Tablet Plus
Hotel Rex
562 Sutter Street, San Francisco, CA, USA
Neighborhood: Union Square
Check availability as rates may vary for dates. Best rate guaranteed.
Those who aren’t fans of the 1930s detective stories may be unaware that San Francisco is the original hardboiled town. San Francisco crime had class—dames in silk stockings offering you two hundred to knock off tiresome husbands. Well, the Hotel Rex hasn’t forgotten this city’s past. With its leather club chairs, and marble busts just heavy enough to clock someone with, the lobby is strictly Dashiell Hammett. A San Francisco native, he dreamt up your original tough guys—Sam Spade and Nick Charles—and was a hard-drinking ex-detective himself. Not since the Maltese Falcon have you felt such an urge to don a fedora.
In contrast to many small hotels (this one is ninety-four rooms) the Rex is masculine, especially in the bedrooms. Plaid and stripes dominate the wallpaper, curtains, and bedspreads, the lampshades are hand-painted with reductive designs, and the room is framed in dark wood. No canopies or bed frills here: palm plants serve as decoration.
When Chip Conley (the man behind the rock-and-roll Phoenix hotel) first took over the neglected 1907 institution, he envisioned a literary hotel similar to the 1920s Algonquin. The lobby is stuffed with books and 1930s art, quotes from Steinbeck and Hammett line the corridors, and the bar is called the Vicious Circle (an Algonquin reference). The San Francisco literary scene converges here frequently to do readings.
The Rex has much charm. It represents a bold, blocky, stylized world—and staying there might make you dream in black and white. When you consider the shorts, sandals, and cell phones that define San Francisco today, it’s strange to think that once upon a time, this was a place of hard Scotch, cigarette smoke, and loaded Colts. Except, perhaps, if you stay up until dawn and watch the city fog roll menacingly in.
- Complimentary upgrade upon hotel check-in, based upon availability
- One complimentary glass of champagne or one cocktail, per guest, upon arrival
- Guaranteed 11am check-in
- Complimentary daily breakfast per guest (a value of $15 per guest per day)
- 94 Rooms
- Style: Cutting-Edge
- Atmosphere: Lively
- 103 Guest Reviews
- Hotel Rex
- 562 Sutter Street
- San Francisco, CA, USA
- Neighborhood: Union Square
Hotel amenities and services
- 100% non-smoking hotel
- 24 hour concierge
- 24 hour front desk
- 24 hour medical assistance
- Babysitting (on request)
- Bar
- Bicycle rentals nearby
- Business center
- Central air conditioning
- Free wi-fi
- Golf nearby
- Lounge
- Multi-lingual staff
- Offsite gym facilities
- Pets allowed (charges apply)
- Restaurant
- Room service
- Shopping area nearby
- Spa treatments (on request)
- Valet parking (charges apply)
- Wake-up service
Other San Francisco Bay Area hotels
103 Guest Reviews
All reviews are from Tablet guests with verified stays.
-
- Philip
- Stayed October 2011
- Rating: Fair
What I liked:
Staff was friendly, the bar area quaint and cozy.
What the hotel could do better:
Rooms are very small. Not sure what can be done....
-
- EMILY
- Stayed August 2011
- Rating: Poor
What I liked:
not much I guess rooms were not small
What the hotel could do better:
I actually found the whole hotel rather depressing.
-
- KEVIN
- Stayed April 2011
- Rating: Excellent
What I liked:
Atmosphere, people, location.
What the hotel could do better:
Nothing, had a wonderful stay!
