Biggest plus at the Grant Plaza is the LOCATION! Next plus, being in a real HISTORIC San Francisco Hotel (we were told it was built in the 1920's). Notice I didn't mention their amazing BARGAIN PRICES per room at the top? That's why we chose this hotel, however were very, very pleasantly surprised by everything else. It's always nice to save money, however you hope to enjoy your stay, and we sure did! Our teenage family members quickly started calling it "home". Rooms clean and comfortable. Some with great street-side views and good-time "noise". Others off street were much quieter, no view but easier sleep! I had read on several reviews of a unpleasant smell in some rooms, but never noticed anything like that anywhere in the hotel. Especially enjoyed the young lady at the front desk for her very helpful suggestions and good humor. We will return, and recommend this hotel to our friends!

We stayed at the Grant Plaza Hotel in San Francisco for 6 nights. In retrospect it was a little too long as the room was a little too small and lacking in facilities for a stay of more than a couple of nights.
Booking - done over the internet without any problems except that the photos on the website portrayed a room much better than the one we had
Checking-in - done quickly and efficiently by the excellent staff
The Room - we had a double room and found the double bed a little small. The room was small therefore the bed was very close to the wall on one side. That wall had a heater attached to it and we were concerned about the heater causing a fire by either setting the bed or the curtains alight. We had no control over the heater settings as these appear to have been centrally controlled.
The bathroom was a bit squeezy but the shower worked great. There was some rust on the metal tissue holder and the small cabinet over the basin was not very clean.
Otherwise the staff kept the room clean and tidy and we had no complaints in that regard.
Checking-out - also done quickly and efficiently
Areas of concern - there were one and sometimes two fold-up stretchers parked in the corridor leading to the fire escape. This seemed to me to be very dangerous in the event of a fire and was probably illegal
We would have liked - a small refrigerator and tea-making facilities which are standard in Australia where we live
We would definitely recommend this hotel to our friends but with the above reservations.

Location is excellent, right at the southern entrance of Chinatown. Public transport is only a block or 2 away and you can get to pretty much any of the tourist attractions on offer. It's about 5 blocks to the nearest BART station that can take you to/from the airport for about $5.50 one way. Most tour companies do pickup from this hotel.

The room is a bit dirty, smelly and very small. I got given a room on the upper level with view to the street and it is fairly noisy from the traffic at night. There's no Air Conditioning in the room so I can't just shut the window to keep noise out. The shower is very tiny. I can barely find room to fit myself in it. The windows are full height without bars, even on upper level, so it's not for someone with kids as you can easily fall off the building through the open window.

The staff are quite friendly and helpful. There's internet access in the lobby if required for a fee. Otherwise, there's not much common facilities on offer.

Despite the shortfalls, I would stay here again because of the value and location.

The room was small and the bathroom admittedly run down looking but the hotel is in a super location, was great value, and you'll only be in it to sleep. peopel on here slating it are massiveyl over-reacting. For the price they paid did they expect the Hilton?

ps when I visited in June 2008 there wasnt a urine smell so maybe that's a new developent. pps as an aside, make sure you visit Dotty's True Blue Cafe in the Tenderloin for breakfast!!