The Opal

Man great management team very helpful! Rest of staff piss pore been denied now twice just to get into a hotel that I could payed the same price at a motel 6 n got way better service at! Damn to be a hippy!

PARKING:
Garage parking is available at this hotel for $ 41.00 + $ 6.67 tax per night. It’s a bit expensive, but it’s located within the same hotel building and is gated. Security isn’t guaranteed but it feels a bit safer than the other options. If you want to use the hotel garage, you’ll need to temporarily park your car in the unloading zone, go inside, and purchase a permit from the clerk (to place on your dash). After that, you’ll need to circle the building and go into the small alley between the hotel and AMC theatre. Press the telecom button to talk to the clerk and he will open the gate for you. MAKE SURE YOU BACK OUT BEFORE THE GATE OPENS or else it’ll hit your car. The placement of the telecom is stupidly close to the gate, but they have no other choice I guess. My rental car almost got hit because the clerk didn’t listen to me say «no I’m not behind the yellow line yet». There are other parking garages around the area that are cheaper too that you can try.
BED:
The room we got had two beds. Each bed can comfortably fit two petite people, or one very big person. If you don’t move around a lot, I can see two grown adults sharing a bed as well. I luckily had my own bed and slept great. The sheets felt clean and did not feel sticky or dirty. It’s nothing compared to Holiday Inn, but it does the job quite nicely.
ROOM:
The walls aren’t sound proof. I can easily hear a conversation from outside the door. In my room, I can hear police sirens and people yelling from outside. Nothing woke us up or kept us up at night though, but for the light sleepers it’ll be tough. I had no problem sleeping.
The room lacks sufficient electrical outlets to charge your devices. The lamp on the main table had one electrical outlet and that’s it. All other outlets are used by other lamps or the TV. You’ll need to unplug something to charge your second device unless you bring an electrical outlet expansion.
FITNESS CENTER:
The fitness center has four cardio machines: one thread mill, one recumbent bike, one trainer bike, and one stair climber. The stair climber was very loud so I ended up not using it. Free weights are also available as well!
BATHROOM:
Bathroom is small but functional. If you share a room, counter space will be very limited. The shower is stand up style and only has one small shelf in the wall for soap and shampoo. Every other shampoo/​conditioner bottles sits on the floor. Water pressure is good and so is the temperature.
AREA:
The area is very ghetto. There are a lot of homeless people everywhere so walking at night feels iffy. I’m sure everyone is harmless, but it’s just not comfortable being asked for money and then later stepping on human feces on the side walk (seriously). Location is conveniently close to a lot of restaurants and touristy areas though. You can walk to china town in about 20 – 25 minutes and not have to pay for parking there. CVS is just a few blocks away too.
WIFI:
Wifi speed is acceptable. No issues with connectivity.
BREAKFAST:
–Cold hard boiled eggs
–Breads and bagels
–Pre-​made waffles
–Juices
–Bananas, Pears, Oranges
–Peanut butter, jelly, butter
SERVICE:
The clerks were polite and helpful. We did not have any issues.
SUMMARY:
Overall, this place is a functional hotel that’s suitable for young adults who are on a budget. Convenient but sketchy location. Standards are a bit lower than other chain hotels, but it works and you can still have a good time in San Fran!

