Hotel Frank

Hotel description

San Francisco, already America’s highest-occupancy hotel town, has lately been upgrading its stock, and the Personality Hotels group has been at the front lines. Hotel Frank is a fine example of the new guard of stylish hotels around Union Square; though the classic building is pure historic San Francisco, the interiors, by Thomas Schoos, are all maximalist 21st-century modern-retro chic.

The look is more fantasy than fashion, and that’s a good thing. Depending where you look you could be reminded of anything from Beaux Arts to Art Deco to Jetsons-era retro-futurism. Though it’s not quite in the high-luxury league, the Frank is comfortable, the rooms spacious enough, with thoughtful little touches like iPod docks and in-room refrigerators.

As for location, the Frank is just about as central as it gets, just off Union Square, where San Francisco’s shops and restaurants are at their highest concentration — and a fine compromise between the palaces up on Nob Hill and the convention-friendly lodgings south of Market. Services inside the hotel can thus be kept a bit light; the gym is a separate establishment nearby, and there’s no need for a high-concept hotel restaurant with so much excellent food so close at hand.