The rooms are pretty standard, plenty of space, a desk, lounge chair and older style televisions. One of the positives is you do get free internet, but it is extremely slow, so don't plan on attaching or sending large files. Overall the rooms are quiet, but the walls are not as sound proof as in better hotels, so you might hear your neighbor from time to time. The hotel's overall construction is concrete, so you wont hear anything from above or below.
The Radisson, does have a restaurant called Xebec in the lobby. I would say it is average, especially for the price. If all of their entree's were about $5 less, I would say it's a good deal. Just keep in mind there is much better food in San Francisco and farther south.
If you are looking to walk to a restaurant from the hotel, then this is not the place. There are no other food options in the area without getting in the car or calling a taxi, so be aware of that.
For my first night in town, my friend from Southern California gave me a call and let me know she was in San Francisco. We met up and headed to E&O Trading Company, just Northwest of Union Square. The restaurant has New Age Southeast Asia Cuisine. The interior reminds me of a Tiki Bar or something along the lines of Trader Vic's. We ate at the bar since the restaurant was surprisingly crowded for a Monday night. We ordered the Indonesian Corn Fritters, Salt and Pepper Calamari and the Prawn Satay. I had been to this restaurant about three weeks back and had similar items including the Chinese Five-Spice Chicken Rolls, Beef Short Rib Sliders and the Dan Dan Noodles. I would say, everything is very good and the atmosphere is inviting. The Corn Fritters were the most interesting thing on the menu, they look like potato cakes, but are made with the whole kernel of the corn and deep fried. They are very light and airy, but have a good salty/buttery flavor. The place is not cheap, our tab was $60 for two people, including tip and the average plate costs $15. I would say if the food ranged in price from $7-$12 it would be worth it, but considering its location, I would call it average.
Tuesday, my business partner and I worked quite late. He was feeling like some Italian food, so we tried to go to Flour and Water in the Mission District, we walked in and were told there was a 45 minute wait. We opted to try someplace different. I checked Open Table and found an Italian Restaurant named Specchio about 1/2 mile away also in the Mission. It received good reviews and was able to take us immediately. The menu was concise, but everything sounded good and was reasonably priced. My coworker had the Fettucine Al Norcina and I had the special which was a Penne pasta in Vodka Sauce with Pancetta. Dinner came with ciabbata bread and olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The bread was great, soft and fresh. Our entrees came out very quickly, both the pasta dishes were cooked perfectly, the pasta was not mushy and still a little al'dente. What I remembered the most was that both of the sauces seemed light and not heavily made with cream. The amount of food was just about right and didn't leave you feeling stuffed. For dessert, we ordered the Tiramisu and the Bread Pudding. Our waitress said it was the best Tiramisu ever and that the bread pudding was their specialty. My coworker had the tiramisu and although he said it was good, it wasn't as good as when he was in Italy. I had the bread pudding which was very good, it was not overly sugary like most are. The bread still had some firmness too it and was not soaked in sauce. The vanilla gellato on top was nice and clean tasting and mellowed everything out. Overall a very good find, with drinks, dinner and desert costing $50 including tip.
Wednesday was uneventful, I hadn't eaten lunch, wanted pizza and decided that is what I wanted for dinner. I didn't want to go out, so I ordered from Papa Johns, picked it up on my way back to the hotel along with a 6-Pack of Anchor Steam and called it a night. Craving conquered.
Thursday, my wife came in to town for a company event on Friday night, so I checked out of the Radisson and checked into the Hotel Monaco right off of Union Square. This place was great, check in experience was easy, the desk staff is extremely helpful and always wiling to offer suggestions for those that are too timid to ask. My reservation, while I thought included a complimentary breakfast apparently did not. When I asked the clerk, she apologized for the error on their website and provided coupons for the breakfast anyway. Also if you follow Kimpton Hotels on Twitter, they send out a monthly "word." We mentioned it at check-in and received coupons for four free glasses of wine or four free cocktails during our stay. The room was very nice. We were put on the seventh floor in an interior facing room. The decor is very bright although my wife did not like the canopy accents. Definitely a good sized room for being in the city. Overall very comfortable and very quiet. My wife also noticed there was never enough hot showers when she took a shower, which was a downside, but would not stop us from staying there again. One note about this hotel, upon reading reviews, many people complained about the the exterior facing rooms, although having a nice view they were quite noisy. Our room was like sitting in a sound vault and was worth not having the view.
Thursday night we decided to eat in the restaurant adjoining the hotel. It was called the Grand Cafe Barasserie and Bar. The restaurant is very impressive, with high ceilings, beautiful mosaic work on the columns, huge chandeliers, and great service, but that is where it ends. My wife ordered the chicken and I had the Petrale Sole Special. The menu is not cheap, so I expected some above average food. My wife's chicken, although she said it was "O.K." was the size of a pigeon and was pretty dry. My Petrale Sole, was pretty flavorless. We had no drinks or dessert and the bill came to $67. The ambiance did not make up for the $25 we overpaid for the meal. From what I hear, the food in the bar during happy hour is much better. We tried that the following evening and were more satisfied with the result although an appetizer and dessert came up to $24. Overall a bust.
Friday was a much better day. Work as usual is a little slow so I went out with a couple of the folks on site and had lunch at Red's Java House. This place is not a coffee shack and is not for the weary of heart when it comes to grease. Everything is good at this place. The fish and chips are huge fillets of fish and the burgers are served on grilled San Francisco sourdough with onions and mustard (No lettuce or tomato offered or even available). You definitely need to grab a couple more napkins than usual. Even better, this place is right on the Emarcadero, has an outdoor patio, views of the Bay Bridge and has free parking!!! Even better instead of the standard burger, fries and a drink combos, Red's offers Burger and Anchor Steam combo's. My kind of place.
For dinner, the wife and I headed to Burger Bar on the 6th floor of the Macy's in Union Square for Happy Hour snacks. Burger Bar is a Hubert Keller restaurant, the same chef who owns Fleur De Lys. This place essentially is a burger only restaurant (hence the name "Burger Bar"), best part about it is that you can custom create your own burgers and milkshakes with the multitudes of options available from the menu. We were just there for happy hour, so we didn't order any full size burgers. We had the sliders, mozzarella sticks and thick fries. Appetizers are $5 during happy hour (4-6PM) and all draft beers are 50% off. The place seemed not so crowded plus you get great views of Union Square. All the appetizers were average, nothing special, although quite reasonable. Prices for the entree's seemed reasonable as well, definitely a place to try if you are just looking for something predictable that you know won't disappoint. Funny quote of the night at Burger Bar from the table next to us, "So what is good here?" Waiter replies, "Well, we have good burgers..."
The evening finished off with my wife and I attending the Giant's - Dodgers game at AT&T park, good seats, good game and it was all free.
It's just another week in San Francisco...
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