Union Square Plaza Hotel

I must say I was a bit hesitant when my husband booked this hotel. I looked at the pics and the reviews from trip advisor… Not so hot… But I was pleased when we arrived. The lobby is small but a young friendly face greeted us the afternoon we checked in. We proceed to our room on the 5 th floor. It was at the end of the hall way. I insisted on checking for bedbugs and made my husband wait in the hallway. To my surprise the room was clean and bedbug free. It has a small little bath (like in a closet) but really… We are in San Francisco… We just need a place to crash. Everyone we encountered was wonderful and nice. The Wi-​Fi was fast and great for our needs as we had lots of places of interest to look up. Easy access to hop-​on, hop-​off busses. Easy walk to Chinatown. Great noodle place next door, that always had a line and we ate at our last night. Also two breakfast joints on the same block which where both amaze. Great experience. My husband says I’m a little picky when it comes to overnight accommodations but I was won over quickly by this place. It feels very apartment NYC style. It’s not the Hyatt, but you are not paying Hyatt prices. I would recommend this Hotel. Ps. Bring a little travel fan to drown out alley noises. It was the best thing we did.

Can’t complain too much about this hotel, only really offer up some recommendations! We stayed here for 3 nights and the rates were cheap and the staff was friendly! Our room on the third floor was smaller than expected, but it served its purpose. The hotel itself had a very distinct odor that we couldn’t really put our finger on, but seemed clean. I would just ask that the beds had mattress protectors and fitted sheets. It’s not fancy but if you need a place to stay in SF on the cheap, its a good place to go. GREAT LOCATION.

Very pleased with our stay at this hotel. The place is unassuming, CLEAN and comfy. No, it’s not fancy and doesn’t really match the sound of its name, but it’s an absolute STEAL for the price and location. We got lucky in that the weather in SF was absolutely perfect the days we were there AND we got a room on the 5^th floor that faced the street so we could open the windows and enjoy the city sounds. Our friends stayed on the 3^rd floor and got a room that faced a parking garage and got virtually no sun exposure so their room was often really, really cold. The building has central heating so if you’re in a cold room, it’s great but if you do get sun facing your room, it can get a little toasty/​stuffy during the day. That was my only complaint about the hotel (but pretty a pretty minute one at that). The staff was friendly and the check-​in/​check-​out process was smooth. Just remember that this is a no-​frills place. Don’t expect the shampoo bottles or mini fridge but do expect to have a comfortable night’s sleep in a clean, safe hotel room with a FABULOUS location! We will be back.

Are you looking for heated toilet seats and chocolate awaiting you on your pillow? If the answer is yes, this is not the hotel for you. For $ 77 a night, this is a budget-​class hotel for people who can’t or won’t spend $ 250 per night. And for that genre, I choose to give it 4 stars.
Why?
1. Location. It is 2 blocks away from Union Square on Geary St, perfectly situated across from the Conservatory Theater and next to a Starbucks.
2. Cleanliness. After some of the reviews, I was apprehensive. No need for that, the place was very clean – no dust, dirt, and NO bugs.
3. Something cute about it: it doesn’t feel like you’re going to be murdered inside. It is an old building with old moulding, a maroon theme throughout.
4. Staff are gruff, but not unhelpful. Not the friendliest bunch of mostly older men, but they were never rude.
My complaints are that for a budget place, it should have had a few more amenities like a cheap coffee maker and shampoo, maybe a microwave. The furniture that has been there since the 70’s has to go.
But overall, I was very pleased with my stay and would recommend to anyone who doesn’t mind not having a concierge and saving the money for more fun things.

We enjoyed our stay here, sure the building is old but has charm, and the Location was terrific, next to bart, cable cars and a quick walk to china town, we loved having jack in the box next door open 24 hours for late night snacks, and restaurants nearby. They do not have soda machines or ice and that sucked, room was clean, windows need a good washing, bring ear plugs since they are constantly emptying garbage all night in the alley, but for the hotel being sold out we were not bothered at hearing other guest. Quick maid service, friendly staff at desk. Was not bad for the good price we got. We will be back, just please put in a soda machine.

