Union Square Garage

I’ve never had a concern leaving my car here in the evening for a quick bite to eat or a few hours wandering around the local stores.
We keep valuables out of sight and don’t leave our car overnight. Not sure that you can expect more of a parking lot than functional elevators and few staff in case you run into issues.

Let me start out by saying my review is solely about the customer service. That being said…
I usually park here when I am around the union square area and never had any bad experience out of the many times I’ve parked here. Which is why I’m generously giving a few stars.
However. Tonight, my friends and I had the rudest service ever.
For the first time, we had lost our parking ticket. It was no doubt our mistake but were obviously already upset that we now have to pay $ 36. We went to the window and told the man working that we lost our ticket. Right after saying that he immediately sighed and rolled his eyes. From there, I already got so annoyed. Like, I’m sorry our little mishap caused your eyes to want to dance.
Anyways, I’m not sure what else happened since I decided to chill in the car while my friends talked to him. But when we were talking in the car, they also agreed that he was quite rude and had an attitude.
I really hope he was only like that because it was 9:30 and not because he is just straight up rude and judgemental. You work for the city. Please be nice and represent well.

OK, I had to park on level 4 because I arrive after 11:00. I have a client on Union Square. Never had a problem parking on level 2. Both times I parked on level 4 my windows were smashed. First time nothing was taken even though I had dry cleaned shirts hanging up and a set of golf clubs. The second time (less than 6 months later they took a gym bay with dirty workout clothes.
I will NEVER park there again, Security is non-​existent. The manager suggested that I use the Stockton Garage???

This garage is very unsafe! Thieves broke the glass door of my SUV in broad daylight and took backpacks with laptops. The guards say they don’t have cameras around. Look for another garage unless you want to risk getting your car broken in. I am never parking my car in this garage!

Great parking garage! Boyfriend and I always park here. We always find a good spot fast! Just gotta have patience. We get our ticket and once we are ready to leave we pay at the station and leave! Easy as that! Although it can be traffic but that’s the city for you.

This garage – more than any other near Union Square – charges up the nose. During the holidays they charge MORE THAN 41% what the Stockton garage charges (during peak day-​time hours). On top of the fact they take advantage of holiday shoppers, they offer the WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE. I will never use this garage again. There are plenty other reasonable garages near Union Square.

Worst customer service. The guy wouldn’t answer my questions and threw my credit card at me. Couldn’t believe how rude he was!

Not sure how to rate a parking garage but here is my attempt. I have parked at this garage before and I have the same experience more or less. This parking garage is located in Union square (it’s an under ground parking garage), it has four floors and the entrance can be found across the Macy’s entrance. During busy months, this parking garage can get full rather quickly but thankfully there are other parking garages that are close by, just as walking distance away.
The rates here are in the high side but parking anywhere in the city, especially in garages like this, is always going to be a high price. I came here during the holidays and the price went up by $ 2 than normal. I was parked there for less than 30 minutes and charged $ 4, which isn’t a lot but there was a lady in front of me who paid $ 60 in parking. So if you are OK with paying a high parking ticket then parking here shouldn’t be a problem.
The garage itself had 4 floors and they are divided by 3 sections, A, B & C. This garage can get kind of confusion to get in and out of but there are signs everywhere so that helps. One thing I noticed is that this garage is on the dirtier side, the elevator looks like it is going to fall apart and some areas of the garage (like the corners and such) smell like urine, which yea, it’s nasty.
There is usually a security guard on duty, near the pay machines and ATM machines which is also good because that means that you won’t find random weird people walking around or trying to start trouble.

They know exactly what they’re doing to the patrons on the lower floors and it’s dishonest at best.
They have a policy of allowing you only 15 minutes to get out of the garage. Seems reasonable enough at first glance as 15 minutes is pretty standard. However, this garage has it worked out to a fine scam. Once you add in that it takes a couple of minutes for one of their 3 elevators to arrive (reminder that this is a large, multilevel garage), then it becomes a race against the clock if you’re on the lower floors. Forget buckling your toddler in, just fling them in the back and pray that stopping to open the back door for them doesn’t make or break your ability to beat the clock. Don’t do what I did and park down one of the dead ends that you have to back all the way out of, unless you have your stunt car license. Don’t obey any suggested speed limits. I think going 35mph is the minimum speed needed to get from the bottom floor up to the exit in the requisite time. If you do lose the race against the clock, expect the staff to be discourteous and patronizing in explaining that 15 minutes is reasonable and that 16 minutes is entirely unacceptable and be prepared to pay an extra $ 4 for the one minute of time you didn’t spend actually parked.

Super close to all the shops, but also very pricey.
A GREAT location, but considering that San Francisco has very limited and so many parking rules, this place is probably your best bet if you’re planning a day downtown exploring and shopping the city.
I believe our ticket was $ 20 something for 3 – 4 hours? But I remember using this parking garage also when my friends and I had to leave our cars overnight cause we were staying in a hotel nearby and they do have a flat rate so that’s a great thing, so I suggest you do that.

