The Phoenix Hotel

The staff were very helpful and responsive. The vibes were on point. The only thing is that your in a rough part of downtown but that’s not really their fault and didn’t bother me cause the hotel felt like it’s own little bubble separate from its immediate surroundings. I definitely will stay here again. Loved it!

Welcome to the Tenderloin. It has a load of people down on their luck who need their own space, have drug issues and don’t have a home. If you want leafy suburbs, take your dull life elsewhere. This area has some of the coolest bars in San Francisco, and I think it's the coolest hotel on the west coast. Certainly better than #33 on Trip Advisor. (At the time of this review). There are 2 theories on how the Tenderloin got it's name: The soft underbelly of immorality, corruption and sin in SF, OR what the cops spent their meat money on as there were paid a bonus to patrol it. I think it's both. What a place! Safe, enclosed and a true oasis bang in the middle of San Francisco, so everywhere is equidistant to travel to. We 'slept' in room 42, shown in the picture. A balcony room with fridge, espresso machine and microwave. Free WiFi was strong and fast. We had a balcony out the front as well were we could watch the mad Tenderloin streets at night. Loved it. The 24 hour front desk made you feel safe as houses, and the same day laundry service was a god-send. We stayed during the week, so didn't really catch Chambers Bar & Restaurant, but it opened the last night and looked really cool with the vinyl records stacked across the walls and most tables outside were full so book in advance! The heated pool was epic. We dipped / swam twice a day in the morning and after the 30 degree heat days before we hit the bars in the evening. The dressing gowns made the pool visit even nicer. One night we had Coit Tower Poetry Club performing (I think) while we chilled in the pool early evening. So SF, as we love North Beach. Outta Sight Pizza is just round the corner. You HAVE to try their pesto slice.Thin, crispy and full of flavour. I can still taste it. Awesome staff. Every time I ordered slices, we got 1 free. Maybe because we were from outta town? The Phoenix has free filter coffee in reception, but if you want something more, Philz Coffee is just 5 mins away. They also have some cool merch in reception if you want to take a bit of it home. Robert on the front desk (I hope I've got his name right) who used to work at Amoeba was such an awesome guy. My wife slept in longer than me, so we had some great conversations over coffee each morning in reception. He was really knowledgeable about the area, and everything music, basically. Made us feel like house guests rather than hotel residents. The original 'motel' features were everywhere. As a famous Nottingham author once wrote: 'Life is for living'. Stay here!