I loved this stay! Great location. Bigger room than i was expecting in San Francisco. The windows can opened all the way which can be a bit freaky from the 3^rd floor but a much welcomed relief to the lack of air conditioner, which I’ve discovered is normal in many parts of California. Comfortable bed, tiny bathroom door though lol. The younger attendant with the shaggy hair style was super super friendly. We really felt like we made a friend in the week we were there. If you don’t wait the house keep in your room, make sure the front desk knows!

Awful place. Rude attendant. Nobody answers the phone. Due to the appeal of the location they don’t give a damn. I don’t even think that the place is up to code.

If you want a great price on a hotel that is 1 block away from Union Square, ignore all the whiners reviewing on here. Personally, I travel to see the place I’m in, not sit in the hotel and complain about it. If you need a place to sleep and shower, stay here. Front desk people were nice, sheets were clean, shower and toilet worked. That’s all that matters. And the wi-​fi worked just FINE. It’s an old building, but it was clean and convenient and cheap. And the Thai place right next to the entrance is amazing.

For the price, it’s definitely worth it.
The location is great and even though the room was a bit cramped and quite possibly had bed bugs… I have to say I was happy with it.
Go to the thai restaurant downstairs (chabaa) it’s fucking amazing!

what a bunch of whining ninnies on here… LOL
I have a LONG history with this town. and will be moving back in a year. And if you think that a hotel like this one, is nothing to write home about, take your butt over to the Mission, where the SROs over there will make your toenails curl, dude… or try the Travel Lodge on Valencia, off Market, where the hustlers and pimps will charm the handbag off your grandmother’s arm… or stroll on over to the Whitcomb on Market, where the rats, roaches and bedbugs, are big and bad enuf to get in the bed with you and hog the sheets all night… AND THEY’LL DARE YOU TO SAY SOMETHING!
yea, try those kind of hotes, dude.
and when you visit the most beautiful city in the country, whether it be for work or play, who the Hell has time to sit in a hotel room, nitpicking every damn thing… really?
all I ask from a hotel is a relatively, decent rate, with a clean bathroom and clean sheets… I DONT NEED SATIN SHEETS, FOR CRYIN OUT LOUD… and I dont whimper and moan about the room being too small or dingy. MOST HOTELS IN THIS CITY ARE OLD AS MOSES. you want better amenities, save your freaking money and find a better 4 or 5 star hotel closer to the water or something.
I read some of these posts, and Im like, «tmost of these folks have got to be your typical red state terds, who come to SF and wanna act like they’ve been living in better digs back home, when actually, they live in trailer parks and were barely able to save a little money to even come here for a two day vacay, to watch the boobs, butts and crotches, they’d get beat up for watching back in bum-f**k Kansas or somewhere»
in San Francisco… just like any other big, metropolis… money talks and the broke, are walking.

This place gets 1-​star for location.
The room was dingy and smelt of wet dogs every day. The shower was tiny and the plug hole was just a hole in the ground.
Actually the only good thing about this place apart from the location was the receptionists beard!

Don’t really get all the bad reviews our room was great for the price in a perfect location. The staff here is super friendly and while the hotel is very old it is clean and everything is in perfect working order. Will stay again

Came to SF for the Wipro marathon and we stayed here after the race.
The person checking us in was quite nice. We dropped off our luggage at 10am and left our luggage at the front and he took care of it. We thought he was going to leave them in the open as he told us to leave them in the back but he did put them in the back room after we left.
The room is a bit run down. The TV in the room was at a weird angle. Three stars for the person at the receptionist, otherwise it would have been two.
If you are here for the Wipro race, you would better off at another hotel, it’s not comfortable enough.
Pros: close to Union Square.

If you have high standards, then by all means look elsewhere. If you don’t mind roughing it for a couple of days, then you might be okay with this hotel.
First of all it is located in the Tenderloin, not exactly a nice area. But it is a fairly convenient location. Do know that they lock the front door during after hours.
Second, the hotel is pretty rundown and old. Upon check-​in, you get an old-​school key. Their door locks are not the electronic type. The elevator is tiny and moves like molasses. Good thing the hotel only has 7 floors. The rooms are cramped and just feels really old. It is so cramped that the sink is located outside of the bathroom next to your bed. There’s barely room in the bathroom to fit the tiny shower and toilet. But the shower does have good water pressure.
Third, the room felt a bit dirty. It’s more of an old-​age type of dirty. I’m sure the sheets were cleaned, but there was a stain on part of the bed sheet that has set in. I made sure not to sleep on that part of the bed. The sheet also had a hole that looked like it was burnt by a cigarette. Oh, the trash can had not been emptied when I checked-​in.
Bottom line with this place is that you get what you’ve paid for, because you’ll be hard pressed to find another place more affordable than this place! I would only consider staying here if I absolutely need to save some money.

