Renovation Completed!

We started renovating 1/2 a floor per week back in May 2007 and slowly but surely moved through the building top to bottom. We did it with almost no disruption and complaints. A special THANK YOU to our Chief Engineer, Rick Moorhouse and the Executive Housekeeper, Ollie Rodriguez. They are the reason everything went so well.

One Queen Bedded Room

After

Before

Two Twin Bedded Room after

Before

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Yesterday was Black Friday topped off with the Macy*s Christmas Tree Lighting. The City was alive. The decorations are up, Union Square was buzzing and everything was good. Here are a few pictures from the day.

Lots of people on the streets & SFPD Mounted Patrol

Macy*s Christmas Tree is now Lit through the Holidays!

We hope you will come spend a night with us in the City and check out the "buzz" for yourself. We have great mid-week rates and packages including FREE parking and more. Everyone at check in gets a shopping coupon package. Call us at 1-800-428-4748

for reservations.

Why Bother Sometimes?

Below is a review that a guest posted on TripAdvisor. They requested a renovated room and when they checked in, they got one of our last rooms that still had not been renovated. It was one of those rare cases when there was no other room available. Elmer, who was working at the front desk, called me that night when they checked in and complained. We discussed the situation and we decided to offer them a free night to stay in the "old" room or we would pay for them to stay at another hotel. Way, way above normal protocol. Typically, a request is a request and if it can not be honored, oh well. "Sorry" is all you get. To offer to pay for a room at another hotel when we would have a room go vacant is unheard of in the business. When I came to work the next day, I enquired about the guest, what happened, etc. I noticed we also gave them a $25 food and beverage credit to have breakfast on us. I heard nothing. Usually, someone will say something at check out or again during their stay if they are not happy. It is our policy to make everyone happy to the best of our ability and if they had said something, we would have done more. We are not perfect but if we make a mistake we will make it right. I thought we did that in this case. I just don't understand how someone can be so unforgiving when we try so hard to make things right. How can someone be so spiteful that they feel the need to post such a thing after we gave them a choice, they chose and we did exactly what they wanted. They very easily could have gone to another hotel. It is very frustrating to think we could have said, tough luck and done nothing and the posting they made about us would not have been hardly any different. People like this ruin things for everyone else and make it difficult to serve the rest the way they should. So it goes...

Here is the posting off TripAdvisor:

San Francisco: Chancellor Hotel on Union Square: "Don't Stay Here!"
advocate73, El Dorado Hills, CA Nov 19, 2007

My experience with this property took place in: November, 2007

We booked a recently renovated room. What we received was a room with a worn, dirty bedspread, dirty bathroom floor and tub, and soiled furniture. The bed was so brick hard and uncomfortable that we were unable to get any sleep. We asked for the newly renovated room that we booked or a suite, and were told that none was available. The desk clerk did have a cleaner worn bedspread and better linen put on the bed, but the bathroom floor and tub still looked dirty and worn. The bathroom was so small that you could barely sit on the toilet without bumping into the sink. The remote didn't work for the TV, but it didn't matter because it was an old model with bad reception. Since it was my birthday, they did give us a nice bottle of wine. Also, they offered to comp our room or let us find another hotel. We chose the compensation since it was too late to find another hotel, but it was a miserable night on a brick hard bed. The room picture on the internet must have been taken a long time ago, because it did not reflect the actual room.
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Oh and by the way, if they had used TripAdvisor to research their hotel before staying, instead of using it to "get even" after their stay, they would have seen the comments about the pictures and known the bathrooms are small.

What do you think? Tell me if I am out of line or click on their TripAdvisor ID and tell them.

Thanksgiving Week

As we approach Thanksgiving this Thursday, the hotel is quiet and everyone is gearing up for the Holidays. Macy*s Christmas Tree is up and they are getting it decorated for the big lighting ceremony this Friday the 23rd at 6pm.

Of course, the Friday after Thanksgiving is a big one on Union Square. The day, known as "Black Friday" because that was the day the retailers were in the "black" and the holiday sales were the profits. Good holiday sales meant good profits. Not really the case anymore. However, still a huge shopping day in Union Square. Other groups have declared "Black Friday" in Union Square as their day as well. Animal Rights groups have named it Fur Free Friday. They usually protest against buying fur in front of Nieman Marcus and Saks 5th Avenue. The group, In Defense of Animals, will be out from 8am to 3pm. Two other groups, Women in Black and Do Nothing/Buy Nothing, will be out protesting around the Square along with other smaller groups. Busy day, lots of traffic and people. To me, with the decorations, store windows and all, it is a lot of fun and a very high energy day that is capped off with the Tree Lighting at 6pm. One of my favorite days on Union Square.

New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve is one of our busiest times. We always sell out and this year we have some great deals. We have several packages such as:

$300 New Year's Day Brunch Package
Welcome bottle of Champagne, a great room with one queen bed or two twins, New Year's Day Brunch and Late Checkout at 2:00pm.

$325 New Year's Eve Dinner Package
Welcome bottle of Champagne, a great room with one queen bed or two twins,New Year's Eve Prix Fixe Four Course Dinner for two at LUQUES Restaurant and Late Checkout at 2:00pm.

$350 New Year's Brunch and Dinner Package
Welcome bottle of Champagne, a great room with one queen bed or two twins,New Year's Eve Prix Fixe Four Course Dinner for two at LUQUES Restaurant and New Year's Day Brunch and Late Checkout at 2:00pm

Call 1-800-428-4748 For Reservations

The dinner package is the best deal. The room only rate is $275/nt plus tax. For only $50 more, you get a 4 course dinner for two that we are charging $75 per person for PLUS tax and gratuity.

New Year's is a busy time in the Union Square area. The restaurants, theaters and streets are all very busy. That is my longest night of the year. I usually work from mid-morning until 3-4am the next year. We have extra security procedures in place and only our registered guests are allowed into the guest room areas. This procedure keeps out the parties and allows our guests to get a pretty good night's sleep whenever they are ready.

Chancellor Holiday Giving

This holiday season, the Chancellor Hotel has two ideas to spread the joy of the season. The first one is to adopt a family that we will help have a special Christmas. The family of 4 will prepare a wish list and everyone at the hotel will chip in to get them everything on the list. This is a new community effort and we look forward to seeing how it goes.

For our second year in a row, we are also soliciting food and money for the San Francisco Food Bank. We have barrells in the employee break area where everyone can put donated food. The picture to the right shows our cook, Jose, donating some food. Thank you, Jose!

Last year, we accumulated over 1,000 pounds of food and several hundred dollars in cash.

Welcome!

Welcome to my new Blog. I am the general manager of the Chancellor Hotel on Union Square. I have been at the hotel since 1993. I am an active participant on TripAdvisor, however, with the restrictions and rules they apply to the hotel side, I wanted to have another format to openly discuss the joys and frustrations of being a hotel manager. I hope you enjoy my thoughts.

Serving people has got to be one of the most interesting things that can be done as a career. Everyone is unique in this world. - - The servers and the serve -ees. - - What is right or wrong, liked or disliked is only in the mind of the people being served and the people providing the service. Matching our service and product with the likes and dislikes of our guests is the challenge we face every day. Not only is it difficult to meet the expectations (the likes and dislikes) of all these unique people, but we have to do it without making a mistake. That is impossible. I have yet to meet the perfect person - the one who never makes a mistake. Thus, there is not a more imperfect situation than people serving people. This Blog will be the story of us dealing with this imperfect situation.