The Westin St. Francis San Francisco on Union Square

Character and identity

Rising 31 stories above Union Square and filling an entire city block, the St. Francis looks like a gray stone European castle dropped into downtown San Francisco. The lobby matches that scale, with soaring ceilings, cream-and-black marble, and oversized chandeliers. Inside are 1,195 rooms split between the original Landmark building and the newer Tower, refreshed in 2018. The Oak Room handles sit-down dining under Chef Fernando Reyes (think Dungeness crab cake with miso-ginger and kimchi); Clock Bar channels 1920s San Francisco under Michael Mina; and a Chateau Montelena tasting room in the lobby is the winery's only outpost beyond Calistoga.

Who's it for

Bottom line

What you're paying for here is location, scale, and a genuinely storied building, not faultless service or a hushed luxury cocoon. Book it if Union Square access and old San Francisco atmosphere matter more than personalised attention; choose a Tower room on a higher floor for the bay views and the glass-elevator ride, and time a December visit for the sugar castle in the lobby.