The Parc 55 and Hilton Union Square are kitty-corner from each other and are operated as a cross-site property. You can stay at one hotel and use the fitness center or dine at the other (and bill the dinner to your room).
Location
Both hotels are located between the shopping area on Market Street and Union Square. From the window of our room on the 28th floor, we could look down on Neiman Marcus and the Westfield San Francisco Centre. The other window on our corner room looked out on the financial district and Salesforce Tower.
There are hotels for getting away from it all, but this is not one of them. You are in the vibrant heart of the city. As we walked past a street musician playing buckets and bottles and into Union Square my wife heard the tour bus tout chanting “hop on, hop off” while a street evangelist was at the same time shouting something about “Jesus”. She turned to me and said “I love the city”. She is the kind of person who should stay here.
Rooms
Our room had a modern clean decor with chairs so deep that they begged to be incorporated into some kind of pillow fort.
The large picture windows have a cityscape that would make a nice piece of artwork all by themselves.
The room was well wired for charging your electronics on the desk or at each of the end tables. I can easily picture spending the day working at this desk in front of this view as I have in many a hotel room.
The large flat screen TV had an amazing array of inputs should you want to bring your home theatre system.
There was also a tablet on the desk with information about what was happening at the hotel or in the neighborhood. It said, “This navigator tablet is provided compliments of Hilton Parc 55 hotel for use during your stay”. As I understand you can take it out as you explore, just don’t forget to leave it in the room when you checkout. I have seen this sort of system in a few different hotels on my travels but this one seemed to work better than some of the ones I have encountered.
Fitness Center
The large fitness center was lovely. It could easily hold more equipment. I always enjoy when the equipment in the fitness center faces a window with a view instead of a blank wall.
Dining
Cable 55
The Cable 55 restaurant is located at the Parc 55. The menu is what I would call California fission. It offers dishes like a spicy tandoori rice bow, ocean-friendly sea food, a tapa board, local wines and a number of cocktails.
Kin Khao
Kin Khao is a Thai restaurant in the Parc 55. The name of the restaurant comes from the Thai equivalent of “Let’s eat”. It is a more casual restaurant than Cable 55 on the ground floor.
Urban Tavern
We crossed over to the Hilton for dinner at the Urban Tavern where we ate ourselves silly from their relatively small but very diverse menu. Don’t try and order all the appetizers like we did. Don’t get me wrong, from the Charred Spanish Octopus to the Smokey Pimento Cheese to the Kimchi Fries, they were all great. We simply ordered too much food.
You need to leave some room for your main course. Some of our party raved over the Salmon while some raved over the Bolognese or the “Peking Chicken”, but all raved. I went simple with the Urban Burger and the Smashed Fries. I am a cheap but appreciative date.
Cityscape Bar & Lounge
We ended our evening at the Cityscape Bar & Lounge at the top (46th floor) of the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. Even if you are not going to order a drink you need to visit Cityscape for the spectacular views of San Francisco at night. It is a perfect way to celebrate your visit.
Poached
For breakfast, we had the buffet at Poached in the Hilton Union Square. They have a good, if not bargain-priced, buffet with food for a western as well as an Asian pallet.
Plan Your Trip
