For the final leg of our Gourmet Adventure Through Northern California, we spent some time in San Francisco. And, my hotel of choice for this segment of our trip was the JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square.
After poking around Castello di Amorosa a little, we headed back to the Las Alcobas Napa Valley to gather our things and check out. From there, we made one final stop at Bouchon Bakery and headed back to the Bay Area.
What should’ve been a 1-hour 15-minute drive ended up taking quite a bit longer than usual. You see, instead of going through Vallejo to get to the Oakland Bay Bridge, I took us through Marin to get to the Golden Gate Bridge. But I also got lost trying to find a vantage point of the famous bridge and then got lost again in the city thanks to all the damn lane closures.
Location
As its name suggests, the JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square is a block away from Union Square on the corner of Mason and Post Streets. Other nearby hotels include the Westin St. Francis and the Hotel Adagio, Autograph Collection. Both are hotels I considered staying at, though it’s a good thing I didn’t stay at the Westin. By the way, the hotel is valet only, with porte-cochere access via Mason Street. Parking rates, as you might imagine, are crazy here too; its $66 per night!
Check-In
From the porte-cochere, you need to catch the elevator up to the lobby on the third floor. There, we were quickly checked-in by a genuinely friendly and polished associate before heading up to our room.
The lobby level is also where you’ll find the concierge, the Level III restaurant and Level III bar. At the moment, the interior design is an interesting mix of modern and art deco too.
Our Room
For this stay, we got an Executive King Room, which is a larger room that adds a sofa to the standard room and a massive bathroom. Our specific room for this stay was room number 2022.
Upon entering the room, you find yourself in a short corridor. The gray wall is where the bathroom is, while the woodgrain wall is where the mini bar is.
The bathroom is, off to the right as you enter the room. However, you’ll first find another, smaller hallway here along with a closet.
Then, around the corner is the bathroom. Our’s was a shower-only room, but I appreciate the size and the fact that the water control is far from the head. No getting blasted with cold water when turning the shower on here!
Continuing on into the rest of the room, you’ll find the bed, a sitting chair, a small table with a chair, and a small sectional with another table. There’s, of course, a large HDTV mounted to the wall too with a media panel down below.
Facing the little sectional, you’ll find a mini bar area to the right. In the alcove are a coffee maker, some snacks, and bottled water. In the cabinet above that, you’ll find a mini fridge stocked with drinks, and in the drawers below you’ll find the coffee maker supplies and a safe.
Quality
While I’ve read complaints about street noise and whatnot, we didn’t have any issues with that during our stay. In fact, I’d say the JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square is a comfortable place to rest your head. The bedding was comfortable, the HVAC worked well, and water pressure and temperature were both good. I have no complaints, really.
View
Unfortunately, we didn’t have a view of the Bay or of the iconic city skyline, but that’s ok. We at least had a great sunset view looking out towards Haight-Ashbury.
Lounge
The JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square does have an Executive Club Lounge on the top floor. I went once just to check it out but didn’t really get any good shots because of how busy it was. In hindsight, choosing a hotel with a lounge wasn’t all that important. We were barely in the hotel anyway. And while free food is always nice, San Francisco has too much good food to waste on a meal at the lounge.
Parking
If I had one complaint about this property it’s the parking. $66 per night is A LOT of coin, though it is about average for the area. Plus the fact that it’s valet-only is even more irking since I can’t walk straight up to my car when I please. But, as is the case at most large hotels, you can call or text ahead of time to have your car brought out, which worked well here.
JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square, Final Thoughts
The JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square, in my experience, is a good hotel. The quality of our room was excellent, while the service was what you’d expect from a luxury hotel brand. But, again, we didn’t spend much time in the hotel at all thanks to all the sights and eats of San Francisco. The property was an appropriate transition from our even more luxurious hotel in Napa, though. So I’m glad I didn’t go with a more middle-of-the-road brand for this stay.
A Gourmet Adventure Through Northern California
- Introduction: A Gourmet Adventure Through Northern California
- Alaska Airlines 710 HNL-SFO
- Silvercar San Francisco Airport
- Tartine Manufactuory Brunch
- Visiting Apple Park and Apple Campus
- Courtyard by Marriott Merced
- What I Ate in Merced, California
- A Brief Visit to Yosemite National Park
- Bouchon Bakery Yountville
- Las Alcobas Napa Valley
- Acacia House by Chris Cosentino
- Las Alcobas Napa Valley Room Service
- Atrio Spa at the Las Alcobas Napa Valley
- A Brief Visit to Beringer Vineyard
- The French Laundry Experience
- Model Bakery + Castello di Amorosa
- JW Marriott San Francisco Union Square