I stayed here for a week while visiting San Francisco for the first time here along with my boyfriend. I found this hotel through Expedia and overall, I was very satisfied with my stay here for six nights. I checked in here around 6 PM after I got here from the San Francisco International Airport and I requested for the second floor (Because I heard the fourth floor was «haunted»). After staying here for a week, here is my Pro’s and Con’s…
By the way, I stayed at a Queens bed, Deluxe room.
Pros–
— In order to access the hotel, you have to call them or ring the intercom. The reason why is because there are some hobos outside and this is to minimize them from coming in. But once you check in, you’ll get your card key. Make sure to have that with you at all times in order to get into the hotel and your room.
— The people in the front desk are very nice and friendly! Really love the people here.
— Free Wifi (But you have to ask them for wifi password).
— Very convenient (the hotel was located near the Muni bus stops so it was easy to get to places around the city).
— The hotel is also connected to Mel’s drive in. I usually wake my boyfriend up so he would come with me to get food at 1 AM.
— They have a laundry machine and dryer on the lower level. You would probably have to ask the front desk how to get there. It costs $ 1.50 for washing and $ 1.50 to dry. If you want detergents, it would be an additional $ 1.25.
— They also have a GYM on the lower level. Nothing fancy but it was good. I did some exercise while I waited for my laundry to be finished.
— They have free breakfast here which is good and bad at the same time. It was continental breakfast but they didn’t have much to offer. It was just orange juice, coffee, tea, water and some yogurt and bagels. Nothing too fancy but enough to get the day started.
— You can order things here while you’re in San Francisco and you can ship it to the hotel. I did that and they called me when my package arrived at the front desk.
— The bed here are very clean and comfortable, but the room was kind of small (even for a deluxe room).
–The room was kind of old/​antique. Nothing too fancy which is nice and simple.
–It’s one block from the AMC theater so that was very nice!
Cons–
— The hotel kind of smelled bad when you first walk in. But it wasn’t too bad.
— The hotel also is kind of old so the water for the shower wasn’t that good. I always had a hard time to get the water to be the perfect temperature for me. It was always either too hot or too cold.
— I had to go down every 2 – 3 days to ask for a new password because they like to change it without informing me.
— Nothing much to watch on TV (they had news channels and also Disney channel but nothing interesting). I couldn’t seem to connect my computer to the TV through a HDMI cable for some reason.
— There is no refrigerators, and coffee machines in the rooms. If you want ice, you have to go to the third floor of fifth floor to get ice.
— If you want them to clean your room, you have to tip them. They took long to clean my room. I left my room around 8AM but when I came back around 11AM, they still did not clean my room yet until almost 12PM.
— There is a lot of homeless people but they don’t really bother you. They are pretty harmless if you ignore them and not make eye contact with them. Trust me, I got home late one night when I went to eat with my boyfriend and I didn’t get to the Opal till almost 1 AM, it was all good!
— Located near the Tenderloin which can be kind of dangerous at night. Would not come here by myself at night.
— There was construction going on right across from the Opal. It was kind of nosy but if you shut the window, I’ll be fine! Construction starts around 8 AM and usually ends around 8:30−9PM.
— The bathroom in my room was very small and slippery when wet! Had to put towels on the floor to keep me from slipping.
Helpful tips–
— There is a fee that is included but won’t inform you about. Make sure to have $ 50.00 in your bank account. They will charge you this amount as a «deposit fee». But fear not, they will return it to your account when you check out but it will take 5 – 7 days for it to go back to your account.
— The rooms are a bit small and smelly at times. If you want a bigger space, I recommend getting a room with two queen size bed. Trust me, it’s way more worth it.
— Parking here is $ 45.00 a night. Kind of expensive, but safe since it’s located in the hotel itself.
— Tuesdays from 5PM-​6PM, there is a wine complementary in the front desk. Would recommend trying it!

My four star rating is based on the $ 90/​night rate that we paid. If you know San Francisco or have done your research, you know that you must manage your expectations when it comes to hotels. We were pleasantly surprised by what we got for our money at the Opal. Yes, the rooms are small. Yes, the hotel is old and smells as such. However, the front desk staff were very pleasant, and our room was perfectly clean. The location is convenient and the area is not bad at all by San Francisco standards. Some nearby areas are pretty rough. Again, do your research. The front desk staff will happily advise you about pockets to avoid after dark. If you can get a good deal here, give the place a try.

Walking distance from bars. A couple blocks from Union square in walking distance. Right across the street from Tommy’s which is perfect when decided what to eat. They have everything from sandwiches, dinner plates to tamales. The only down side about the hotel is the breakfast but it simple, just finger foods which could come in handy after a long night out, waking up hungover. And, just down the street are the best coffee shops and I don’t mean Starbucks. Phliz coffee is the best if you are a coffee fanatic. One plus there is about the hotel you have to use your room key to get into the front door and down stairs is Mel’s dinner. Over all I would give this hotel another stay especially since you can walk to a lot of things. The room maybe small but the bathroom is bigger than most 5 star hotels. Thumbs up!

