Want to take advantage of Four Seasons Preferred Partner benefits, including a space available room upgrade, complimentary breakfast, a hotel credit, and more? Contact Ford ([email protected]) for more details. He may even be able to help if you already have a stay booked.
During our recent trip to California (where I also reviewed Alila Marea Encinitas), we spent a night at the new Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero. The hotel has breathtaking views (it’s the highest hotel in San Francisco) and extremely friendly service, along with a good signature restaurant.
Booking the Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero
For our date, the nightly rate at the Four Seasons was around $420 when booking in advance, though pricing does vary considerably (closer to our stay, the rate was roughly $600). The best way to book any Four Seasons hotel is through a Preferred Partner travel advisor. When booking through Preferred Partner you pay the same rate you’ll find directly on Four Seasons’ website, but you’ll receive extra perks, including the following:
- A room upgrade, subject to availability
- Complimentary daily breakfast
- A hotel credit to use during your stay
You can’t beat getting all of these extra perks just for booking through an eligible travel advisor. Ford and his team are of course more than happy to help anyone book Four Seasons properties through Preferred Partner, and can be reached at [email protected]. They don’t charge any booking fees for Four Seasons properties.
Four Seasons Preferred Partner is generally combinable with promotions being offered directly through Four Seasons, like a third or fourth night free offer. Note that booking Four Seasons properties through Preferred Partner is better than booking through programs like Amex Fine Hotels + Resorts®. Why?
- With Preferred Partner you have the option of room service breakfast in place of restaurant breakfast (though that’s a moot point at this hotel, since currently only room service breakfast is available
- Upgrades are prioritized for Preferred Partner bookings, given that it’s Four Seasons’ own proprietary program (and the value of an upgrade at a hotel can be significant)
- You can combine Preferred Partner perks with virtually any rate on Four Seasons’ website (other programs don’t allow you to stack promotions in the same way)
Full disclosure — Ford got a travel agent rate here. To be honest, it wasn’t that much cheaper than the best published rate if you were to factor in the $100 food & beverage credit we would have gotten through Preferred Partner.
Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero location
The Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero is located in the 345 California Center building, at 222 Sansome Street. The hotel takes up the top floors of the 48-story building, making it the highest hotel in San Francisco. It’s so awesome to have a hotel that occupies the top floors of a high-rise, rather than the bottom floors (the latter seems to be most common nowadays).
The hotel has a great location, as far as I’m concerned. It’s just a few blocks to the Ferry Building, and a few blocks to Chinatown. Interestingly the hotel is also quite close to the Four Seasons San Francisco (the one that doesn’t have the Embarcadero branding).
Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero history
There’s an interesting backstory to this hotel, in case the building and views sound familiar. This was originally the Mandarin Oriental San Francisco, which opened back in 1986. Then in 2015 the hotel was sold, and it was rebranded as the Loews Regency San Francisco. Then the hotel was sold again in 2019, at which point it closed for renovations and was rebranded as the Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero.
The Four Seasons is the hotel’s third brand. The Four Seasons finally opened in October 2020, but then closed again in December 2020, given the lack of demand due to coronavirus. The hotel then finally reopened in May 2021, and has been open ever since. I don’t envy operating a hotel in San Francisco right now, given that the city was so dependent on conventions and business travel, and that’s something that hasn’t fully recovered.
Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero lobby & check-in
The Four Seasons has an entrance off Sansome Street. When we arrived at the hotel we were promptly welcomed by the friendly bellmen, and directed to the front desk.
Reception was located just inside the lobby, and our check-in process was quick and friendly. Four Seasons consistently has phenomenal employees, and this hotel was no exception.
The main part of the lobby is a fairly small space, and had some Christmas decorations.
The elevators are located at the end of the hallway. One thing I love about this hotel is that you can take a single elevator from the ground floor all the way to your room. Many hotels with guest rooms at the top of a building require you to take two sets of elevators, so it’s awesome to be on a high floor while only having to take a single elevator ride (and the elevators here are fast).
Guest rooms at the Four Seasons are on floors 36 through 48, though I believe only the top several floors are operational as of now.
Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero corner suite
We were assigned room 4714, a corner suite on the 47th floor.
The single coolest thing about the Four Seasons Embarcadero is the views, and what enhances that is that each hotel floor has a glass “bridge” that connects the two sides of the building.
How unreal are these views?!?! I’m going to go out on a limb and say that these might just be the best views from a hotel hallway anywhere in the world…
If you go to the 48th floor, there’s even an “EYE SPY” feature, where you can scan a QR code and then identify various landmarks in the city.
Our room was located at the end of a hallway, and it had two sets of doors, so that presumably the two rooms next to each other could be turned into one room if needed.
The corner suites at the Four Seasons Embarcadero are 575 square feet, so they’re more junior suites than full suites (the “real” suites are marketed as being one-bedroom suites). It goes without saying that the second we stepped into the room, our eyes were immediately drawn outside to the views.
Anyway, the room as such was beautifully appointed, as you’d expect from Four Seasons.
The room had a signature Four Seasons bed, which I consider to be the best hotel bed out there.
