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Location:165 Steuart Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
Phone: (415) 397-5752
(800) 346-0555
Style: Comfortable, good for tourists or business travelers
Pluses: Bay views from some rooms, convenient to Financial District and South Embarcadero, friendly service
Minuses: Smallish rooms, noise from Harry Denton's
Prices: Expensive ($155 city view, $165 bay view, $295 for penthouse suite)
Rooms: 131, including one penthouse suite
Nonsmoking rooms: yes
Credit cards accepted: Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Diners Club, Discover
Cancellation policy: 24 hours
Parking: Valet parking, $24 per day
Restaurants: Harry Denton's Bar and Grill, a restaurant and dance club serving San Francisco brasserie-style food, serves breakfast, lunch and dinner daily; has live music Monday-Saturday, dancing Thursday-Sunday
Room service: Breakfast (7:00 a.m.-10:00 a.m.) and dinner (5:30 p.m. - 10:30 p.m.)
Wheelchair accessible: Yes
Special Features: Honor bars, hairdryers, irons and ironing boards in every room, Terry robes in bayview rooms
Business center with fax, photocopying, typing
Voicemail for all guest rooms
Complimentary use of athletic facilities in next door YMCA
Complimentary morning limousine to Financial District
Complimentary wine every evening Complimentary coffee and tea 24 hours a day
On-demand videos and Nintendo

The Harbor Court Hotel is a good choice for people who want to be close to the Financial District or like being close to the Bay. It's just a short walk to the Ferry Building, Embarcadero Center, and the California Street cable car line; there are many good restaurants nearby; and the rooms on the east side of the hotel have great views of the Bay and the Bay Bridge.

The rooms are on the small side, but they're nicely furnished. The windows are double glazed, so there's no traffic noise; and the windows open, so you can let in fresh air. The upper lobby of the hotel has a comfortable clubby feel; there's a fireplace, some plush couches, and a few tables where guests can enjoy the complimentary beverages. The back doors of the lobby lead out to an open area overlooking the bay. You can enjoy a stroll along the Embarcadero down to the area known as South Beach.

The hotel shares its building with the YMCA, and hotel guests have free access to all the Y's athletic facilities, including a full size lap pool, exercise equipment, and a jogging track. On Saturday morning the nearby Ferry Plaza Farmers' Market is a great place to sample the best local produce or to pick up supplies for an al fresco lunch.

There are a few potential problems at the Harbor Court, the biggest being that you can sometimes hear, or more accurately feel, the noise from Harry Denton's when the live music starts in the late evening. The layout of some rooms is a little awkward; in our room if you had the armoire open to watch TV, the door to the TV cupboard blocked the door to the bathroom. There also wasn't much counter-type space, just a small desk and a very small round table. Still, the convenient location and helpful staff more than made up for these shortcomings.