Washington Square Inn

The site said free breakfast and there wasn’t any breakfast at all.

What’s to like?
No a/c. No elevator.
Moldy shower.
The toilet paper is John Wayne toilet paper - it’s rough, tough and it doesn’t take shit off of anyone.

I found it absurd that there was never a human being present at all during my stay, aside from the housekeeper (who by the way only speaks Spanish; fortunately I am rusty but can communicate in Spanish myself.) I used to stay in this hotel and recommended it to friends and family when I lived on Telegraph Hill in the 1980s and 1990s. There were fewer rooms then but each was comfortably furnished and had some character. Now the rooms are smaller and spartan in furnishings, with not even a chair to sit in or a desk to write on.

No parking on site

we got bedbugs here… it’s an expensive flophouse. and the automated room and build access locks you out long before checkout time

Check in was extremely stressful because of open key technology glitches and learning curve to use. Everything else was terrific but it was terrible. Didn’t get code to open door because system had wrong phone number then couldn’t figure out how to download app, then didn’t know how to pint my phone correctly to make it work. Another gust cane to pursue.tell people to point top of phone at door. Being able to reach someone by phone for help was appreciated though. Then I paid for late. Heck out but door didn’t open again. Open key sucks.

It would have been nice if there was front of house presence but it didn’t detract from our enjoyment overall. It is very expensive but everywhere in the city was.

Thin walls (could literally hear the neighbors zipping up their suitcases. Some areas could use some attention (new caulking in the shower needed, soap dish had multiple chips) but overall a very cute place.

Personally, I like to be greeted at hotels by real people, but this is completely contactless, which I knew, and it was fine. It's an older building, so if you have an upstairs room, it's 28 steps every time you come or go, which is also fine if you are not disabled in any way. Parking was a few blocks away at the North Beach Garage ($35 per night) and was reasonably priced for the city. I asked to have two chairs in the room, and there were two metal folding chairs provided-it was comical! We paid for the Junior Suite, which is the highest level room, and were hoping to have a table and chairs in the room, or some sort of desk situation. There are no refrigerators or coffee makers in the rooms (Costco coffee is provided in the lobby (no decaf)), and the mattress did not fit the bed frame. There was about five inches of the wooden bed frame on each side of the mattress to navigate when getting in and out of bed and to bang the back of your legs on. That was actually the worst part. Also, it was very noisy because our windows were open (no AC) and there is a bar next door. To be fair, there were World Cup games being played and it was the biggest Pride Weekend. These are things you should know, but they shouldn't necessarily stop you from booking, because the location is exceptional.

Corridor could be noisy

We have old technology and the "Open key" app took a long time to open the door. Couldn't share the app with my partner so we had to ensure we were together when returning to hotel

Lighting could be better.