A great airport hotel should be convenient, hospitable and add ease to a travellers journey. Our return to the San Francisco International Airport had us visiting for fifteen hours. Instead of returning to the Westin San Francisco Airport, we decided to stay at the San Francisco Airport Waterfront Marriott. Was this a wise decision over the tried and tested Westin San Francisco Airport Hotel?

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This post is one chapter on my trip to the Republic of the Maldives. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan and Air Canada’s Aeroplan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.

If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.

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Review: San Francisco Airport Waterfront Marriott, USA

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“A Newly Renovated Airport Marriott that’s isn’t as Customer Centric as it Could be, especially given it’s Isolated Airport Location”

Booking The San Francisco Airport Waterfront Marriott, USA:

We had a long fifteen hour connection in San Francisco between our flights from Vancouver, Canada, before we departed on Qatar Airways Q Suites Business Class San Francisco – Doha.

While we had previously stayed at the neighbouring The Westin San Francisco Airport, we decided to see if heading a little further up the road to the San Francisco Airport Waterfront Marriott would be worth the additional effort.

When booking at the San Francisco Airport Waterfront Marriott, I was able to get a AAA rate of $224 USD which booked into the basic 1 King Bed, Guest Room. I booked direct on the Marriott Bonvoy website. As a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Level member, I would also be entitled to Upgrade to best available room, including select suites.

I did find that the prices at the airport hotels in Millbrae adjacent to the San Francisco Airport were generally cheaper than hotels in downtown San Francisco by about $100 USD per night. Since we were only here for a fourteen hour layover, I didn’t see the value in going in to the city for a better, but shorter stay.

Marriott Bonvoy Reward Opportunities:

The San Francisco Waterfront Airport Marriott Hotel prices awfully expensive in the Marriott Bonvoy rewards program. The property generally prices between 45,000, to a staggeringly high 63,000 Marriott Bonvoy reward points, for a standard level room. For context, this is a higher price point than our last Marriott Bonvoy redemption in Hawaii.

I found this to be a little rich for an older airport hotel property, especially when you can easily find rooms at the cheaper aLoft San Francisco or the nearby Residence Inn San Francisco Millbrae Station for under 35,000 Marriott Bonvoy Points each. Both are much newer properties, but don’t offer an M Club Lounge.

If you value Marriott Bonvoy Points at 0.005 cents, you’ll come out ahead by redeeming points against a room at the property if you rate is above $315 USD. You’ll possibly find some outsized value in the event the cash rate is exceptionally high on a weeknight, but you’re probably better off paying a cash rate assuming you can find a good deal or package.

Getting to the San Francisco Waterfront Airport Marriott Hotel:

We arrived into San Francisco International Airport on Alaska Airlines First Class Seattle – San Francisco. Prior to arriving to the hotel, the hotel did things right in getting us oriented. The Rooms Controller forwarded us a link by email setting out matters to expect, food and beverage information, local restaurant information, shuttle information & tracking. All of this was easily available for viewing on a mobile device.

Based on this, we were able to obtain the shuttle information. This included a great photograph of the shuttle, and clear directions on where to collect the shuttle at the airport.

The arrival process couldn’t be much easier and I have to congratulate the San Francisco Waterfront Airport Marriott for making the arrival process so easy.

The San Francisco Waterfront Airport Marriott was located about fifteen minutes shuttle ride away from the San Francisco International Airport.

One of the hotels’ best features is that it is located overlooking the San Francisco International Airport landing runways and the Bay Area. However, there’s not a lot of anything else in this light industrial neighbourhood.

We boarded the shuttle and made it over to the hotel without any issues. Our stay pattern had us arriving at 11:30 PM, and departing the hotel the next day at 2 PM, encompassing a fourteen hour stay.

Checking into the San Francisco Airport Waterfront Marriott Hotel:

After a quick shuttle ride, we arrived at the hotel. On arrival to the hotel at 11:30 PM, the hotel’s front doors were completely locked, without key card access. We rang the door bell, but it appeared there was no one monitoring the reception. We were eventually let into the hotel by another hotel guest.

Aside from the first impression of being locked out with no one to receive us, the lobby contained a great large restaurant and lounge; “The Flights View Lounge”.

