TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

I spent two nights at the Hilton Union Square in order to attend a conference. Reading the prior reviews, I was a little concerned, but everything turned out fine. This is a very large hotel with multiple towers. My room was in Tower 1, the high-rise building, and had a fantastic of San Francisco. The furnishings and bathroom felt dated, but everything was clean. A large TV and tablet seemed to be the most modern amenities. The conference rooms were pretty nice and catering (breakfast, lunch, snacks) was decent. I checked-out the fitness center, which was mostly cardio machines and seemed on the small side for a hotel with 1,900 rooms. My biggest issue with the Hilton is the location. It's just NOT good. The hotel borders the infamous Tenderloin neighborhood, which is unfortunately populated by many homeless and drug-addicted individuals. The streets around the Hilton had very little foot traffic, even in the middle of the day. Union Square wasn't very busy either. I was wondering what happened to San Francisco since COVID, as it was a vibrant city when I visited in 2018. My interaction with staff was limited, only at check-in and check-out, but they were very friendly. I hope that San Francisco continues to recover from it's pandemic slump, because this is a beautiful city.

Great service provided. Everything was pretty quick when requested. It made the trip easier as I was staying at this hotel with my family especially with my kid they quickly provided the best room possible and crib as well. I would recommend this hotel to everyone.

Checked in by a very friendly welcoming Faye/Shay (can't remember her name exactly but she was lovely!) had a room with a great view which we were glad of as the Cityscape was closed for renovation. Beds were comfy, room on the whole was fine but did need a bit of TLC (paint flaking off in the bathroom, mould in sink area etc). Hotel was within walking distance of shops like Macys, Trader Joes etc, cinema, theater, and lots of decent restaurants incl chains such as McDs and the Cheesecake Factory. I know some reviews have said to be wary of the hotels location, so we tried to avoid turning left into the Tenderloin because of this but streets away from the hotel and there were still several homeless people around. They never bothered us but we did feel a bit uneasy, so walked around in the day but used Ubers at night. We also came across homeless people down at Fishermans Wharf that were more intimidating so it's not just this area!

Professional, friendly staff. Enjoyed our stay. Patti at the Concierge desk was especially nice and helpful - thank you! Clean room, great views. Enjoyed the Lobby Bar but wished it was open longer hours on several days. Good location. Liked having a coffee shop / convenience store on the property.

Comfortable, spacious room and a lovely pool. However, there were isues with our stay which unfortunatey made the overall experience disappointing. The main issue with this hotel is that it feels like they are looking for ways to extort more money out of you-this just feels a bit seedy for the Hilton name. When we checked in for our two night stay, we were charged a daily $35 resort fee, which with tax, works out at $41.50 a night. However the real clincher comes with a mandatory $35 a night fee that must be paid regardless, but can be used as credit in the hotel bars and restaurants. If you don't spend it, you don't get it back. Sounds a bit poor (but swalloable) on paper but the breakfast is far more than this for two and an individual sandwich in the hotel shop is $17 before tax. Basically, you have to spend out in their shops on top of the room cost and the resort fee. In total for two nights this came to $150 in extra costs, which is absolutely ridiculous. Check out time came around and a long line of people were queueing up to have a whinge. Make sure you ask for an itemised invoice and don't be afraid to query it—they made a mistake on my bill (overcharged by $7) and I had to ask them to correct it. Other issues include the lifts not going to all floors, so if one arrives that is no good, you have to send it to a different floor and call a different lift. There are homeless people all around the hotel. Finally the hall outside our room wasn't cleaned for two days. In all the room was nice but we just felt ripped off because of all the extra costs. Make sure to factor these in and consider them before you book here.