Stayed here on a very short notice, and it’s most likely the only time I’ll stay here. Located in the Tenderloin, it carries with it the feel of such a place. Definately one of the cheapest places in the area, and I can certainly understand why. I paid $ 199 and even that I feel it was way overvalued. The rooms are very small, and the bathrooms are very small. There was some sort of a funky mildew growing on the corner of the mirror. There were also some interesting stains on the curtains as well which provided us with a nice mystery to try and solve.
It is, however, conveniently located right next to the AMC movie theatre … #shipit.

This hotel, while not super luxe, reminded me of budget hotels in Europe (but with much bigger rooms), including the homey lobby (with European guests milling about when I was there). The location is fine — very central but not crowded with tourists.
The main reason I’m Unilocaling is the amazing responsiveness of the staff who found and Express mailed to me my very expensive prescription glasses, nicely packaged for safety and without charging me. Over the years I’ve left many an item in the bigger chain and luxury hotels and never once was able to get them back; they are mysteriously just… never found.
So thanks, Maria!

I did NOT have a good experience at The Opal Hotel and would not recommend staying here.
Here’s my experience:
Reservations: Making a reservation was the most complicated thing. The concierge could not get my name right — after repeating myself multiple times I finally got my email confirmation, but the name on confirmation was completely wrong. So I called back to fix it because I didn’t want to have any problems checking in. I got a different concierge who was just as terrible — first off we had to do the entire reservation process all over again (why couldn’t she just change my name?) She also had no idea how to use the computer and kept yelling «oh shit» over the phone throughout the reservation process, which is just unprofessional.
Hotel Cleanliness: When you walk into the hotel your immediately bombarded with a dirty musty odor. It’s disgusting — why can’t they light some candles or spray some air freshener? On top of that, the sheets and blankets felt dingy and gross — almost as if there is a film on them.
Customer Service: I was excited to see that the hotel had coin up laundry service. I had been on the road for a while and the idea of doing laundry sounded like heaven. I was disappointed when I found out that the one and only dryer wasn’t working properly. I had to pay extra to run the dryer 2 more times before my clothes were dry. I told the hotel and shockingly they didn’t pay the difference. It’s not fair that I had to pay extra for their broken amenity.
Business Center: The business center is completely archaic — totally outdated. You have to pay to use the computers which is totally fine but they don’t give you a receipt. I was here on business and I needed a receipt for my expense report. When I asked the front desk how I could obtain my receipt I was rewarded with a resounding «I DON’T KNOW.» How can you not know when you work at the hotel? Or at least be solution oriented and find me an answer.
In short, I would not recommend this hotel — it was a very stressful and unpleasant experience.

We stayed at this place a couple of years ago because it was cheaper and close to an event we were going to. Now every time we stay at a hotel we have flashbacks about the horrific situation we found ourselves in at the opal.
We arrived late at night and were given a tiny tiny tiny room, with about 2 feet of space to maneuver around the bed on all sides. My husband decided he wanted to watch tv but I started to snooze. He kept waking me up and asking me if I smelled poop and I thought he was joking. He was not.
In the morning we awoke, rolled around in bed a bit, and managed to remove the sheets. We discovered poop smears on the sheets. Actual human feces. Poop. We slept in poop.
If I could give a rating if a 0, I would.

For years I have walked passed this hotel with little to no regard. This past weekend my love for over 30 years and I spent the weekend here. Mind you we have some mutual friends that pointed us there.
From the busiest artery into the city from the Bay Bridge is the 101 north… Or Van Ness Ave. Just a few blocks down from the heart of political significance is a part of San Francisco that has never let me down, the Tenderloin… On September 18^th 2015, my wife and I walked from our hotel on Van Ness down to Ellis St. and to a small non-​profit comedy club ran by a Liberian native for over 10 years… and has actually donated the proceeds for the past 10 years of donations to her village as promised. Other than seeing the big city; no one attempted to hurt us…
The point is the Opal Hotel is an old building that has been well thought out. Parking is a breeze, security is top, the staff are fun and engaging, the rooms are quiet, spacious, and the bed I slept on was medium firm. Clean non-​smoking and safe with benefits.
So here it is… The Opal like many other quality hotels are yards better than most brands. The path of least resistance is just that.
Thank you mutual friends! I would not have found the Opal without you!

