My boyfriend and I booked a room for one night with sea view. When we arrived we got the key from a small, dark, smelly room with a small window from which we had view on a desolate courtyard. The furniture in the room was worn-out and dated. We were supposed to pay 82 euros for this room. Really ridiculous! After complaining we first got the same room with the same view, but on a lower floor. After complaining for the second time we got a room with sea view and a balcony, but this room also had a terrible smell and worn-out, dated furniture. The entire hotel smelled bad and was very dark. It looked like a haunted house. We left immediately and went to Hotel Horta.
Don't book Residencial Sao Francisco. On the pictures it looks good, but the reality shows otherwise. Expect a dark, smelly, old, and ridiculously over priced hotel.

A group of us rented at this place for 3 days. We wouldn't have stayed except that we had prepaid and didn't know how to get out of it. The lady at the front desk did not speak English. The smell was like being in a convalescent home. The carpets were thin and soiled, our mattress felt like it was not even a mattress but an inner spring, and it just had a dark, dreary feel about it. Also the breakfast was very minimal. The place was clean enough (other than the yucky carpet), and the location was good, but it definitely needs some upgrading. I would NOT recommend it to anyone. We booked through an agency and paid what amounted to about $135 a night. Definitely overpriced and not a pleasant place to stay.

I've stayed in Residencial S. Francisco in 2006 while traveling on business (not my choice) and now in 2008 with a group of people ... so I had the chance to see more than one room. The only positive thing I can say about the place is the view, outstanding! Staff was nice.

But ...
1. the furniture was extremely old, the beds small and very uncomfortable
2. the carpet was disgusting with spots all over it and it smelled terrible.
3. the door to the varanda on my 2006 room didn't close well ... it was cold at night (April).
4. the bathroom had such poor light that I can't be sure about cleanness
5. breakfast very poor
6. One of my colleagues saw a cockroach wondering in the room

There cannot be too many hotels in the world where you can watch the sunrise over a volcano from your bedroom. The seafront rooms in this hotel have a great view over the pained marina walls to Pico. The rooms themsleves are spacious and clean (although when we were there there was a very odd smell, but just one sunrise or sunset puts it all back in perspective.

For those of you that are planning on whale watching trips the departure points are about a 10 minute walk away.