Hotel Zephyr in San Francisco, CA

My husband and I stayed here for one night with our two children. The view from our room was beautiful and definitely one of the highlights of our stay. That said, there were a few issues that made things less comfortable than we expected. The room was very warm and didn’t seem to cool down, even overnight we ended up leaving the balcony door open just to get some fresh air. The sliding aluminum balcony door was also extremely hard to open and took quite a bit of effort each time to close and open, which became frustrating. When we first arrived, we had trouble accessing a door that leads to the elevator because our key card wouldn’t work. Luckily there was another entrance nearby, but it would have been helpful if there were signs letting guests know that the door wasn’t working. On a positive note, the customer service was great and the staff was very friendly. With a few improvements, this could be a much more comfortable stay.

Excelent location, family atmosphere, the rooms are clean and the bedrooms are so comfortable

My 12yr old son and I stayed at Hotel Zephyr for four nights in March 2026. After staying a few times at another family-friendly hotel over our last few visits, we stayed at Hotel Zephyr for add-on days last year. So this year, we opted to stay just at Hotel Zephyr. The main reason was the variety of games available (for our downtime)…ping-pong, pool, Jenga, outdoor games. This was my son’s choice. That was all fine. We were happy to utilize those offerings. Yes, they are very close to Fisherman’s Wharf. It’s definitely convenient….but how many times is the Wharf your only activity? The rooms are very average. They are dated and tired. That being said, it was clean…which is very important to me. A perk this time, was a dartboard in room. We made great use of that! Staff were not rude, but not friendly either. You don’t get the sense that they are happy to assist with anything. A bit out of their control, * I think, was that lobby area and elevators often reeked of marijuana. That was very off-putting. We cleaned our room up daily (by choice), and asked for towels as needed. Staff was accommodating in that way. However, our last full day in room, housekeeping knocked, then immediately came into our room. We had the “Privacy” sign on door. First, ignoring our request for privacy and barging in could have been very embarrassing…I happened to be getting ready/dressed at the time. Secondly, the housekeeper wanted to know if we were checking out “today or tomorrow “. Umm, don’t you know this information? Hint: it was NOT our check-out date. Not 10min after that, the fire alarm was sounded. This put us in a frenzy….thinking we had to get out immediately for our safety. As we exited our 3rd floor room, into the hallway, I asked a passing employee what was happening…and did we need to get out? He was on a walker-talkie, and ignored us. Okay…scary. We proceeded to exit through the stairwell, with no direction from staff . Once in lobby, we found out it was only a drill. Now, while I appreciate that staff participates in fire drills for the safety of everyone, it would have been nice if they could’ve warned us!!! I heard a staff member tell an upset mom, who was in her pajamas and carrying a child, that notice papers were at the front desk. WHY would you not put a notice under everyone’s door? Or at very least, post the notice in elevators, where all customers were sure to see it?! Unacceptable. On to day of checkout. Due to a later flight, I had added “late checkout (1pm)” to our reservation before we even left for vacation…and paid the $25 fee. I was sent a notice by email that the request was accepted. So, when it was our last day…. I made sure to stop at front desk to check that all was good. Since the errant barge in of our room the day prior, I felt it necessary. I had tried to call the front desk first. I received notice that they were busy, and placed on hold. For almost 30 min ( I had it on speaker, while I got ready). I understand that front desk staff might be busy…issues, checkouts, etc. Understandable, I get it. So I decided to go downstairs. Not one person in line. I let the employee know that no one was answering. No big deal. I proceeded to tell her that we were checking out today, but it was not until 1pm. She was at the same time looking up my reservation, and gave me a puzzled look. She said late checkouts are not accepted until actual day of checkout. What?? I was sent an email, letting me know it was accepted before I even got on the plane to go to CA. And I paid. She said “Ok, it can be 1pm”. The heck? Most hotels DO require you ask for late checkout on actual day. But they also extend as a courtesy. This was accepted and PAID FOR ALREADY. Poor system and communication. While we still enjoyed our trip, we will not be returning. There are better hotels available that are family-friendly as well.

The hotel itself is lovely, the rooms are spacious and clean. I reserved through 3rd party, excellent location. Booking in was simple, however wasn't told about any services at the hotel. Be aware when giving your credit card for holding deposit they are free to deduct any amount they want. A hold charge for deposit was taken on the day I checked in, as I knew, they then took a further 2 hold charges. Totalling approximately 1.2k$. When I questioned this at the desk, they were extremely rude and insisted they only held $225. He put his hand up and said stop talking ill explain what hold means. I said I know what hold means, he then said I was accusing him of being a thief. I left the desk really upset, glad I was leaving that day. I emailed them, they then said they used a 3rd party to take the payments and they had made a mistake. They did refund the amount owing in between emailing the following 2 days. This caused me so much distress as this was the deposits from my following hotels. Luckily, the following hotels refunded their deposits on checkout. Such a shame. Ruined my stay.