We really enjoyed our stay. The hotel is old and has a lot of character. It’s so much nicer to stay here than in a boring cookie-​cutter motel.
The windows open so you can enjoy a breeze. The staff is friendly & helpful. Gave us some great recommendations for restaurants.
The neighborhood is urban and fun. If you’re used to large cities like New York & New Orleans, you’ll do well here. I don’t recommend it for people who are overly cautious or scared of the big city. You should stick to the tourist areas. This neighborhood is full of real people living their lives & I love getting to know the actual city instead of the Fishermans Wharf version…
Bottom line — if you want a fun city experience with a unique hotel, this is your spot.

Very nice hotel. Old charm. The room was a good size as was the bathroom. Mostly quiet, the walls aren’t the thickest. Parking is $ 30 a night. Overall, the staff was nice, the rooms were clean, and it was fairly cheap. I’d definitely stay here again.

When you’re first getting here, you can park right in front in the unloading zone just to check in. After that, you have 2 choices, you either park in their parking garage which is about $ 42 a night (with in and out privileges) or you can park the next street over at the AMC parking lot for $ 8 an hour or $ 28 all night (with no in and out privileges). They serve breakfast in the morning and have free wifi, but the area isn’t the safest.
Honestly, if you’re paying more than $ 100 a night, it’s not really worth it. No pool, no fridge or microwave in the room. They say the beds are queen beds, but realistically they’re full beds. Also, bring yourself an extension cord or two, there’s probably only 3 outlets all together in the room and one in the bathroom.
Theres a restaurant connected to the hotel and there’s a CVS and starbucks 2 – 3 blocks down — in walking distance.

My friends and I came here a few days ago for spring break. The ladies at the desk were very helpful. When we first came we got there 3 hours before check in and we had asked about parking, but the lady told us that there was cheaper parking around the corner since she figured we were college students. It would help save us money. She saved us $ 23.
The hotel is small. It’s only 5 stories so the rooms are pretty small too. But it’s not like we stayed in the room. We were in the city to explore. We basically needed the room only to sleep and hang out before sleeping. When we first stepped in the room, there was a funky smell and our room was too hot. They were nice enough to send someone to repair it right away and explained to us about our AC and that the smell came from the AC and it would eventually go away. They serve breakfast. It’s not a big grand breakfast, but it’s good enough to help you start the day. It’s a good place to stay at if you plan to spend your time in San Fran. It’s a short walk away from all the attractions. The neighborhood isn’t as bad as I thought it would be reading the reviews. It was pretty safe to me. And having a Mel’s attached it to was perfect since we were craving the late night muchies.

Another year has gone by and I am still very satisfied with the Opal. Great staff, clean and decent rooms, nice breakfast room, quiet on the 3^rd floor facing Geary Street. Close to the center of most things, able to take the bus to the bay or to the ocean easily from this location. Rooms very clean.
Neighborhood still a little rough, but with 6 women walking, we all felt safe.
A great experience. Kudos to the management and all the staff. (And rats, we missed the Wine and Cheese reception by one night!!)

Mitten in San Francisco gelegen, haben wir in diesem Hotel die ersten Nächte in den USA verbracht. Es liegt nicht in der vermeintlich sichersten Ecke von SF (man begegnet in den Morgen– und Abendstunden den skurrilsten Geschöpfen dieser Stadt). Jedoch ist man sehr flott, mit dem ÖPNV an den Touristenpunkten der Stadt. Das Frühstück ist sehr bescheiden ausgefallen und haut einen geschmacklich nicht vom Hocker. Die Zimmer fallen für amerikanische Verhältnisse auch eher klein aus. Das Personal war hilfsbereit. Preislich gesehen geht es so im Großen und Ganzen in Ordnung, wenn man bedenkt, wie zentral man in San Francisco liegt.

