideal. Our room/tomb was a little on the small side, but inexpensive. The guests were mostly international when we were there, and I found our room to be fairly quiet.
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Charming, international-themed hotel that is part of the JDV chain, which I love. The staff is super-friendly, and I recently did the "Around-the-World" package which features a free cultural outing each night of stay based on the different SF 'hoods. Don't mis out on the 5:30 PM wine hour each day. Do bring your own toiletries, though---the citrus-inspired products smell more like...urinal cakes.
The Carlton is kind of an odd bird among the JDV family. It certainly isn't as nice as the Adagio or the Vitale. And this hotel certainly isn't in the greatest block in all of San Francisco. That being said, the Carlton is an okay choice of hotels. The rooms were nice, but not outstanding. There is free wi-fi in the lobby, which is a plus. I didn't find Saha to be particularly compelling and the room prices I paid just didn't seem to line up with the value.
This hotel is clean and is very close to a lot of fun places on Polk Street. For the money I paid, I felt like I could have done better.
For the price, it seems to be the best deal around. It felt like a cute boutique hotel, but was really affordable. You're also near Polk Street with a nice handful of a budget-friendly restaurants, and dive bars to grab a drink at. Plus Union Square is just about a 15 minute walk away. If you're unfamiliar with the city or easily frightened, just don't walk to many blocks south -- that's the Tenderloin.
Kinda funky place for a "boutique" hotel because there's not much around. Two blocks from Polk Street and in the other direction, two blocks away from all those Art Institute Universities on Sutter. Newly renovated, clean, comfy bed... If I had family at St Francis Hospital, I'd stay here because it's really close. From the front desk to housekeeping, everyone was friendly and attentive. The Saha Restaurant was surprisingly great hotel food.
Stayed here while my house was fumigated and the landlord was footing the bill, but asked that I try to keep it "reasonable". being the respectable tenant that i am, i booked a room at the Carlton online and got a discount on valet parking. i booked a double because thats all that was available when i looked, and i also joined the "Joy Of Life" Club, since i noticed that you get a free drink or wine when you arrive.
So we get there and they gave us a single queen instead of two doubles which is great, and i was expecting a half bottle or a split of wine, and got a full bottle instead. The radiator was a little noisy at night, and there was no heat control in the room. it was also bright as hell in the morning.
The wine tasting the offer for 30 min from 5.30-6pm was cute, but they only offered a white zin and a chardonnay. i was expecting a true red wine.
Overall staff was very friendly and i would probably stay here again if budget was an issue.
also of note, apparently the wireless internet only works on the bottom 6 floors according to management.
this place was nice. the rooms were very clean and i liked the international decor. the staff was very helpful, offering recommendations and giving us directions. the location is kind of weird for a hotel, but there is easy access to transportation. i thought the food at saha was good, but the atmosphere was lacking. it seemed like most of the people at this hotel were older. we were definitely the youngest people staying there. the walls are thin, but thankfully we had a corner room, so we didn't have noise coming at us on all sides! i gave it 3 stars because i thought it was charming and decently priced, and even though i would return, i think on my next trip up there i'd try a different place.
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