Baldwin Hotel

Wanted to like it more. Maybe 3.5 stars. The location is wonderful and close to many things. Tons of restaurants of all different price ranges. Tons of shopping and not far from tourist attractions, especially China Town. In this respect you cant go wrong. I do think this place is trying to be an «in» boutique hotel but it isn’t quite there yet. Still needs some more updating and sprucing up to the furniture and perhaps the lobby/​check-​in area. The one elevator is a bit frustrating during check out time but this is an easy inconvenience to overlook. My biggest frustration was the total lack of ability to control the climate in the room. Turn on the fan or open the window, and as someone else stated but there is LOTS of noise from the street and especially the alley. Lots of bottles being thrown in a dumpster is one of the loudest noises. Also, if you want to watch any TV while laying around, the channel selection is VERY limited and almost not worth having. I will say the room was small and quaint and everything was clean and in working order. I did however find it weird that the hair dryer is attached in the dresser drawer so you have to open the dresser and dry your hair outside of the bathroom. Really can’t figure out why they would do this. Again, the location was awesome

Wow – love this cute little hotel at the gate to chinatown. Easy check-​in and staff was friendly. Yes, there is street noise — but you will get that at ANY hotel downtown. It wasn’t much of a bother. Clean, neat room, small bath – but it worked fine for the 2 of us. Wish I had a King bed.
Go check it out.

Nice and polite stuff. Fast chek-​in. Clean and cozy rooms. But it was bad smell in a hallway. Parking is extra 30 $.

This is a beautiful little hotel that sits in upscale Union Square about a block from the famous gates to Little China. I had low expectations because of the price (which was by far the most reasonable of any that I looked at), but was blown away by how well kept and quaint this little spot is.
It’s an old building that has been updated and maintained well through the years, and I know that in other cities this kind of place would be regarded as a «boutique hotel».
The room service did a great job and the front desk staff are extremely helpful with directions and tips for enjoying the area. The location is just perfect, with hundreds of incredible restaurant options nearby in every price range. Chinatown has the best food and is only a short walk away, and Starbucks is practically next door.
5 stars for the great experience that is the Baldwin Hotel!

Great location for this hotel. I would go back just for the location. Parking is a bit complicated but they take care of it for you, which is really nice. The staff was a bit slow and they weren’t very accommodating even after I made multiple requests before our stay. Overall, we had a great time and it was perfect for what our group was looking for. It is a short walk to Union Square and very accessible via public transportation.

I love staying at this hotel. I’ve traveled to San Francisco for work about every week in the last 2 months. and I am always excited about my stays at the Baldwin. It can be quite noisy because of the location, but I didn’t mind the noise so much. I was pleased with the street view from the window. The bathrooms are very very clean which is important to me. My rooms are also quite roomy and very comfortable. The housekeeping staff here is great. The customer service is always great as well. I’ve always had the most courteous and helpful experiences with the staff. The rooms don’t have temperature control, but the hotel is great about bringing up a space heater for me. The location is amazing, right at the mouth of chinatown, and walking distance to Belden Alley and other great foods as well as shopping! It’s one of the most convenient locations. In comparison to other hotels I’ve stayed at on my business trips to San Fran, the Baldwin is my favorite.
If I could, I’d stay at the baldwin all the time.

Great location if you’re headed to SF’s Chinatown, but that’s about it. The rooms have poor sound insulation. I can hear whenever my neighbor was using his bathroom. I also heard everything that was happening on the street below, too. The room itself felt a bit too incommodious. And the promised high-​speed Internet? False advertising. Thank goodness my Karma pocket WIFI worked. No slippers and I was condescendingly told by the Mainland Chinese import manning the front desk: «In America, you don’t get free slippers.» Right. The same guy also told me to get hot water and ice at the lobby if I was concerned about the safety of the water from the tap. No complimentary breakfast either; just free coffee and tea. For the same price or even much less, there are other hotels in the area that offer far better perks and service to guests. Definitely my first and last time here.