Not a 5 star hotel, but very affordable and fairly close to the center of attention/​attraction in San Francisco. Union square/(Powell street stop on Bart AirTran) is approximately 8 short blocks from the hotel.
You have the option to either take the Bart from the airport to Powell Street, which is $ 8.50 or make use of the cab company the hotel uses costing $ 16.50 per a person.
The regular cab’s prices range from $ 35 to $ 45.
They have a ridiculously satisfying breakfast set up including waffles, bagels, cereals, eggs, toasts, lots of fresh fruits, a nice selection of hot beverages and juices.
The seating area is impressive and felt homely.
Our room was on the 3^rd floor and they kept it clean accordingly.
As for the staffs, they were congenial and offered excellent advices and suggestions in respect to touring the city.
We decided to purchase the $ 50 City Sight seeing hop on — hop off 48 hours pass with an impressive discount from the hotel.
The tour includes Golden Gate Bridge, city of Sausalito, downtown, China town, and a handful of other exciting designation.

Kids and I stayed for 5 days in room 507. Newly renovated with queen size bed. This room was too small for the 3 of us, but we made the best of it.
Had window facing Van Ness Blvd. very noisy. I enjoyed the city noises but hard to sleep especially if you want to open the windows.
Enjoyed the location. Central to all points of the city. Staff were pleasant and helpful.

This hotel was great. It was in a perfect central location! Nice dainty room huge closet.. There are a couple good food places near by, but if your going to party in SF the by far best part is the diner connected to the hotel lobby. they have a fresh juice bar perfect hang over help & lovely staff! Overall I would recommend to stay here and if you book from Orbitz we got a killer deal!

Love this hotel. It’s right down the street the street from my friend Dave’s place. The tenderloin is pretty funny because the hobos here are very colorful. My ex got so mad at me because I was fixated on this homeless guy outside our window, wearing a red onesie and dancing with his shopping cart. I mean, come on! He HAD to know he looked funny.
Regardless, the room was clean with traditional decorations. It was a little drafty, but there were no bugs and we had a nice big bed.

********************* 1189 *********************
Every year when I partied in San Francisco for Halloween, I usually stay by Union Square or Soma area. This year because of the SF Giants World Series, and Halloween on the same night, it only makes sense if we stay somewhere walking distance since it was raining so bad on Halloween day 2014.
I booked The Opal San Francisco, and I didn’t expect much because it’s not a fancy place as I normally stay. However, it’s 2 blocks to the Civic Center where the SF Giants parade ended at and 2 blocks from the Halloween party where we needed to go.
We arrived quite early at 10 AM. Normally, no hotel would allow us to check in, but we got lucky. Ofelia, the lady at the reception was gladly let us know that they got a room ready.
She has lovely nails, and a beautiful smile that would bright up the room. We chat with her for a bit and my girlfriend told her about the ordeal with her soon-​to-​be-​ex husband. Our conversation got heated up in a good way. At the end of the checking process, we all laughed out loud, even though it was pouring rain outside at that point. I told Ofelia that she just made our day. She surely did.
Ofelia was caring and compassionate, as for her co-​worker next to here that day. A little extra effort, it goes a long way for the guests.
The lobby was clean and nice, coffee and tea serves complimentary to guests all day. Our room was on the 4^th floor, it was exactly how they shown on their website. A 2 beds room, clean, the large closet but looks run down. The bathroom was clean and very well kept with full bathroom amenities.
A new large TV, a working desk, and older furnishing, but what do you expect for $ 150 per night on a Halloween night in San Francisco 3 stars hotel is unheard of! The Opal is 1 of the best bargain hotels you can find in San Francisco, hands down.
$ 42 parking fee + tax, you got to walk to the back of the building to the basement. It can be inconvenient when it’s raining outside. Because you will be outside in the rain before you can get to the basement garage.
The hotel lobby is beautiful with crystal chandeliers, baby grand piano, stained-​glass windows, and antique furnishings but it’s a 100 years old historical building, this is exactly what it supposed to look like, something from the past with the modern service.
Complimentary light breakfast and FREE wifi which is a plus. Right across is Tommy’s Joints and next to Mel’s Drive and the Van Ness AMC Theater. Walking distance to so many restaurants and bars. The Opal is definitely a good spot to stay for family and friends on budgets, and tourists alike.

rente una noche en este hotel muy Viejo la alfombre del cuarto muy vieja en internet dice que es gratis y no loes dice que es una cama de lujo y no loes creo que no vuelvo a este hotel necesita un aupdate