Mandarin Oriental

San Francisco is a beautiful city and the Mandarin Oriental on Sansome Street certainly makes the most of a great location and a fine view. If you can get over the nerves about being 40 stories up in an earthquake prone city then the Bridge to Bridge rooms are the ones to go for. We had a view of the Oakland Bay Bridge and a glimpse of the Golden Gate Bridge in the distance, as well as a great view of the TransAmerica pyramid looming tall almost right in front of us. The harbour is particularly beautiful but the most impressive views in a way were when the fog rolled in and you ended up hardly being able to see the TransAm tower let alone as far as the Bay. An eerie feeling of floating in no man's land amid the clouds.

Views aside I was a little disappointed with the hotel itself. For a five star establishment the lobby is dark and very uninspiring in terms of decor. The suite was large and the bed comfortable but the bathroom was dated and the bath tiny. We also had unfortunate breakfast experiences involving a latte that was hardly worth drinking.

On the plus side there is a state of the art gym in the basement where you can watch TV while jogging on a number of treadmills or riding an exercise bike. The service was also excellent and the concierges were invariably helpful whenever we needed advice about local services from hairdressers to camera shops (although their recommendations weren't exactly budget!)

We also enjoyed a few good room service meals which almost made up for the poor quality breakfasts. I suppose my major reservation is with the tired, stuffy and very dark decor in the basement restaurant, breakfast room and lobby. Not at all an inviting space to spend time in. A public bar somewhere further up the building with some natural light, modern art and utilising the stunning backdrop of the city itself would do a lot to improve this hotel. Oh, and a far bigger bath!