The Flights View Lounge’s atrium had great views out to the water. Unfortunately, the lounge had closed by the time we had arrived and was pretty much pitch black.

We checked in at the front desk. As a Marriott Bonvoy Titanium member, I was entitled to a choice of either a welcome gift, bonus Marriott Bonvoy Points or 1,000 Points per Stay or U.S. $10 food and beverage (“F&B”) credit per Stay.

During check in, when I asked the front desk about the breakfast option (food and beverage credit), I was told “we don’t do that here“. I didn’t get presented with the food and beverage credit option. We were solely directed towards the M Club Lounge for elite food and beverage offerings. Unfortunately, the M Club Lounge was only open for set limited hours, which made it harder to access.

A day in advance, we were assigned a soft upgrade courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status to a 1 King Bed Waterfront from the Guest Room – 1 King we had booked. While it wasn’t a substantial upgrade, it did offer a nicer view.

The Room: Guest Room – 1 King – Waterfront

We were assigned room #3107, which we self interpreted to be on the 3^rd floor. We self navigated up to the rooms. Although we were travelling with bags, there was no luggage or porter assistance offered or available at midnight.

It was a bit of a walk through diagonal hallways over to room # 3107. The hallways had some recent refurbishment with new wall coverings and new carpets.

The Bedroom:

Once inside, we arrived to a compact Marriott Airport Hotel Room that was 350sq feet / 32 sq m. While the room was freshly renovated, it was pretty much standard Marriott fare.

The room featured a standard Marriott King Sized bed, and featured a 48 inch flat screen television that was comfortably viewed from the Marriott bed.

In Room Amenities:

The room featured a comfortable chaise style couch, which was a nice refreshing change from the usual couches and occasional chairs that you see in hotel rooms. The chaise allowed you to easily stretch out and get comfortable.

We did happen to find the previous guests’ miniature liquor bottles on the floor behind the chaise. It was something that grossed out MrsWT73, but didn’t really happen to bother me all too much.

The room also featured a small desk area. While it was good for occasional use, I wouldn’t expect to get too much work done here thanks to it’s small size. Surprisingly, the only water available in the room was the $7 USD bottle of Arrowhead water available for purchase. We did ask at the front desk for some bottled water and were eventually offered 2 regular bottles of water from the pantry courtesy of Marriott Bonvoy Titanium status.

Along with almost all Marriott hotels, a standard filtered coffee maker was available.

Based on the floor plan, the floor didn’t offer too many suites for upgrades. Our waterfront room was one of the larger ones located in the middle of the floor.

The Bathroom:

The bathroom of the Guest Room 1 King Waterfront was a standard variety compact bathroom. It offered space for only one person with a single vanity sink and toilet.

The bathroom was recently renovated and featured in a slick grey colour scheme. Instead of offering individual plastic bottles for shampoo, the toiletries were dispensed from dispensers in the shower.

The waterfront room view actually had a nice view that we appreciated the next morning. It had a view of the San Francisco Airport landing runways.

Overall, the room was nicely upgraded. The only down side to the room was its slightly compact foot print that was consistent for a hotel of this particular older generation.

Food and Beverage:

Due to the hotel’s location, there are not a lot of opportunities to dine off property located around the hotel. You’ll be walking between 15 – 20 minutes through a light industrial area in order to get to any alternate off property restaurants. This makes access to food and beverage facilities on the property essential. Unfortunately, we had mixed results trying to access food during our stay.

M Club Lounge:

On the date of our arrival, I ventured down to the M Club Lounge. Disappointingly, the lounge was not accessible outside of breakfast or evening snack hours and was completely locked up. As such, we weren’t able to pop into the lounge in order to collect a bottle of water.

On our visit, the lounge was open as follows:

• Weekday Breakfast between 6:30 AM – 9:00 AM (rather short for breakfast hours!)
• H’ors D’oeuvres between 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
• Dessert between 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Unfortunately, the lounge was not open outside these times for relaxing, or for picking up a soft drink.

Once inside, the M Club was nicely decorated consistent with a recent renovation.

