Review of The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square 4*

I want to share with you the disappointing and frustrating experience that I recently had while staying at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, California. I stayed at the hotel from March 30 to April 3, which was suppose to be a memorable experience … Upon checking-in to the hotel, I decided to upgrade from a Landmark Queen to a Grand Deluxe King Union Square View. I was told the room would be ready within the hour, and that I would receive a confirmatory text message. After waiting for 2 hours without receiving a confirmatory message, I returned to the front desk. After asking about the status of the room, I was informed that the room was ready. The room was recently renovated with a beautiful view of Union Square. However, I noticed a foul odour in the bathroom, a burnt out lightbulb in the chandelier and that the safe was broken. I returned to the front desk and asked to speak with a manager. I informed the manager of the issues and was reassigned to a different room. The second room that I was assigned to was an absolute downgrade from the previous room, as the layout and furnishings were completely different. Disappointed with the hotel room, I returned back to the front desk and asked to be reassigned to a room that was similar to the initial room that I was assigned. This sequence of events made for a displeasing arrival to the hotel. After having been reassigned rooms on 3 different occasions, I was expecting a manager to follow-up with me regarding the ordeal. However, that did not happen. Also, throughout the stay at the hotel there was numerous issues with the keycards not allowing access to the room, which was inconvenient. After returning home, I noticed a credit card charge of $325.14 from the hotel, which was unwarranted. I phoned the hotel to dispute the credit card charge and was questioned about the legitimacy of the claim. I was told to address the charge with the credit card company, as the hotel did not have a record of the transaction. After speaking with the credit card company, I phoned the hotel again to speak with a manager. The manager on duty was unavailable, however, I was able to speak with someone in the accounting department. The individual in the accounting department was able to find the transaction, which she mentioned was a staff error. The following day, I wanted to voice the displeasure I had experienced with the hotel. I phoned numerous times throughout the day to speak with a manager, however, they were unavailable or in a meeting. Please, note that all of the calls made to the hotel for 2 days were long distance, as I live in Vancouver, British Columbia. Being known as the “premier hotel destination in Union Square”, I am disappointed in the experience that I had while staying at the Westin St. Francis.