TripAdvisor Traveler Rating

Stayed for two nights as a family of two. The hotel is well-located in Union Square. Joe at the front desk was very helpful and professional. The hotel seems to be a little run-down in the common areas and also in our room. When we checked in the shampoo was empty but a call down to the front desk had it quickly replaced. Our kids were looking forward to swimming in the pool however it was smaller than seemed in the pictures. Also no pool towels available so we had to bring bath towels down from the room then request new towels to shower with afterwards. Seems this could be easily corrected by having pool towels available next to the pool. A sauna was advertised but this needed to be booked in advance. Overall an okay stay if you can get an affordable rate. Seems that the front desk was often manned by one person which is certainly not enough and there were long queues to check-in.

Terrible area - great hotel This hotel is great although a little dated. We stayed in July 2024. The staff were great. The rooms were acceptable but outside the hotel - which is not the hotel’s fault - it is not nice at all. There are so many homeless people lying around the streets off their face on drugs. We were too scared to leave the hotel after dark. I’m shocked that our travel agent TRAVELBAG still thinks this is a good area to send tourists. AVOID. Book in another area of San Francisco. Sorry to the Handlery - you have a great hotel.

We loved our stay at the Handlery Union Square, our double queen room was huge and immaculately clean on the 8th floor overlooking the pool. We were in the newer building and couldn't have been happier with our location. Great to be able to access this building from the street behind Geary. The housekeeping staff were very friendly and very thorough and the desk staff - Lisa and Joyce were so friendly and helpful. Lisa particularly tried to get us late check out due to a late night flight and also arranged access to the sauna so we could freshen up before our flight. Nothing seemed too much trouble. A great location, easy access to restaurants and shops. Definitely worth the money!

Everyone told us NOT to stay in downtown SF as the city is getting less and less safe. My thoughts: If you live in the suburbs/a small city and never take public transit, then yes, downtown SF will be an eye-opener. It will feel unsafe to you. But if you live in a big city and regularly use subways, downtown SF is totally fine. Are there homeless people? Yes. Is it a bit dirty? Yes. Every big city is like that. I found it no different than Toronto in terms of safety. We felt downtown SF was totally fine and this hotel was in an excellent location, just steps from Union Square. It made it quite easy to just use the bus, trams and subway to get around. The hotel was reasonably priced and the rooms were quite comfortable. It is a bit older, but they have USB ports in the rooms, so everything was fine. The rest of SF is quite pricy, but we were glad to have found this hotel and would definitely recommend it for tourists!

Mum and I stayed at the Handlery union square for 3 nights from 12 Aug and we really enjoyed our stay. The staff were welcoming and very accommodating when we asked to change our room that we were not happy with. Would stay at the Handlery again.