I have to give the Baldwin 5 Stars because of the staff (Beyond helpful is an understatement!), its so close to everything, China town (across the street), Union Square down the street, totally affordable and so much more.
I sent all my friends kudos about this hotel! If you are thinking about spending time in SF, then stay at the Baldwin Hotel!

4 of us stayed in the double room on a Saturday night, the room was small as to be expected in a old hotel. It was very clean and recently painted, with a claw foot tub/​shower, sound proof windows and great pillows! It was very quiet! The front desk attendant, Victor was very helpful and polite. We used the valet service which was $ 45 with tax and were able to keep our car there till 5 the next day with unlimited access to it. It is located nearby to a lot of shopping and cafés as well as down the street from the china town gate. We really enjoyed our stay and will be back!

So, I REALLY want to give this place 4 stars, but I didn’t have a great night.
The location is very central. The staff were really nice. The room was a good size, clean with new fixtures and furniture. The bathroom is small, but was just fine for me. I agree with another reviewer that it would be nice to have the fan on a separate switch. There is an iPod/​player radio alarm clock and plenty of plugs to charge your tech devices. It’s one of the few less expensive hotels to have a laptop sized safe — which was a plus. The wifi had 5-​bars and was easy to connect.
My room was next to the lift, which wasn’t noisy with human noise, but the noise of the lift going up and down kept me from falling asleep. The ceiling fan was welcome but rattled — also keeping me awake. Speaking of being awake, the sanitation department of San Francisco are night-​owls and collect the rubbish between 3am and 4am by the hotel. Yep — you guessed it… awake for another hour or so…
The only other observation I have is that although the coffee in the lobby saves them from having coffee machines in all the rooms, it doesn’t appear to be replenished in the evening — so what is there is cold.

This is a quite little hotel inside a large building. They do a good job of running the place. But the rooms are small if that is not your thing. They are clean and well kept though. The lobby is pretty basic but who hangs out in the lobby. The prices are ok but they often are on travel deal websites and if you get them its a good deal. The elevator can be a bit loud so ask for a room away from it. They are very nice and will hold your bags after checkout.

We found several things that make the Baldwin Hotel a standout. The location is excellent if, like us, you like to explore by foot or via public transportation. The room was quite spacious and impeccably clean. I appreciated the roomy bathroom with plenty of counter space.
We also found a few of things that make it highly unlikely that we would return. The wi-​fi was not at all reliable, but not a deal breaker. The lack of light-​proofing with the draperies was a major problem. We travel often, and live in a major city with lots of lot light pollution. The draperies on a rod with no blackout backing or shade do little to darken rooms across the street from stores that have lights blazing all night. We used rubber bands to attach the fabric to the hold back hardware and that helped a bit. Fortunately, we had sleep masks with us. The noise is another problem. Mostly from delivery and garbage trucks. Finally, the mattress was poor. It was on the lumpy side. A decent mattress pad might have helped; the one on the bed was rather thin and worn. Neither of us got a decent night’s sleep during our stay.

So here’s the deal — all in all we were pleased with the hotel. For a much lower price than anything else in the area, we got a decent room steps from Chinatown, Union Square and everything San Francisco has to offer. The bed was comfy, the tub is great and the views were decent. Service was also on par with our expectations.
However, there are some pretty big downsides to staying here. Wifi basically doesn’t work. There’s no air conditioning, which would have been awful had we been in the summer. It was noisy which made it a bit harder to get a good, restful sleep. And the rooms are small, even for a big city hotel.
So — a decent choice, but nothing more than that.

