Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco Rating: 4.5 Pearls

Financial District, San Francisco, California

The hotel's views are hard to beat

Chances are your ears will pop as the elevator whisks you from the ground-level lobby to your room at the Mandarin Oriental. From the top 11 floors of San Francisco's third tallest building, the 158 rooms and suites soar over the city, letting guests take in breathtaking vistas of the city and San Francisco Bay, even without the help of the binoculars the hotel provides. Though other hotels have great views -- the Four Seasons is also on the top of a skyscraper -- none of them comes close to these heights.

Views take center stage here, but the Mandarin Oriental does more to deserve its place as one of the city's best luxury hotels. The rooms are some of the city's most spacious and best appointed, with luxury details from featherbeds to marble bathrooms with separate showers and large tubs. They're especially distinguished by their colorful, Asian-inspired design. The gold and black furniture with red and floral accents is a refreshing alternative to the stuffy décor in many of the city's grande-dame hotels. High quality service, including free afternoon tea, free overnight shoeshine, and automatic evening turndown, help cement the Mandarin's luxury reputation.

Outside of rooms and service, however, the Mandarin Oriental doesn't provide any facilities of note. It's located in the middle of the Financial District, so in many ways it comes off as another quiet, drab office building, with a ground-level lobby and bar that seem little known to anyone but the guests. The restaurant, though good, lacks a distinguished chef and isn't a city dining destination. While the hotel has a good fitness center and business center, they are just on par with most city hotels. For business travelers, this is likely an ideal package in the perfect location. But for travelers seeking a more well-rounded experience from their hotel, the St. Regis combines the same top rooms and service with a great restaurant and spa.

Free afternoon tea in the room

The Mandarin Oriental delivers the same kind of luxury service -- doormen, a separate concierge, twice-daily housekeeping, nightly turndown, around-the-clock room service -- that you'll find at a Ritz or Four Seasons. But the staff, while just as attentive to details, is less formal than at some five-star hotels. And small touches, like a water bottle from the doorman as I returned from my morning run and free in-room tea, elevate the experience from luxurious to exceptional.

• Concierge desk open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
• Daily Wall Street Journal delivery to room
• Twice-daily housekeeping, including nightly turndown service with bottled water and slippers
• Free afternoon tea service, including cookies, delivered to room on request
• Free overnight shoeshine
• 24-hour room service
• Valet parking is $57 a night.

View on a Larger Map

Located in the Financial District, the Mandarin Oriental sits amid city blocks packed with skyscrapers and other office buildings. There's little to do or see right around the hotel -- it's not an area where locals hang out. The area is far from many of the city's most popular attractions (Golden Gate Park, the Presidio and Golden Gate Bridge, Haight-Ashbury). But Chinatown, Union Square, and SoMa are nearby, and it's only a 10-minute walk to the scenic waterfront walkway along the Embarcadero, as well as the Ferry Building (where you can take a ferry to Sausalito and eat like a true Californian gourmet).

• Safe (though vagrancy and panhandling are common, as throughout San Francisco)
• Far from the Presidio, the Golden Gate Bridge, Golden Gate Park, and Haight-Ashbury -- $10 to $20 by cab -- but then so are other neighborhoods with high-end hotels
• A 10-minute walk to both Union Square and the Ferry Building, where you can take a ferry to Sausalito or eat at a number of gourmet food shops and restaurants
• 10-minute walk to San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Contemporary Jewish Museum
• Great transportation access: Cabs are easy to come by, BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit -- the trains that serve the greater bay area, including the airport) stops two blocks away, buses are close by, and California cable car line runs right next to the hotel
• $40, 30-minute taxi from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) airport (or the BART, which also takes 30 minutes, but costs only $8)
• Three miles from Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz ferries, or about a $10 to $15 cab ride

The Bay Bridge Mandarin King Room

The views from the rooms, which begin on the 38th floor of the city's third tallest building, are so captivating that it may take you a second to start noticing the details inside. Once you do, you'll see the best in luxury. Not only are the Mandarin Oriental's rooms big by San Francisco standards, but the luxurious amenities and unique decor are one of a kind. The Asian-inspired design by California-based Susan Caruso (whose team is also responsible for San Francisco's Hotel Argonaut and New York's Muse Hotel) sets the Mandarin apart from the city's other luxury hotels. Whereas the Mark Hopkins and Ritz-Carlton stick with bland palettes, bordering on dowdy, the Mandarin's bold color theme and modern furniture are anything but boring.