The food in the M Club Lounge was pretty average Marriott fare. On our breakfast visit, there were cut fruit, scrambled eggs with salsa accompaniments, and some tator tots potatoes available for consumption.

While it met the mark for an overnight stay, I wouldn’t relish revisiting the lounge for breakfast on a multi day stay.

While the M Club was a nice to have feature, it was limited by the fact that it had decidedly short hours of operation. The food was also a little plain, compared to some of the other Marriott Lounges that I’ve had the opportunity to visit.

Flights View Lounge:

The Flights View Lounge is the hotels’ primary restaurant. During our visit, it offered:

• Breakfast between 6:30 AM – 10:30 AM
• Lunch between 11:00 AM – 4:00 PM
• Dinner between 4:00 PM – 11:00 PM

While it had a nice looking environment, our travel schedule (which wasn’t all to extreme) didn’t allow us to get in any snacks, as it was closed on arrival. I was a little surprised that the lounge was completely closed at 10:30 PM. For breakfast, the hotel didn’t seem to keen on offering the Food and Beverage Credit, so we didn’t take a full price breakfast in the restaurant.

Around the Hotel Property:

Waterfront Walkway:

Arguably the best feature of the hotel isn’t something that’s actually run by the hotel itself. It’s the waterfront walkway that’s situated right outside of the property on the Bay side on the water.

I took a walk down the south eastern direction of the walkway, but it ran out of real estate about about ten minutes of walking. The walkway does continue towards the San Francisco International Airport, which would be the better direction if you were planning on using the walkway as a running track.

The walkway is the hotels’ nicest feature. Although, despite some nice plane spotting opportunities, I don’t think that it’s nice enough to draw me back for a second stay.

Gym:

The hotel offered a small 24 hour gym. While the gym is nice to have, it’s not a particular place that I would imagine spending a lot of time in thanks to it’s odd and some what fluorescent lit layout.

Hotel Pantry:

The Hotel does offer a small pantry for picking up some snacks. Unfortunately, for arriving after the supper hour being closed, the pantry didn’t offer a whole lot of meal replacement items. My diet these days, doesn’t consider a giant bag of popcorn as a legitimate meal replacement item.

While I can appreciate that the hotel may not want to cannibalize any food and beverage sales by offering larger food products in the pantry, the items that were on offer in the pantry were expensive. We picked up a $15 USD Can of Underwood Pinot Noir (that retails for $6 USD at Fred Meyer) as it was the only drinks available after midnight. I didn’t see much value here.

Checking Out of the San Francisco Airport Waterfront Marriott Hotel:

Our check out the next day, our check out was without incident. We didn’t have any surprises on the bill and our points posted within thirty six hours.

It was a pretty anonymous and transactional stay. While we didn’t have any issues with our stay, I didn’t elect to raise any concerns with the front desk.

We departed the hotel on the complimentary shuttle and headed onwards on Qatar Airways Q Suites Business Class San Francisco – Doha and onwards Qatar Airways Business Class Doha – Malé.

Bottom Line: The San Francisco Airport Waterfront Marriott Hotel

The San Francisco Airport Waterfront Marriott met the basic needs for an airport hotel stay. With a great initial impression thanks to clear shuttle and welcome instructions, our stay over fourteen hours was, frankly, pretty boring.

Many of the food and beverage outlets weren’t open during our visits. While our stay pattern wasn’t that unusual, the hotel wasn’t all that accommodating in delivering elite benefits for an airport hotel that likely has travellers arriving at all sorts of hours.

With a lounge that stopped serving breakfast at 9:30 AM, there wasn’t any sleeping in after a late arrival. The pantry wasn’t really set up for meal replacements and was unusually expensive. There are a lack of restaurants near the property, which makes any traveller that much more reliant on the hotel offerings, which aren’t always available due to limited hours of operation. The hotel housekeeping wasn’t all that stellar, and the hotel didn’t seem to keen on offering food and beverage credits in the main restaurant.

Perhaps my expectations are too high, but overall, I’d probably give this place a miss next time, in favour of another San Francisco Airport property.

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If you have stayed at the San Francisco Waterfront Airport Marriott, how did you find your stay ?

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