Hilton Garden Inn San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge

Location

Location

I am a Hilton Honors Diamond member, and as such I enjoy staying at different properties throughout the Hilton portfolio. Travelling to the Bay Area on Amtrak this property looked to be convenient to the Emeryville station, so I chose it.

A few days before my stay, I was upgraded. The upgrade was a "city view" room which faces the Bay and thus San Francisco. Not really an upgrade to me, given the fact that I'm did not travel from my home on the East Coast to stare out a window at water and a city skyline. As I always do, I checked-in and chose my room via the Hilton app the day before arrival.

The problem I had upon getting off my Amtrak train was the walk over there. The Emeryville station is on the east side of the tracks, and the hotel is a couple blocks west of it, and on the other side of a freeway underpass. Powell Street goes over the tracks on a bridge, and there are signs directing pedestrians to a parallel pedestrian crossing on the same bridge. Following those signs leads one to a huge stairway, which was very hard to negotiate with a heavy suitcase. And then after crossing over the tracks, another huge stairway down to ground level. And underneath the overpass, well you can imagine that homeless people call that home so one has to deal with that unpleasantness as well. Then to cross Christie Avenue, there are no crosswalks, but signs directing you to go a block north, cross, and then return south to Powell, making the trip even longer. Then you have to cross the intersection where traffic enters and leaves the freeway, and walk underneath the overpass before getting closer to the hotel. Overall, it is a walk that is not for the weak or faint-hearted, so readers should keep all of that in mind.

For the stay itself, I had no issues with the room. It took a while for me to cool it down from the setting sun (remember the room faces west), but it became comfortable in an hour or two. This hotel was also chosen because I had inquired about whether they had availability of guest laundry, and they did. Unfortunately, there is only one washer and one dryer, which means not many people can do their wash at once. While I didn't have to wait, two other parties wanted came along and were waiting for mine to finish. They need a bigger room and more machines.

I found the room to be ample size, no problems with TV, WiFi, or the climate control once I got the air conditioner cranking for a while. The bathroom had enough space to put down my toiletries, and no issues with hot water.

And that "City View"? It was foggy so the view wasn't a view at all. Weather is not the hotel's fault, but I'm glad I didn't pay more for a room with a view had I expected to enjoy that feature.

In the morning, I had a long busy day, and my travels began on BART, not Amtrak, so I wisely summoned Uber and was on my way in a few minutes.

Overall the hotel is in a good location, but the obstacle course I had to walk from Amtrak made that part of my trip a challenge. Not any fault of the property, but future travelers should not be misled by how close the hotel looks to the station.

Comfortable bed

the view and the room was fine

Access accessibility

Очень чисто. В номере есть все необходимое. Вкусный ужин.

Location was great.

I love that i asked for a room upgrade and they granted it for free. It was very near Amtrak Emeryville and I could have walked! Also the hotel was near a Denny's Ross, Trader Joe's, etc. and most importantly a beautiful trail that is about 2.8 miles long.

The staff was super nice. It was quiet and clean