Review of Hotel Stratford 2*

We stayed here for a few nights on our honeymoon as we were passing through San Francisco and wanted a reasonable central location. The choice was a compromise between price and location and comfort expectations from other reviews. When we arrived, we were told our booking was lost. Then we were told that our booking was no longer available and we booked too close to the date (we actually booked months and months in advance, so maybe it's more that we booked too long ago). We were then told that we would be downgraded as that was the hotel's policy. Instead of the "suite" we were given the tiny room 606, with its torturous elevator wait times and pokey room size that's so small you can't even open a suitcase! At this point, the staff didn't care, and we were generally treated like idiots. After complaining to different staff on the front desk, most of whom really didn't care, we were eventually contacted by manager Jamie who sorted us out and moved us to room 400/401 on the front of the building — a much larger suite which was really comfortable despite the smell from Lush wafting in the window. Amazingly the sound of the cable cars here really didn't bother us as other people have mentioned in other reviews. Jamie saved the day, but we're still left remembering how the other staff treated us, and the size of the "normal" room we were apparently given on our first day. Despite Jamie's efforts, I don't think I could recommend the Stratford in good conscience. Sadly from here on the prices in San Francisco become extortionate, so on the basis of price and location consider this after exhausting other possibilities. Stayed January 2013.