In mid December 2011 we stayed at the Hotel Bijou over a weekend. A few days before we arrived the staff called me to explain that their website reservation system wasn't working right and that my quoted rate was too high. They cancelled the reservation and made a new one over the phone. The rate dropped from about $180 per night to about $80 a night. Seems that their site was adding a large parking garage fee even if, like us, we were not arriving by car.

The room was old fashioned and small but very nice. It had a nice even temperature and we could not hear our neighbors. Even though the room faced a busy street, the double pane windows kept out most of the street noise so the room was quiet. The continental breakfast, though not fancy, was good. In particular the coffee was good.

Even though the hotel is on the edge of a less desirable area of the city, we had no problems with street people. Yes there were a lot of panhandlers and religious "nuts' but they were not confrontational. We never felt uncomfortable or frightened even late at night.

We are already planning our next visit.

I stayed here for a week in early October while attending a conference at the Moscone Centre. The location is excellent - I walked everywhere all week and it was just a short walk to the Moscone Centre, shopping, Union Square, cable cars, etc. It is particularly close to the BART line, which is extremely convenient if you are flying in - just get the train from the airport and then it's just a couple of minutes walking from the BART station to the hotel (even with lots of bags).

It is true that the hotel's location is on the edge of the seedy part of town, but so are lots of the downtown hotels, including upscale ones like the Hilton, the Parc 55, the Nikko, and one of the Marriotts. It is not a problem as long as you know where you're going when you leave the hotel and don't wander the wrong way into the seedy area! (Always head directly toward the Hallidie Plaza when leaving the hotel (you can see it from the hotel - it's right there) and there you are, in the middle of the shopping/tourist area!) As a woman travelling alone, I stayed there for a week and had no problems, even when arriving back at the hotel after midnight one night, and leaving the hotel (with all my bags) before dawn for an early flight home. Yes, there are homeless people around generally (you will see them if you're anywhere in the downtown area, not just near this hotel), but I never had anyone approach me in the area of the hotel (not even late at night or early in the morning) and I never felt unsafe walking to or from the hotel.

My room was on the 4th floor overlooking Mason St. I could see Nordstrom from my window :-) There was some street noise overnight, but I never really heard any people - just noise from cars and the occasional siren. I had no problems sleeping, but if you are a light sleeper you may want to bring ear plugs.

My room was pleasant and colourful and I had no problems with anything. The free wi-fi worked fine in my room. The TV reception was not great - watchable, but kind of snowy. There were some extra amenities like toothpaste and razors, which were appreciated. Nothing fancy, but it met my needs for the week and I loved the convenient location.

There is a small breakfast buffet available, which is convenient and okay if you get it included with your room, but honestly it's not great and I wouldn't pay extra for it. There are lots of better options in the area for breakfast, if you are paying extra for it. The buffet just had the basics, like coffee, juice, cereal, bread, and some fruit. There were no muffins or pastries and nothing hot, except I think there were some waffles that you could put in the toaster.

The front desk staff was generally very friendly and helpful. I had some issues with my reservations before I arrived (completely my fault) and the staff was very helpful in gettnig everything resolved for me in advance. When I arrived, they helpfully consolidated my two separate reservations for me (so that I didn't need to check-out/in again or change rooms) and even threw in a free breakfast for me.

The only issue I had with the staff was when I was checking out extremely early (before dawn) for my return flight and I first of all had trouble finding the guy who was on duty, then, when I finally found him, he tried to charge me for the free breakfast I had been given when I checked in! I had used the breakfast coupon I had been given when I checked in, so I have no idea why he tried to charge me anyway. I ended up not paying the charge, but it was an unpleasant end to my stay because he was not professional about it at all and left me feeling like a criminal who was cheating him! (That was the only time I saw that guy all week,though - all of the staff for the rest of the week were very good.)

Overall, I was happy with this hotel. The location is great and my room was comfortable.

I stayed at Hotel Bijou for 3 nights in late November while attending a conference at the Moscone Center in SF. For this conference, registrants were being offered discounted hotel room rates at the nearby Hilton Towers, Marriott Marquis and Intercontinental. I booked at Hotel Bijou after researching alternatives nearby the conference facility, and discovered that through an online discounter, room rates here were less than 50% the cost of the DISCOUNTED rates at all these other hotels. The room was, as a previous reviewer described, basic. There is basic cable, free wifi, and individually controlled heat/cooling if any of those things are important to you. The desk staff were friendly and helpful with directions, printing out train schedules, etc. I ate breakfast downstairs one night (not included in my discounted room booking, but only $7 for a pretty decent budget buffet similar to what you'd find at a budget hotel chain). Supposedly there was free coffee/tea/hot chocolate available round the clock in the lobby area but the one time I attempted to get some, the hot water was pretty cold. Oh well. I found the room to be very clean and comfortable for my purposes - I was only there to sleep anyway. My only criticism of this hotel is that the streets immediately outside are ALWAYS very loud - LOTS of people yelling, carrying on at all hours, police sirens, etc. throughout the day and night. I must also confess that the area didn't feel all that safe. Most of the local businesses had bars on the windows, and lots of people loitering on the streets, begging for money, etc. That being said, in the same area are several luxury hotels and guests there have to endure the same noise and seedy surrounds, so if you need to be down there and are on a budget, might as well save some money. I'd stay here again if I had reason to visit downtown SF.

This is an older building with basic facilities. No frills. Clean rooms, friendly staff. The hotel itself is quiet, but the street outside is noisy. An interesting plus is an eight-seat movie theatre that shows great old movies every evening. Close to a BART station and downtown shopping.