Review of Grant Plaza Hotel 2*

Stayed here many times in the early 80s when I had very little money and still labored under the foolish belief that San Francisco was a city worth visiting. I see it is considered to be a "boutique" hotel now, but back in the day it was just old and comfortable. And far and away the cheapest hotel in San Francisco that wasn't a flophouse or hostel. On one of my visits I was laying on top of the still-made bed, catching a little rest after the long drive up from Los Angeles when someone from the hotel unlocked the door and walked in with a couple of (prospective? ) hotel guests in tow. I sat up and said something along the lines of, "What the fuck? " and they left. The hotel employee didn't say, "Oh! Sorry, " or "Excuse me, " they just left, like I was an inconvenience or a squatter they didn't want to have a run-in with. Which is fine, I should have put the latch on the door. But another time I was in Oakland with a friend, and we needed a place to stay for the night before driving back to Los Angeles the next morning. He wanted to stay in San Francisco, since he'd never been there, so I said, "Ah, I know a place! " I called from a pay phone to ask them to hold a room, and they said there was no need, they had plenty of empty rooms. So we rolled up, found somewhere to park (a feat in itself) and walked in. "Oh, sorry, " they said, "no rooms! All full up! " Did I mention my friend was black? And both of us sporting dreadlocks? You think that had anything to do with the sudden lack of rooms? So yeah, kind of Mississippi in the 60s vibe going on there at the time. I'm sure they wouldn't turn away black people now. You know, with the pesky discrimination laws and all. Woo! San Francisco! Never a more useless city full of people who truly believe that they are living charmed lives of perpetual awesomeness. As Gandhi said, "whatever. ".