The living area featured a lounger chaise, a chair, a dining table with a chair, and a wall-mounted TV. The room primarily had hardwood floors, and then there was a nice carpet in the living room area. Waiting on the dining table was a welcome amenity, consisting of some fresh fruit and popcorn.
Back towards the entrance was the minibar area, which had a Nespresso coffee machine and a tea kettle.
The bathroom was back towards the entrance, and featured a sink, a soaking tub, a walk-in shower, and a toilet.
Toiletries were from CODAGE Paris — this was my first time using these toiletries, and I quite liked them.
Of course the highlight of the room was the views in every direction. Simply amazing.
Ford and I both usually sleep best when a room is really dark, but in this case we couldn’t help but keep the curtains open, because it seemed like a shame not to with views like this. In the morning we were treated to an incredible sunrise.
The views were even better from the glass bridge down the hallway.
It goes without saying that the pièce de résistance of our room (and the hotel in general) is the view, but even beyond that the room was beautifully and functionally appointed.
However, I didn’t get the sense that this was a “no expenses spared” renovation, as we’ve seen at some other Four Seasons properties. I imagine a hotel being renovated during the pandemic doesn’t exactly help with that, especially in a market like San Francisco, which is recovering slowly.
For example, the curtains and blinds in the room were manual, rather than electric. Furthermore, while the bathroom was beautiful, it didn’t have double sinks and the toilet wasn’t partitioned off, etc. (in fairness, making major changes to bathrooms and plumbing in buildings like this can be very costly).
Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero room service breakfast
During our stay at the Four Seasons Embarcadero, we had room service breakfast. You can find the hotel’s breakfast menu here, and find the hotel’s all-day dining menu here. Breakfast is served from 6AM until 11:30AM, and we had an excellent room service breakfast, which is also included with Four Seasons Preferred Partner.
We ordered a berry parfait to share.
Then I had the avocado toast with poached eggs.
Ford had the two scrambled eggs with breakfast potatoes and turkey bacon.
As is standard at Four Seasons properties, there was also complimentary coffee in the lobby in the morning, which is a feature I love.
Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero Orafo Restaurant
The Four Seasons Embarcadero has a signature restaurant, Orafo, which is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The restaurant has everything from pasta, to local seafood, to other Italian classics, with a California twist.
You can find the breakfast menu here, find the lunch menu here, and find the dinner menu here. While we didn’t have the chance to eat here, I’ve heard good things.
Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero spa & gym
Four Seasons properties consistently have very good gyms, and this property is no exception. The hotel’s gym is located on the third floor, and it features a great selection of cardio and weight equipment. The gym is open 24/7.
While the Four Seasons doesn’t directly have a spa, there’s an Equinox on the fourth floor of the building, where hotel guests can get treatments. I didn’t have a chance to check it out, but you can find all the spa treatments here.
Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero service
Every employee we interacted with was friendly, from the bellmen, to the front desk agents, to the in-room dining staff. If there’s one thing Four Seasons consistently does a great job with, its service, and this property was no exception. Everyone was just so kind and hospitable.
Bottom line
The Four Seasons San Francisco at Embarcadero is one of the Bay Area’s best hotels. I feel confident saying that it has the best views from any hotel in San Francisco, and some of the best views from any city hotel in the United States. That’s something really special. On top of that, the hotel has renovated rooms, friendly service, a good gym, a full service gym, and a solid in-room dining menu.
What do you make of the Four Seasons Embarcadero?
Want to take advantage of Four Seasons Preferred Partner benefits, including a space available room upgrade, complimentary breakfast, a hotel credit, and more? Contact Ford ([email protected]) for more details. He may even be able to help if you already have a stay booked.
Read Four Seasons reviews: Athens, Bogota Casa Medina, Boston, Cap-Ferrat, Costa Rica Peninsula Papagayo, Denver, Desroches Island, Florence, Fort Lauderdale, Geneva, Hualalai, Kyoto, Lanai, Los Angeles at Beverly Hills, Los Cabos, Madrid, Maldives at Landaa Giraavaru, Maui, Megeve, Miami, Napa Valley, Naviva, Nevis, Oahu at Ko Olina, Paris, Punta Mita, San Francisco at Embarcadero, Scottsdale, Seychelles, and Surfside
Learn about Four Seasons deals & offers: Anguilla, Athens, Atlanta, Austin, Bahamas, Bora Bora, Boston, Cap-Ferrat, Costa Rica, Dubai, Fort Lauderdale, Hawaii, Jackson Hole, London, Los Cabos, Maldives, Mallorca, Minneapolis, Nashville, Naviva, New York, Napa Valley, New Orleans, Orlando, Osaka, Palm Beach, Paris, Philadelphia, Punta Mita, Rabat, San Francisco, Santa Fe, Seattle, Sicily, Tamarindo, and Vail
Learn about Four Seasons basics: Four Seasons Preferred Partner, Four Seasons Private Retreats, Four Seasons Yachts, Four Seasons Private Jet, Four Seasons travel agents, Four Seasons loyalty program, and maximizing value at Four Seasons
Membership is free and takes no more information than commenting as a guest. Earn status points for good contributions, and see fewer ads as your status grows.