About this stay
I have booked a series of one-night stays at hotels close to home to review for my readers, and next up is Taj Campton Place. I was intrigued by this hotel for a few reasons:
- It is one of only 2 Taj hotels in the US, the other being the Pierre in New York
- The hotel has a Michelin-starred restaurant
- It is one of the least expensive hotels in San Francisco on American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts
Booking this stay
I booked this stay through American Express Fine Hotels and Resorts to receive the following benefits:
- 12pm check-in when available
- Room upgrade upon arrival, when available
- Daily breakfast for two
- Complimentary wifi
- Guaranteed 4pm late check out
- $100 property credit to be used during my stay
The cash rate for the base room was $215 per night when I booked my stay about a month in advance.
Stockton Street deluxe room
I arrived at the hotel a little before 2pm and my room was ready, which I appreciated and attributed to booking through AMEX. I booked the base room, a Union Square deluxe room, but was double upgraded to a Stockton Street deluxe room on the 12th floor.
The room was a decent size, but the interior decor was wildly uninspiring and felt very dated. It featured a king-size bed, desk and cute window seat. Thankfully, the bedroom was pretty comfortable. My view was of the Grand Hyatt across the street, but if I peered to the left I could see Union Square. The windows could have used some cleaning. 😅
The bathroom had a single vanity, toilet and large tub. The closet/storage was also located in the bathroom. The showering experience was odd because I had to step into the bathtub, which was raised pretty high up from the bathroom floor. I am 5’8” and my head basically hit the shower head and I could easily touch the ceiling. I think anyone taller than me would struggle with this shower set up.
The light on my nightstand didn’t work, which was disappointing since the room already felt pretty dark. I found the location of the hotel to be loud, noisy so there was a lot of street noise as well as thin walls when neighbors closed doors or the elevator rang. There room was tired and not entirely clean either, which contributed to it not feeling like a luxury stay.
Hotel property
This hotel has a small footprint. On the ground level Stockton street entrance, there is a check in desk, small lobby seating area and the hotel bar.
On the 9th floor, is the fitness terrace. I’m not sure if this was something they implemented during COVID, but I love working out outdoors and was happy to see they had a peloton bike.
The main Michelin-starred restaurant, where breakfast and dinner is served, has an entrance through the hotel bar as well as outside and around the corner on Campton Place. I learned the chef behind the Michelin-starred restaurant a the hotel has left and just opened a more casual Indian restaurant, Copra, on Fillmore street in the Pacific Heights neighborhood of the city. I’m looking forward to eating there soon!
Service
Service was always friendly, but not super helpful. Online, the website says they offer a pillow menu and bath menu. When I spoke to both guest service and housekeeping, they weren’t able to produce either, which was disappointing.
Food and beverage
I ordered room service dinner and breakfast during my stay. Here is the menu that was in my room on the desk:
For dinner, I had a classic cesar salad with grilled avocado, the butter chicken and a strawberry sundae for dessert. The food was good, not great.
For breakfast, I started by trying the coffee and prepackaged muffins in the lobby. It reminded me of bad conference coffee. I actually went to the Starbucks right next door for my coffee instead. Back in the room, I ordered the eggs Benedict with tomato, avocado and spinach which was tasty.
Considerations
To be honest, I’m not sure why someone would pick this hotel when staying in San Francisco. The location is good if you want to be close to Union Square, but that’s about it. They are a part of the Taj Hotel Group’s loyalty program, but with only 2 hotels in the US I’d pick another hotel group for acquiring or using points.
2 Responses
Was there a reason you weren’t tempted to take one of your meals in the restaurant? Your comments about the property seem fair but many of the hotels around Union Sq are very tired. Food is often the tie breaker for me and room service is an imperfect proxy for quality in the dining room.
I agree that dining experience in the hotel restaurant is different than room service. I am not dining indoors right now, so I can’t speak to dining at Taj Campton Place restaurant but I was definitely tempted!