In San Francisco ein günstiges Hotel zu finden, in dem man des nachtens nicht Angst haben muss, ausgeraubt zu werden, ist schwierig. Das Union Square Plaza Hotel ist nicht das allergünstigste Hotel der Stadt (ich habe 91 Dollar pro Nacht inklusive Taxen gezahlt), aber dafür von der Qualität her deutlich höher als die zwanzig Dollar billigeren Alternativen. Man hat sein eigenes Bad und WC, das Zimmer ist sehr sauber und relativ ruhig und man fühlt sich sicher. Einziges Manko für mich: fürs Wireless Internet muss man nochmal fünf Dollar zahlen, das finde ich einfach ärgerlich.

Awesome value for money. Clean rooms. Convenient location.
Perfect for me — single male traveler who wanted a safe option close to major transport.
Yes, the others are right — it is a little run down.

I recall reading some rather negative reviews of this place — some you may even consider startling, but overall, this simple hotel will likely be your biggest bang for your buck.
The room was ample, though worn down. I had no specific issues with it, and also no great expectations. This convenient spot did the trick for our short overnight before heading out to the airport.
The «concierge» was a very friendly guy too. He helped us book a reasonable and timely car service to the airport (he also had a shuttle recommendation), and was useful (though slightly inaccurate, but not in a troubling way) about the one touristy thing we wanted to do.
My room was on the second floor, and I didn’t recall significant noise, even though we were right by the elevator/​stairs. If you’re sensitive, do bring earplugs — I do recall hearing a dog barking, but that’s about it.
I also appreciate the free wifi. This hotel had the strongest of wifi signals that I’ve yet to experience in any hotel! It was apparent from my network search that the hotel had separate routers for different floors.
I’d stay here again for inexpensive convenience, but only if the stay was limited. The room has a bit to be desired, but then again, most SF hotel prices are so outrageous, you may as well just stop through here.

Location is the only saving grace. the price was about $ 20 too high for what it was but i suppose you make up for it by being a block from Union Square. The quality of this room is no better than Motel 6. From my understanding there is no parking available if you drive, but there are lots you can park at nearby. There is a Walgreen’s on the next corner and what seems to be a nice Mexican restaurant next door. They say there is wifi but i think you have to ask at the front desk. I was too lazy to get in their extremely slow elevator. I took pictures and will post soon.

Negative star!
That’s right. I gave this horrible venue a negative star. Run down, dirty, sketchy hotel with horrendously nasty rooms.
To top it all off, they charge $ 500 a night??? No thank you!
Thanks for «almost’ ruining our girls trip. We got to SF bright and early few weeks ago. It was SF marathon weekend and most hotels were booked in Union Square area. We needed 2 beds for 4 girls. You click, you check– the website is major photoshopped with no room pics.
That’s fine. If we are paying that much, we expected a decent room. Mind you, this was Not my first trip there. Maybe 20^th trip. Or even 25^th trip. So we know the prices. Given how run down it looks from outside, we decided to give it a chance. It was too early to check in, so we were told to leave our luggage next to the elevator. The guy from reception went and put a fish net on top after. So safe!
After a very long brunch, we came back and we were able to go to our «room». You think downstair was bad? Wait till you see the twilight zone of a room! Went up the creaky elevator to second room. Holy mother of skechiness. If I was paying $ 2 for a room in Thailand, maybe I should expect this. Not when I’m paying $ 500 right in the middle of SF!
It was over. We got into the dirty, dark and very very run down room. Of course, the bed sheets are dirty. And they have stains all OVER! Hair, stains and possibly bed bugs~!! This was the worst hotel experience of my LIFE! And I have been all over the world. At this point– I didn’t care how much it will cost me, I just needed to get out of there.
After calling Expedia-​Thank GOD!, we were told that we had 3 mins to get out if we want our money back. Four of us girls never ran as fast with luggage’s! Of course, we’ve already asked the front desk guy about it and he said no. But thanks to Expedia, our lives and health were saved. God knows what else is in those rooms. They need to be ashamed of themselves for letting people stay in those rooms, let alone charging them for it!