This is an inexpensive little hotel at the entrance to China town. I was pleased with the facilities. It has been refurbished nicely. No A/​C in the room, but there was a ceiling fan. We were on the 6^th floor and there was a lot of noise from the street. It was a great neighborhood, though. Plenty of food options right down stairs, close to great shopping. Great service at the garage where the hotel has a contract for parking.
The service at the hotel was also (mostly) great: friendly and efficient from all staff members. Our towel animal was adorable. :) The 3 stars on service is for what I surmise to be insufficient staffing. We wanted to have the front desk /​concierge order a cab. I tried at least twice (several minutes apart) on three different extensions to get anyone from the front desk to answer and nothing. I have never stayed at a hotel where I couldn’t get anyone to answer the phone. I actually thought that our phone might have been faulty so I asked when I got downstairs. The guy at the front desk said he saw us calling, but he was busy. I knew I wasn’t staying at the Ritz, but I thought that incident was rather lame.
Other than that one incident, I did enjoy the stay well enough, but next time I will choose one of the other «boutique» hotels that I’ve used before in SF.

A small hotel right in front of the Chinatown gate. The staff were incredibly nice and mostly accomodated our needs. We were there from Tuesday til Saturday.
Our room was on the very top floor. I was hoping a large room because of the location. Like a suite. I opened our door and wow is it small! My small bedroom at home was bigger than the Baldwin’s.
Our view sucked. Faced north onto another building rooftop with someone’s personal garden and super rumbling loud industrial AC unit. That thing was on all night. Literally. And some random dudes walking up there peeking into our window.
There were some amenities that we specifically requested but the hotel would not help us out.
I’d probably stay at a different hotel next time. Something more convenient. Overall, though not impressed, my experience was okay for a cheap hotel. It was clean however.

I loved the towel animals haha. It’s the little pleasures in life. I also had a great view from my window, so these were the best parts of my stay.
Very friendly and helpful staff. The gentleman there instructed me how to turn the ancient heater on, then I never figured it out but they would have sent someone up to help me.
Quiet place in general, with a really tiny elevator. Rooms are in okay condition, I didn’t like how small and cramped my bathroom was though. I barely had room at at the sink and I’m not gigantic. However, I did like the quaint bear claw tub.

Great little place to stay 100 feet from the gates to Chinatown. If you stay along the street like we did, just know that you will hear the hustle and bustle of the street below at all hours. This wasn’t a problem for us. But I could imagine light sleepers having a hard time with it. The building itself has been around a long time, but it seems to be kept up very well. Doesn’t feel old. The rooms look like they were redone within the past few years. It’s small, but not cramped for 2 people. Closet helps a lot. The bathroom was clean and laid out in a way that have you plenty of room. The shower/​tub had newer faucets with a massage head that felt great after walking all over town. Speaking of which, you can pretty much walk out the door and eat at a French restaurant and take 20 steps into Chinatown. If you walk south you’re in the financial district. Everything you would want for shopping is there. About a 10 minute walk an you’re in North Beach. You are also close to the trolleys and every other transit u could need. It’s very centrally located to everything in town. Parking is at the Sutter Garage about a block and a half west, u can pay for it at the front desk for the whole stay. But nothing immediately next to the building or below. You have to use the loading spot in front, which they will let u park in till you are settled in the room. I could grab a cart, but there wasn’t a bell hop. Elevator is tight and old. And takes long. Luckily I was on the 2^nd floor and just used stairs. Coffee, Ice, and vending machines below in the lobby.
Overall, a nice stay. A few negatives were that the bed was a little firm, and putter blanket had a few stains. No AC, but ceiling fan and cracking the window worked fine.

