The Westin San Francisco Market Street Rating: 4.0 Pearls

SoMa, San Francisco, California

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Ducca restaurant's decor surpasses the fare.

A block from the bustling commercial thoroughfare of Market Street in the heart of the SoMa district, the 676-room Westin Market Street falls somewhere between the neighborhood's five-star luxury properties (like the St. Regis and the Four Seasons) and a high-volume behemoth like the Marriott. Unlike its sleek, lifestyle-driven Starwood sister, W, down the street, the Westin traffics in a more refined, subdued elegance: The grand, chandeliered lobby is adorned with lavish, orchid-strewn flower arrangements that are changed twice a week and perfumed with the Westin brand's signature white-tea-and-aloe fragrance (which also scents the hotel's exclusive line of toiletries).

But make no mistake: Despite the understated, upscale grandeur of the public spaces, this is not a high-end luxury hotel with polished service. Concierge service is slack: I called twice to inquire about the spa menu in my room (rather misleadingly, the spa is not on-site or even affiliated with the hotel), and when someone finally picked up the phone on the second try, he seemed perturbed that I was asking and did not offer to book an appointment. Room service, which is available 24 hours, arrived cold and sloppily presented.

Rooms are immaculate and acceptable in size (325 square feet) -- about the same as the Marriott, larger than the W, smaller than the more expensive St. Regis -- but have some flaws. My corner Premier Room, for instance, was irritatingly noisy. The city views were spectacular, but it was stuck next to the housekeeping closet, and I was startled several times with what sounded like someone opening my door and rummaging through my things. The Internet connection kept dropping off, requiring four separate log-ons and resulting in a series of inaccurate charges on my final hotel bill. And the 37-inch flat-screen TV took up almost the entirety of the work desk, leaving no space for a room service tray or even a laptop.

But still, the Westin has some definite perks. Its "Heavenly" bed, featuring a pillow-top mattress swathed in three layers of silky cotton sheets, a voluminous duvet, and four goose-down pillows, is exactly as advertised. The shower is similarly luxurious, with not one but two signature "Heavenly" showerheads providing an array of jets and sprays to suit anyone's taste. The 24-hour fitness center is huge, brightly lit, and outfitted with all new equipment. The hotel's plush Venetian restaurant Ducca has a knockout setting that trumps its food, and the restaurant's outdoor patio bar is a low-key hangout with a passel of heat lamps for cool evenings. Overall, the Westin is not a bad choice in this category, particularly if you want to be within walking distance of the convention center in a quieter atmosphere than the frenetic one found at the Marriott.

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The Westin San Francisco Market Street is located in SoMa ("South of Market"), a diverse neighborhood of warehouses, nightspots, art spaces, loft apartments, and technology companies. Just south of Market Street, the hotel is close to several of the city's best museums, including SFMOMA and the Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, but it's a business-heavy neighborhood that's right next to the financial district, Union Square, and Moscone Center, making it best for business travelers. It's convenient to museums and the Embarcadero, but on the other hand it's far from several landmark tourist attractions.

• 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
• Short walk to the Powell-Mason cable-car line, for quick access to Fisherman's Wharf and ferries to Alcatraz
• Two blocks from the Moscone Center, San Francisco's largest convention and exhibition center, and from the Westfield San Francisco Centre, an upscale shopping complex
• Four blocks from Union Square, known for its high-end shopping
• A few blocks from the best contemporary art at SFMOMA, Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, and the Contemporary Jewish Museum
• Great transportation access: cabs are easy to come by, the BART's a few blocks away, and buses and cable cars are within short distance.
• $40, 30-minute taxi from San Francisco International Airport (SFO)