Ok, let's be clear about this: The Spaulding Hotel is a 1 or 2 star hotel, so that's what you should expect when you book it!
I was really worried after reading all this negative reviews on Tripadvisor. I expected to check in at a heroin/ youth hostel / whatever place so my expectations were pretty low.
I stayed at the Spaudling for approximately three months. I had no choice but to stay there.

Ok, let's get started.....
When I arrived I got a room on the 6th floor.
On the way to the hotel I noticed that the hotel is pretty close to the "tenderloin" district..pretty bad area and definitely a "no go" zone for tourists , BUT the Hilton Union square is even closer to that bad area and the location of the Spaulding is probably it's best attribute. You are right at Union Square and it only takes 10 min or so to walk to the financial district. It is just perfect for sightseeing. The Muni station ( I think it was Powell Station) is also very very close so perfect location.
I got lucky since I had a room which had already been refurbished. My view was basically a brick wall. My first impressions were OK. The room itself was small, but everything was clean.
The first thing I did was to buy earplugs. It is pretty noisy even though I was not on the street side.
There are loads of students etc. staying at this hotel, so you have to get used to that. The walls are thin..I could hear my neighbors at night...not very nice
They have a great "lounge" downstairs which has a big LCD TV and a microwave.
The breakfast they offer is ridiculous!!! It's basically a bagel ( and they specifically tell you ONE only!) with cream cheese and a tea or coffee. The breakfast is in a restaurant in the same building. The waiters were pretty rude so I would suggest to buy something better at Starbucks, which is also in the same building.
The receptionists were great with one exception....a hispanic lady. The staff was generally very helpful and the cleaning staff did their job!
The Spaulding offers free WiFi which is a very good thing. It is pretty slow in the evening, but that's still acceptable
Overall, I was very satisfied with my stay at the Spaulding.
It is a hotel for travellers who do not want to spend much money and who like to be in the "vibe" of San Francisco. IT IS NOT A THREE or FOUR STAR HOTEL, this is the reason one night at the Spaulding can be as cheap as $50! The rooms are reasonably clean and the staff is generally nice. Good value for $50. Don't expect anything fancy and you will be satisfied!

The reason why i stayed at this hotel was because of the price and location.I was supposed to stay for 8 nights and thought it would be an average hotel, however it was a total nightmare, the staffs attitude were horrible they looked like they couldn't be bothered to serve you and the lift was so outdated you gotta open the door to enter. The room was terribly cramp and the toilet was the worst part, it was so squeezy and the bathtub looked like it could just come out any moment. Horrible, horrible, horrible i checked out after 2 nights and stayed at a better hotel just down the road.

Well I had to go to San Fran recently, a friend of mine was having a party and I needed a hotel close to his location. Essentravel.com came through again with the Spaulding hotel with rates under $70 a night. Now lets be clear, for $70 a night its not the waldorf. The floors were a bit dirty, and the bathrooms needed work also. But it was quiet!! And in a great location.


I got a good nights sleep, had to go outside for breakfast but no complaints. So again, if you need a no frills hotel in San Fran, then give the Spaulding a try.

Yes...it may not be a five stars hotel but it's definetly the best choice if you don't wanna spend unnecesery money...I mean...it's located rigth in the heart of san francisco...only two blocks from the subway station, market street, the cable car station...besides you don´t have to spend a lot of money on transportation because you can`t take a walk to chinatown, union square, civic center and a lot of shopping places...and let`s be real...with all the attractions around and accesible to get to...you're only gonna need the hotel room to storage your luggage and bags , to take a shower and have some sleep...totally recomended!!