Balmoral Hotel North No 2

a good sro, well run clean neat quiet not in the tenderloin, or 6^th street. well run, in chinatown meets downtown san francisico.

The rudest lady at the front desk. Unbelievably rude. The most deplorable management I’ve ever seen in my life. Avoid at all costs.

I booked my husband a room here for the WWDC conference through Airbnb. When he arrived to check in last Saturday at 6:30pm, he was turned away for his reservation because it was «too late». The check-​in time was not specified whatsoever in the listing (and, in fact, is buried on the Balmoral website), and WTF? What kind of hotel doesn’t let people check in after 5:30?!
He contacted me to let me know, and I was furious. I attempted to call John, the manager, and he was unreachable by phone, even though Airbnb rules state that you MUST be reachable at the number you provide. Luckily, Airbnb were superstars and put him up in a (much better) hotel overnight, bought his dinner the next day and gave us a heavy discount on (much better) alternative accommodation for the remainder of the trip.
John replied to my frantic messages (which I sent on Saturday night) on Monday. I told him what had happened and told him that he let us down. He replied by saying, «We didn’t let you down. It’s our policy.» Um, yes, you DID let us down, and you are a sorry excuse for a manager.
All aspects of the Balmoral Hotel North No. 2 aside from shoddy customer service remain a mystery. However, said customer service (or lack thereof) will do a good job of serving as repellant in the future.
Thanks for nothing, John.

I stayed here for about 3 weeks when I first moved to the city. It’s a residential hotel so don’t expect it to be glamorous but do expect it to be clean and decent. The managers live on site and they are very kind. They sat and talked with me for a bit before saying I could stay. I feel like they really care about the safety of the place. I’ve heard tons of nightmare stories of SRO residential hotels so I know my experience could’ve been terrible – but it wasn’t. I’d recommend this place to people looking for something quick. Only 4 stars because the Internet never worked.

Sorta clean, quiet and cheap. $ 150/​wk, bathrooms and showers in the hall, sink in the room. Great location, near-​ish to BART.

I love living here! the managers George and Grace are so kind and helpful. I have been living here for about ten years now and I don’t have anything to complain about.
The place is clean and well lit, close to downtown. This place is great for students and workers! I highly recommend this place to anyone who wants a peaceful place to live!

The Balmoral Hotel is really a great place to live. I give it 4 stars for being safe and clean. George and Grace have been the managers for a long time and they do a terrific job and do so much for all the tenants. I would generally recommend this place to anyone who needs an affordable place to live that’s close to everything one comes love about San Francisco. I go to school and work part time so this is ideal for me.
This would be a 5 star review. However, for the first time ever after living peacefully here for a couple of years I have a problem with a nightmare, religious fanatic neighbor (whom I see has placed a comment here with a fake name), who breaks hotel rules and threatens/​intimidates fellow tenants. I avoid her at all costs. So far I’ve eluded her crazed wrath directly, but her behavior has resulted in the police being called on her. I really hope she’ll be out of here soon so I can go back to having my peace and quiet.
Everything was fine here until she moved in about 6 months ago. If you follow the rules and you’re a considerate human being, there is no reason why you would be treated like garbage. Just seems to me she’s a very unhappy person who is making trouble for the sake of making trouble and the rest of us have to pay for it. One person has already moved out because of her and she must be an absolute nightmare for the management. It’s terrible. Again, I’m a student with a crazy schedule. I need a quiet place to study and sleep. I have not had that in months.
So, while I recommend this place, I’ll keep this updated so you know the latest in the crazy lady saga.

This place is super affordable considering it’s in San Francisco. And it’s clean! You don’t get that combo too often. The rooms aren’t the biggest but are certainly worth what you pay. On top of that, the manager, George, is so nice and accommodating. He runs a tight ship at this hotel and is really on top of things. It’s also a great location– close to public transit, banks, foodstores, Broadway. what else could you ask for?

This is a safe, clean, quiet, and affordable residential hotel located right in the heart of downtown San Francisco. It’s convenient and near all public transportation, banks, grocery stores, etc. It is managed very well and it is always safe. There are a few weird and obnoxious tenants, as in any complex, but when there is a problem it is always immediately resolved. You may ask, why such a high rating? It is certainly not a 5 star deluxe hotel. No it is not, but for a residential hotel for $ 600 a month you can’t beat it. So that is why I am giving it 5 stars. It is a 5 star residential hotel.

It’s a long story, and I’ll tell you about it sometime. But this is really the place where I got my artist/​writer/​poet cred… Or the place that really pushed me past the point of sanity. It’s been more than three months since I lived there, and it’s becoming something of a repressed memory by now.
I spent a year and a half living in a tiny, squalid hotel room with yellow cracked-​paint walls, foul smells of smoke, loud noises of crazies who banged on my walls, slammed toilet seats, and oh… The sirens and their maddening wails! By the time I had gotten out of that place I was convinced firetrucks were part of some kind of psychological warfare agenda. But the worst was when the bedbugs came. Pure psychological terror.
But please, I don’t mean to speak ill of this place. It is managed by some really good and caring folks who do their best to make it as comfortable as possible, despite all it’s flaws. And for $ 600 a month for all expenses, it’s probably the cheapest option for solitary living in downtown San Francisco.