• Generously sized rooms range from 350 to 575 square feet (large by city standards); suites are 800 to 2,000 square feet.
• Distinctive black, gold, and red Asian-inspired design
• Pillow-top beds have Egyptian cotton sheets made for Mandarin Oriental, plus down comforters; almost all have King beds, but there is a Queen Room; Executive Suites have option of two double beds.
• Spacious, marble bathrooms have deep tubs and standing showers.
• Bathrooms have Molton & Brown toiletries, small personal care sets (shower cap, nail files, cotton swabs), and two bathrobe types: lightweight waffled cotton or terryclotth; Seiko clocks on the walls.
• 32-inch flat-screen LG television and a DVD player have 45 channels plus pay-per-view.
• Sony dream machine CD/alarm clock, but no iPod dock
• $14 a day for high speed wired Internet or Wi-Fi
• Minibars are stocked with a good selection of drinks and snacks.
• Bushnell binoculars provided for guests to spy on the city below
• Soundproof windows can be opened up to six inches for fresh air, but no farther for safety reasons.

A fitness center is one of few extras

The Mandarin Oriental's well-furnished fitness center, lobby business center, and pleasant lobby bar are just standard for San Francisco hotels. This is one area where the hotel doesn't go far to impress. While the St. Regis and Ritz-Carlton have great spas, and the Mark Hopkins and Fairmont Heritage Place offer free car service, the Mandarin Oriental is a plain Jane by comparison.

• Fitness center on the 4th floor is open 5:30 a.m. to 11 p.m.; eight cardio machines (each with own television), free weights, and four cable weight machines.
• Small, unstaffed business center open from Monday to Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m., with a couple of pay-for-use computers
• $14-a-day Wi-Fi in rooms and lobby
• No spa, but massages can be booked in a small treatment room next to the fitness center (just a windowless room with a table). A very nominal service -- there isn't even a treatment menu available

It's hard to imagine who the luxurious, spacious rooms here wouldn't be good for, but the hotel's Financial District setting isn't San Francisco's best for families. Families could be comfortable here, but among luxury hotels the Ritz-Carlton offers better services and amenities for kids. The Argonaut, though less luxurious, is a great kid-friendly hotel in Fisherman's Wharf, an area popular with families.

• Kids' menus on room service and restaurant menus
• Rollaway beds are $45 a night (fit in all but Superior and Bay View Rooms); fee waived for kids under 12.
• Cribs are free.
• Financial District location is a wasteland when it comes to kids' activities.

If cleanliness is a virtue, the Mandarin Oriental is a saint. Last renovated in 1998, it feels even newer thanks to relentless cleaning that includes twice-daily housekeeping.

Silks is good but not exceptional

Unlike the St. Regis (home of Ame) or the Mark Hopkins (host to famed Top of the Mark), the Mandarin Oriental doesn't have a true destination restaurant or bar. The Californian cuisine at its restaurant, Silks, is good but not exceptional, and the hours are limited. Plus, the entire neighborhood is light on fine food options. Thankfully, the hotel's room service is 24/7.

• Silks restaurant on the 2nd floor serves Californian cuisine, but breakfast is the only meal served seven days a week (lunch isn't available on weekends, and dinner is Tuesday through Saturday).
• Food is good quality, but it isn't a destination restaurant; prices range from $20 to $30 for an entrée; around $20 for breakfast.
• Lobby-level Mandarin Lounge offers guests free tea and coffee between 2:30 and 6:30 p.m.; cocktails and light fare are available throughout the day and most evenings.
• 24-hour room service