Review: Serrano Hotel San Francisco

While planning our trip to San Francisco I put the call out on Twitter for recommendations and was told that @Kimpton would be a great choice. Just as soon as I replied to the referrer, Kimpton was adding me on Twitter and I setting up my reservation. I ended up booking our stay with the Serrano Luxury Boutique Hotel as Duane and Dale had already reserved a room there. However, Kimpton has over half a dozen boutique hotels in San Francisco alone so there were definitely many options available.

I came to learn that each Kimpton Hotel has a theme and for the Serrano it was “fun and games”. Our hotel mini bar had an etch-a-sketch, cards, a yo-yo, and a wooden snake puzzle that had me going for days until Duane solved it before we left.

The room for John and I was amazing to say the least. We had a big king-sized bed, minibar, iPod clock radio, and a LCD TV in the bedroom then in the living room we had a desk/workstation, another entertainment center, another fridge, and a hide-a-bed couch. The wifi was also complimentary if you signed up for Kimpton’s In Touch program although it wasn’t very speedy for us at times.

The bathroom was huge as well, complete with a jacuzzi tub, leopard print robes, Aveda products and a digital scale. John and I ended up stopping by the Lush store in Union Square to pick up a bath bomb so we could make the most of the tub after walking around the city all afternoon (a custom we enjoyed when we stayed on Saltspring).

Down in the lobby, which had elegant decor mixed with lots of seating space, there was a wine reception each evening at 5:00pm. Boardgames were stationed around tables, armchairs and couches including Scrabble, Life, backgammon, Sorry, checkers, chess, and there was plenty of opportunities to simply relax and enjoy the atmosphere… in the hotel lobby — which I know sounds strange but it really worked.

On Sunday Dale scooped up Jenga and we had a fun tournament in our room (where I believe I became the grand Jenga master champion… by beating Dale who beat everyone else).

The location was good, however if you’re walking there at night from the BART station I would recommend taking certain routes over others. We walked pretty much everywhere and were able to catch the cable car a few times to get to further points of interest so it was definitely conveniently located.

I was offered a tour of the hotel however schedules didn’t match up (my bad) but everyone I dealt with that the hotel and the company was very pleasant.

Tired from a few days of walking for hours on end (and conquering hills, my goodness the hills) Duane inquired about transportation to the airport when we were checking out. The concierge listed several detailed options and we all decided to take a town car to the airport. Sure, BART would have been under $10 each but for $15 each we would get to sit back, relax, and enjoy a relaxing ride. When the driver pulled up to the hotel it turns out he was taking his brand new luxury van for a spin so for the same price we got to enjoy its comforts for our final journey through town. This included iPod jacks (with bluetooth headphones), digital television, XM radio, cushy leather seats and candy – yes, candy.

The experience at the Serrano made it seem like much more than a simple room to store our stuff, with a bed to rest our heads. We were able to invite our friends up for games nights but also have our own relaxing time together in a quiet room.

Next time we’re in San Francisco I would definitely stay with a Kimpton Hotel – or lookup a Kimpton if we’re traveling elsewhere in North America. We had amazing pastries at the cafe under the Hotel Triton, John Biehler had a good stay at the Harbor Court, and the Hotel Palomar‘s bustling location was appealing. In Vancouver, Kimpton operates the Pacific Palisades Hotel off Robson. Kimpton Hotels are also pet-friendly.