Originally constructed in 1923 as the lodge for the San Francisco Elks Club, Kensington Park is one of seven boutique hotels owned by Personality Hotels. The organization moved into the building in 1984 and occupy the main lobby and floors five through 12. The Elks Lodge and the Post Street Theatre occupy the remaining floors.

We have stayed there twice now, the first time in August of 2007 and more recently in February of 2009. Both times we stayed in a king sized “Royal Court” room. These rooms are a little larger than the others and feature the following ammentities:

• Monogrammed Waffle/Cotton Robes
• In-room Coffee Makers
• CD/Radio Alarm Clocks
• Designer Duvet Covers, Feather Beds & Down Pillows
• Daily Newspaper
• Slippers

A couple of additional special touches in the room include a beautiful ornate ceiling fan, a rarity for hotel rooms, and a comfy fur throw on the bed, my wife’s favorite amenity. The hotel also provides complimentary coffee and tea in the mornings and tea and sherry from 4pm – 6pm.

Kensington Park Hotel King Bed Room

The king sized is extremely comfortable and makes getting out of bed each morning a difficult task. I also enjoyed the fact that there was a good sized flat screen television and free wireless Internet. You also can’t beat the 12th floor view overlooking Nob Hill (pictured below).

Our view of Nob Hill from Kensington Park Hotel

I’d also like to add that the guestrooms themselvesunderwent a $1.5 million restoration in Spring 2008.

Over the years, we’ve had good and bad lodging experience while visiting San Francisco. That is why Kensington Park Hotel is a safe choice for us each time we visit now and in the future. It’s clean, has all the amenities we enjoy, the staff are fabulous, it is conveniently located to all the areas we love to visit and best of all, it is very affordable for a San Francisco hotel ($127 per night).

So the next time you visit San Francisco, if you are looking for a clean and elegant boutique hotel experience near Union Square, check out Kensington Park Hotel. You’ll be glad you did.