IF YOU ARE READING THiS IN THE HOTEL ROOM ALREADY, ITS NOT TO LATE.
So I booked this room a week before I had to be in San Fran. The hotel was located PERFECTLY near union square, food, shopping, ect. My boyfriend and I had an art show to attend that weekend as well. Based in the availability and area, I booked it for the price of $ 100 a night. The pictures online looked great so I went with it thinking I’m just getting good deal.
Upon our arrival at 2am in the morning the front doors were locked and the night guy opened the door. He didn’t have very good hearing but I’m not judging. I was expecting a lobby an such but it’s just a desk with the a comp. we were given a key, an actuall room key which I found strange. There is no parking so we parked in a garage for $ 34 for the weekend. The garage is perfectly located about a block down.
Once we got to our room, opened the door I immediately had to hold back my tears. It looked like a motel 6. I was expecting it to be old, maybe Victorian looking but it just looked old. A flat mattress and only 2 flat pillows. We faced Geary and being we got in at 2am, it was LOUD! I immediately starte looking for new hotels but everything was booked. I slept with my slippers on lol.
We weren’t in the hotel room much, and came back from the art show. Our TV went out, and I went an told the front desk guy, and he just gave us a new key to another hotel room. I liked that! No hassle. The room faced the alley and it was fine. It actually looked more modern than our original room.
There were protesters somewhere near at 7am both sat and Sunday morning, which drove my bf nuts, and I must say it was annoying, but you would of heard that noise from any place that is certerally located in that area.
If you are just looking for a cheap motel 6 hotel in a really centralized area, this place is for you. But if you are looking for class and comfort, head else where.

Let me start this review by saying that I am pretty low– to no-​frills traveler. I do not need a bunch of needless amenities in a hotel room. All I require is a clean place to sleep, p00p, get sexy and shower. With a lock on the door. When I am on vacation, I don’t want to spend a lot of time in the room.
Located a block off of Union Square and the major shopping district, this place is in a great location. Especially if you’re an idiot tourist who loves to walk around with shopping bags bearing the all those logos the status-​obsessed love so much. If you’re a professional tourist who goes to a city only to experience tourist traps (but no actual culture or unique regional offerings), this place is located in the middle of a gold mine. But if you’re a thrifty traveler like me, it’s a perfect location as it is right downtown and a few blocks from the Powell Street Muni and BART stations which will take you places you’d actually like to go. You can also get to/​from both airports very easily via public transit.
It’s a cheap hotel and it shows. Thankfully I got a room that faced Geary and not the dirty alley like the one pictured in this Unilocal listing. It was mostly quiet and I slept pretty easily. Also this could just be because I was passed out drunk nightly, too. But who can say? The room itself was pretty standard issue cheap hotel. Again, just a place to hang your hat. Not for entertaining or impressing anyone. What the room lacked (shampoo, an alarm clock, any semblance of a giving a toss), it made up for in price (about $ 150 for two nights, purchased through Orbitz).
The «Staff» consists of one guy sitting at the front desk and some cleaning ladies. They seem less than enthused to be there and it shows! But it’s not like I to be overly brown-​nosed or anything. I just find it amusing when folks in the hospitality industry don’t seem particularly hospitable. On the upside, I called down to inquire about how to get on the paid wifi signal and he’s like, «Yeah, you have to pay. But it’s the holiday season so I’ll give you password.» For once, I can benefit from someone’s laziness and apathy!
I’ve stayed in worse hotels and though my experience was not horrible, I dunno if I am «recommending» it or not. But I will say that if you want to be somewhat centrally located and you don’t want to spend a lot of money on lodging, this place is pretty bearable. At least it doesn’t have that musty «hotel illness» smell like a lot of places do.
If it’s luxury you want, this is not the place. It if’s a good location at a cheap price with a lock on the door, then it’s doable.