We stayed here for four nights in mid-​August and couldn’t have been happier with our stay! Before we arrived, we requested a room on a higher floor with a street view. Upon our arrival around 12:30pm (well before the advertised check-​in time), we were told our room was already ready for us. We were given a room on the 9^th floor (1906) with an alley view which I originally thought to be disappointing since we requested a street view, but I was actually surprised at how much I didn’t mind a quiet, alley view! We were actually able to eavesdrop on the apartment complex across from the hotel, but never mind that!
The hotel staff were excellent– absolutely no complaints or suggestions for improvement! The staff were punctual, friendly, quiet, and left us a new towel animal and soap daily. Best of all, the hotel was clean, had modern renovations, and felt very personal. For those of you looking for a cookie-​cutter Four Seasons, this isn’t the hotel for you. However, for those of you who appreciate an older hotel with new renovations and a sense of 1930s charm, I would recommend the Baldwin without a doubt!
Best of all, the location of the Baldwin seriously cannot be beat! The hotel is located about a 5 minute walk from the Montgomery or Powell St. BART/​Muni station (you take your pick!) and was about a 2 – 3 minute walk from the Muni stops on Sutter and Bush streets. If you’re really up for it, it’s about a 30 minute walk to Fisherman’s Wharf and North Beach, but it’s a nice walk with lovely views. The area immediately surrounding the hotel felt very safe and friendly. I don’t think we could have picked a nicer, cleaner area to stay in!
The only cons I can think of are the inconsistent and temperamental wifi (we couldn’t get it to work in our room, but who needs wifi while you’re on vacation in San Francisco?) and the LOUD, OBNOXIOUS growling noise that our bathroom fan made. It was quite annoying (although we had a few good laughs about it), but it was nothing that would prevent me from staying at the Baldwin again.
This place is seriously such a hidden gem, and I definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a unique San Francisco experience!

I stayed here for the better part of a week in February 2011. I had no idea what to expect since I only booked this place based on two facts: 1) central enough to downtown San Francisco (I was going to be at the Moscone Center for a conference) and 2) there was a price promotion on their website (just 70 dollars a night).
How glad I was to have booked this place! It’s right in front of the main Chinatown gate and at the top of what appeared to be the main shopping street. I checked out the main road through Chinatown and carried on until I hit Lombard Street, then headed west to the winding part of it. The room was very quiet and was always reset very nicely each morning, even with towels folded into origami animals (stingrays and elephants).
Checking in and out was easy, would definitely stay here again.

We stayed at this hotel for a mini getaway in the city. When we booked this online I was a little worried that it looked a little old fashion and might not be comfortable to stay in. We arrived at the hotel and the front receptionist was friendly. Our room was on the 10^th floor (top floor) so we had a semi– good view of the city buildings etc. I was pleasantly surprised when we entered the room. The room looked really clean and somewhat modern with a hint of old fashion. Apparently the rooms was remodeled recently. The bathroom was clean and nice. On our bed was a heart swan which was a nice sweet touch. FYI their green tea shampoo and conditioner smells so good! I took the rest of the shampoo/​conditioner home, guilty! :)
Just a little warning, our room did not have AC, but there is a ceiling fan in the room. I am not sure if the rooms are all the same. It wasn’t so bad since we were on the top floor and we had the ceiling fan on most of the time.
The location is pretty nice since it’s around the corner of Union Square, and the best part is that the Chinatown gateway was literally almost in the corner of the street where the hotel is. It’s about 35 – 45 minutes walk to get to fisherman’s wharf.
Overall, I will definitely stay at this hotel again if I needed to stay around the area. The price for one night wasn’t too bad since we got it off the «PRICE-​LINE NEGOTIATOR!»:D
Thumbs up!

Zimmer mit Aussicht mitten in der Innenstadt.
In San Francsisco hatten wir so richtig Glück mit unserem Hotel und somit eine 1-​A-​Empfehlung für dir Qype-​Community.
Das Baldwind ist frisch renoviert, die kleinen Zimmer sind sehr hübsch eingerichtet, haben keine (!) Klimaanlage und teilweise (ich schätze ab dem 7. Stock) einen umwerfen Blick auf den Financial District.
Positiv ist außerdem die erstklassige Lage nahe zum Union Square. Eine schicke und sichere Innenstadtlage direkt an China Town Gate.
Das Hotel bietet Parkplätze für rund 30 $ für 24 h. Das ist der normale Wahnsinn. Vergleichsweise günstig ist das Hotel selbst, wir haben rund 50 Euro für das Doppelzimmer gezahlt — geschenkt!