Hotel AbRi, a Charming, Contemporary, Boutique Hotel One Block from Kin Khao near Union Square, San Francisco

[DonRocks]

Location and Rates - Website with Best-Rate Guarantee

I could legitimately say Hotel Abri was in the Tenderloin, but it's just as legitimate to say it's in Union Square, since it's towards the east. Nevertheless, that slight "pull" towards the Tenderloin - parts of which can be somewhat annoying at night (I've encountered some aggressive panhandlers a few blocks to the west) - can lead to room rates that border on being astounding given the level of quality this boutique hotel possesses. On a Friday night in early January, a standard King was $103.20, and the next night it was $127.20 (this does not include the "Urban Fee," described below).

This is the second time I've stayed at Hotel Abri, which should tell you something. The first time - maybe in 2015 - I found a room on hotels.com (which I no longer use) for what seemed like an absurdly low rate. I ferried over from Vallejo, had a wonderful lunch at The Slanted Door [shhhh ...], and took Uber to get here. This time around, I took an Uber straight from SFO, which cost me less than $30. You need to be warned that, despite enticingly low room rates, there was a sign out front advertising valet parking for $60 (!), so a word to the wise: Do not come here with a car unless you're so wealthy that you should be staying in a nicer hotel anyway. (I think Yogi would be proud of that one.)

As long as I'm mentioning the valet price, I should also mention one other thing that took me off-guard, but proved to be "worth it, and then some," and that's an unexplained $30-a-night "Urban Fee." Having just experienced a two-night stay at Hotel Abri at the absurd average rate of $115.20 a night, I can live with this, because it includes:

• Hotel AbRi Urban Tote with Welcome Amenities [including two bottles of water and a full bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon]
• Continental Breakfast Bag Available at Front Desk from 6:00 am - 8:00 am
• Grab-and-Go Morning Coffee in Lobby
• Daily $10.00 Restaurant Credit Cannot be combined [Hotel AbRi has a real restaurant, and pints of Anchor Steam are $4 at happy hour]
• Daily Access to Active Sports Club
• Upgraded WiFi (up to 3mbps)

So essentially, you're paying $30 a day for a drinkable bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon (only one per stay), $10 worth of booze at the restaurant, and you'd be crazy not to use these coupons - you get one per day, and a continental breakfast (which I didn't use, but probably should have, if only for the water). If you're staying two nights or less, it's $30 pretty well-spent; for a longer stay, it becomes less cost-effective. All the other options are what I normally consider to be included with a room - the $30 is inclusive of tax, so it is what it is.

I wrote the lobby requesting a quiet room, and mentioned I was a repeat customer. For the second time in as many stays, I got upgraded to an "Urban Suite," which would normally have cost about $50 a night more. Early January must be *the* slowest time of year for Hotel AbRi. I get the feeling that if the hotel is somewhat empty, and you're a member of Stash Rewards, their inclination is to upgrade you (Stash Rewards is a rewards program for boutique hotels - note that if you join through donrockwell.com (by clicking on the link), you get 500 points). I wrote them, telling them about our website, and got this back, so knock yourselves out:

"If you’d like, you can share with your readers this special URL to sign up with Stash. It will give them 500 bonus points just for enrolling. www.StashRewards.com/DonRockwell."

 

The service was outstanding, and the boutique nature of Hotel AbRi, combined with its location make it a repeat for me - I'd happily stay here again the next time I'm staying in this part of San Francisco (note that it's just one block away from Kin Khao, which is a *very* popular, Little Serow-like, Thai restaurant (that was in our most recent San Francisco poll) - advance reservations are an absolute must here). 

 

So, I guess I wrote about a thousand words - here are eight-thousand more. A solid four stars for Hotel AbRi.

 

The exterior (the restaurant is pretty decent, and it's the one you get $10 coupons for - sit at their bar and have a couple pints for free):

 

 

The living room (yes, that's a second TV)

 

 

The bedroom (note the comped bottle of wine)

 

 

The bathroom (perfectly acceptable; beware the $4 bottle of water)