I’m kind of amazed that you can park this close to Union Square. OK, wait a minute, this IS Union Square. You park underneath it. Anyway, this garage is a great choice for people who cannot walk the two blocks from the Sutter-​Stockton garage. Which is a little cheaper during the day and a good 70% cheaper at night. (Here’s a handy comparison chart:
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Now, for those of us who haven’t lived in cities before, some important reminders (and or causes for outrage; check out the other reviews):
— No validation! It’s filled with people doing shopping and dining anyway, so in a way there’s no point.
— No in and out privileges! They make money on fractions of hours and the convenience of leaving when you want. So they reset the clock each time you leave.
— Criminals love cars! Hide valuables BEFORE you drive here NOT after you park. To deter sophisticated criminals you have to hide your stuff in the trunk before you park your car, whether it’s in this garage or elsewhere. If they see you put stuff in the trunk after you park, they may target you. Having said that, it’s better to put stuff in your trunk than leave it exposed.

Like many of the other garages in SF this one has varying prices depending on the time of day. This one gets BUSY because it is in Union Square, the heart of the city. Lots of parking available it just takes a few laps sometimes.

The garage gets two stars for location. It is an amazing location. Five star worthy.
It is so poorly set up, and the employees so rude, it gets negative stars.
There are odd directional lines on the ground that direct you into walls.
Information on where to find pay stations? Nope. You’re just supposed to know. All the cool kids apparently do.
The employees? Rude and nasty. It a garage, guys. Not middle school.

DO NOT COME TO THIS PLACE — PLZ
I wish I could give me them zero stars.
These people are not honest, and they don’t follow their own policy.
Let me clarify few things:
— When they say it’s $ 36 for 24 hours, they mean anytime between 12 to 24 hours is going to be 36 $, so if you exit once, and you re-​enter, you will pay *again* $ 36 dollars.
— If you loose the ticket, you pay $ 36 dollars PLUS parking. which means that if you park for 12 hours, and lost your ticket, you will pay $ 72 dollars
— They may claim that you parked for three days, even if you parked only 10 minutes, and you cannot do anything about it. Bunch of liars
They will keep your car until you pay what they ask for. and if you argue, they will ask you to pay more.
I had an awful experience at this place, and ended up paying $ 108 for parking 10 hours to release my car (yes I had to, my wife was waiting, and they didn’t listen to a word I have to say). Now I am going to contact my credit card company to complain about this business.

So if I’m paying $ 30 for 5 ½ hours of parking, do you think I could expect that my car would not get broken into? Broken window and I lost my les Paul and strat (2 pretty expensive guitars) that were in the trunk. Suffice it to say, those «keep valuables out of sight» signs are worthless. You’re telling me that no one happened to see a guy break a window and walk off with two guitars, a gym bag and a backpack? Garage security took a report and then told us never to keep valuables in the car. Way to add insult to injury, dude. Nothing like blaming the victim. Sounds like a good racket you guys got going on there. Keeping an eye on the clientele and notifying your buddies to come and take in the haul, are we? Better find parking elsewhere.

I thought I could validate. I looked and looked and couldn’t find anywhere that validates for this parking lot. I thought that I had read it somewhere that Macy’s validates.
What’s good? Location. Location location location. This parking lot is central to everything in a union square.
What’s bad? Cost. It’s expensive. And your rate changes depending on the time of days thst you are there. Use it if you gave to, but just do yourself a favor and the environment by walking or taking the BART.
The ugly?
Anything over five (5) hours. Yeah, that gets ugly!

The parking rate system is a test of your math abilities, but it is nice to have an option for a lot in the area.
The elevator wasn’t working when we wanted to get back to the car, but at least they posted a worker there to redirect us.
Rates Price Per Hour
Midnight — 9am $ 2.50
9am — Noon $ 3
Noon — 3pm $ 5.50
3pm — 6pm $ 4
6pm — Midnight $ 3
Flat Rate Daily Maximum $ 34 (or lost ticket)
Weekday off-​peak discount
Stay 3 hours minimum and either enter before 8:30am or leave after 6:30pm and pay $ 2 off total

No valet service and I found it good though… who will give out a home key to a stranger, so does our car!
$ 5 an hour Noon-​3pm but you get very close access to maiden lane, Neiman, Saks, Barneys, etc.
Leave your pickup truck or Range Rover at home, since the space is very tiny even for a compact car…

Again, Parking at the Union Square area is very expensive, if the parking Garages of Union Square or Ellis-​O’ Farrell and Sutter & Stockton garages are full and you don’t want to pay $ 50-​$ 100 for hotel parking, the next thing to do is park at the Hotel Union Square Parking area just at Ellis Street, just beside the Exit of the Ellis-​O’ Farrell Garage. Parking rates as as follows:
before 4 pm– $ 18 flat rate
after 4 pm– $ 15 flat rate
All Day Sundays and Holidays: $ 15 flat rate
extra rate for over-​sized vehicles.

Holy cow. Parking for this garage was easy to get into but hard to find a spot to park! But then again it was a lovely sunny Saturday, we weren’t the only tourist trying to park a vehicle.
Big elevator signs, easy to locate. We knew the row we were in, but we didn’t realize it would be lurking behind another elevator wall. We had to stop a level or two down to pay before exiting.
There’s a worker there who directs us when we needed to get out or unlike us passengers, direct us on reversing so we can get back into the garage and try to find parking again as we accidentally tried to exit instead of circling the lot some more.
I didn’t fully read the parking pricing but understood it after we paid. $ 12 total between 1−3pm. Basically $ 4 an hour.