James T.'s Profile

This hidden gem is a great place to demo/buy racquets and get stringing done. Competitive prices on Babolat, Prince, and Head racquets. I did the $50 demo program and never thought I would be playing with Head racquets but Marla asked me about my game and where I want my game to go and she recommended a few racquets. Within 4 demos I was sold on the Head Speed 315.

Great service, awesome turnaround on stringing and a nice place to hangout and chat about tennis. I am glad they are in the area and I hope they get enough business to stay for a long time.

My daughter is now afraid of all Noah's Bagels. The staff here made my daughter cry.

While teaching her how to be a proper American consumer, the kid went in with $10 and an itching for a bagel. She likes to "be a big girl" and go on her own and order but this time she got monsters disguised as human beings. They showed no patience or compassion and let other customers cut in front of her and just ignored her when she tried to order. A fellow patron explained what happened and he was disgusted by the way they treated her and had to say something.  

Note to "order here" and "pick up here" places:

If you have an employee standing under the "pickup here" sign with nothing to do and a customer goes up to them wanting to place an order... then that employee better be well prepared to take that friggin' order get their hands out of their pants and don't be rude to customers.

The hostess needs an attitude adjustment and the cooks are chintzy with the beef. This had to be the smallest burger I ever had. The classic was the size of a slider.

If you want a good grass fed burger, go to Brickhouse.

This place is a joke and will never go here again.

"AKA Discourage Music"

I was researching violin teachers in San Francisco and came across Heidi Yoo. She told me she taught at Inspire Music and I figured it would be wiser to go through this business instead of her directly so I would get more professional service.

Was I ever wrong. Let me start from the beginning:

Heidi and my daughter clicked and my daughter was very "inspired" so I was happy hearing her practice every night after only the first two lessons. Plus my daughter is learning Korean so if she picked up some Korean words during the lesson even better. Everything was perfect.

Then we get a call was told Heidi can't teach my daughter anymore. We were told she took on too many lessons and was not teaching that day anymore. We were not pleased because this time slot was perfect and the teacher/student dynamic was working well.

It took a few weeks to get a new slot but Heidi, who we were seeing, mysteriously got booked up and did not have ANY slots for us.

So we went with another instructor and she was nice but my daughter did not have anything to practice and the instructor did not continue or build upon the work that Heidi started.

As we were leaving, we saw Heidi there taking a student during our old time slot. I said "I thought you were not teaching this day" and she said sorry and rushed off.  This is when I knew something was not ethical. I asked for our time slot back that someone has. This was refused and they did not refund our lesson after THEY had cancelled it.

I understand if I cancel the lesson there would be no refund but they cancelled it and we tried another instructor so they would not take the loss.

My daughter LOVED the violin and was progressing quickly until Inspire Music cancelled the lessons on us.

This place should be called "Discourage Music" because my daughter LOVED the violin and was progressing quickly until Inspire Music cancelled the lessons on us. Heidi is great and I don't know if it was her fault or Inspire but this should have been handled with greater care. The fact that the two instructors did not communicate - and they gave my daughter and I a complete runaround - makes me frustrated they feel they do not need to give me my money back.

How much damage have they done by killing this momentum with Heidi and my daughter? This really bums me out.

NOTE: Heidi is a great instructor, patient with kids, very talented, and inspirational. I was hoping to get my daughter with her again the last two months before having to post a review.

What happened? We like coming here every year but this year it seems like a different resort. The rooms are not as clean, the Kidtopia was filthy and abandoned plus none of the games were working. No balls could be found for table tennis and nobody knew who was in charge of this Kidtopia area.

Normally they were organized and attentive but it felt like "here are your room keys, close the resort gate when you leave" kind of vibe.

I have to give these guys some credit. They did not pick us up for the airport on a rainy day but Brad said they promise they have made corrections to their process so this does not happen to any of their clients.

He was generous to refund the fee and give us credit to give them another chance. How can I refuse their apology and commitment to improved customer service?

This is a great place to watch FC Barcelona matches. They were very accommodating to larger groups and the blue plate specials are culinary surprises from a sports bar.

Friendly staff and connected to Pedros Cantina next door so you can go back and forth with food, drinks, and friends.

Very cool, can't wait to go their more before and after baseball games.

This is my 10 month update after I rejoined the club.

Quick background info: I have been playing since I was 8 and a 3.5/4.0 player. I rejoined in January 2010 after six years being away.  Joined because I was sick of dealing with public court stress. I have been playing regularly about 4-5 times a week and workout at SFTC if not playing. This has become my second home.

And just like a second home you begin to want to fix things that drive you nuts. The main thing I want to fix if I could are the tennis courts. They spent a fortune on the renovations of the club but little was done to the courts. I like to play outside - and in SOMA it's much better than other parts of the city.  The rooftop courts are always pretty dirty and do not have the resurfacing like Golden Gateway has (their sister club). NOTE: One benefit of the dirty court is you can see your ball mark if there is a questionable line call.

If you go upstairs to play, you notice the elevator button has still not been fixed after 7 years, maybe longer. The gates do not shut and the balls in the ball machine are so flat they are only good for the bottom of a walker.

This forces you to pay the indoor fees and higher ball machine prices because it's not fun to go through three cans of balls upstairs after 90 minutes of play. After 30 minutes, the balls get so dirty they resemble bocce balls more than tennis balls. There is a huge contrast from the indoor and outdoor courts TLC.

The club used to have a jacuzzi tub but got rid of it during the remodel. I did not think I would miss it but I have been going to another club for the hot tub. Now after 10 months this does not make sense because this helps with recovery and almost a necessity for a "health" club and even more so for a tennis/health club.  

The members are great and I am having a wonderful time making new friends. The new staff they hired are very friendly and their core staff has always made me feel welcome. I had my birthday party there and it was awesome. I love the tennis club, I just wish there was more attention to the tennis courts at the tennis club.

I've been contacted a few times by people wanting to join. Inbox me if you want to know more or be my guest. It's a great club, I can show you around.

It just would not be tennis in San Francisco with Sam.

They have ball machines and programs available for members and non-members. If you live in the area I think they want to sell you a membership that is pretty cheap and you can reserve courts and the lighting is good at night compared to other courts around the area.

You need proper tennis shoes there and the semi-private club members do wear tennis attire which I like.

I came here last summer to play and it was in great shape but the courts and equipment seem to be not taken care of. The benches need water sealing and they need to fasten the garbage cans to the court so the courts do not have the tumbleweed ghost town feeling. It gets windy by the railroad tracks and women have to be walked to their cars at night. Neighborhood is good, but train tracks and a park does attract some shady characters.

The staff is cool, the coaches are good, and they have great youth programs. You can get your racquet strung the same day and if you can even get an ice cream while you wait.