Spontaneity can often result in fantastic memories. Other times, it can be catastrophic. Our experience at the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco falls somewhere in between.

After a wonderful afternoon in the bay area and ultimately Sausalito, we found ourselves overlooking San Francisco from our window table at Spinnaker's restaurant in downtown Sausalito. At this point, the thought of driving back to the south bay had lost all its appeal. We wanted to spend the night in San Francisco.

A quick call to the SPG desk turned up no cash & points offers and no half off rack rate deals. Our only options were a Westin for 10,000 points and the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf for 7,000. We chose the latter, excited about the new weekend plans, and got back to our picturesque dinner.

A quick hop over the bridge and we were in Fisherman's Wharf. The hotel was easy to find, and I proceeded to check in. The lobby was very nice, and there was no wait. My first question to the attendant was about parking. He informed me that overnight parking ran $39. $39!!!!!)%&!)@(* I asked if there were any other options that were more reasonable and was told that I could try parking on the street but that if my car wasn't moved by 7AM, I would likely receive a $60 parking ticket. Terribly frustrated, I conceded that this was no longer a free stay.

I don't know if it was due to gold status or because of my obvious frustration, but the attendant did upgrade our room and placed us on the club level. At least we'll get a free breakfast the next morning...

After sheepishly asking for some essentials such as toothbrushes and toothpaste (we hadn't planned on staying overnight), we parked in the offensively priced garage and headed to the room.

Upon opening the door, we were both stricken with acute hypothermia. The room must have been 50 degrees fahrenheit. It was a typical Sheraton room with a very nautical feel... not surprising considering our location. One odd feature was the slanted far wall. We almost felt as if we were on a cruise ship. Note to Sheraton: slanted walls do wonders for making the room feel smaller than it is.

We quickly freshened up, turned off the air conditioner and headed out for some dessert and people watching. When we had returned for bed, the room was a tolerable temperature, and we both sacked out on the nice Sheraton bed.

The next morning, we sauntered into the club lounge around 10:40AM. Breakfast runs until 11AM on Sundays, so we figured we'd have no problem. Unfortunately, we were wrong. The staff was already tearing down the buffet, and our options for nourishment were eroding by the minute. We grabbed what we could and sat down. By 10:50AM, the place was cleared of anything edible and we no longer felt welcomed. So much for breakfast.

Check-out was easy, and again there was no wait. Just to confirm, I asked the attendant what time breakfast ended on Sundays. She actually had to go check but returned to tell me 11AM. Ladies and gentlemen, the nail has just been hammered into the coffin.

I will never stay here again. The hotel seems to rest on the laurels of its location and embrace ambivalence for everything else. Service was mediocre, parking was egregious, and the rooms were cramped. What a waste of 7,000 points. Looking back, we would have gladly paid the extra 3,000 points for the Westin. We checked it out the next day, and it was in a different world than the Sheraton.

When booking this hotel, you should be told that parking is $40/day. In a major city, most can stomach anything up to $20 or $25. Had I paid $159 for my room and then gotten hit with the parking fee, I would have been infuriated. That's 25% of the cost of the room! After taxes and other charges, you're quickly over $200/night. You've been warned...

Review by John H.

Posted at June 28, 2006 6:13 PM