You may find it confusing when I tell you there is something about the Handlery Hotel on Geary St, San Francisco that reminds me of Claridges in London. The price point is a world apart, The Handlery at 300 dollars a night and Claridges at 3000 are not the same offering obviously but the human touch you expect at Claridges, a small personal and private historic London hotel is aspired to at The Handlery, one of the very last owned and family run properties in San Francisco’s Union Square.

The hotel feels like home and you have to experience it to understand how this property sets itself apart from other larger more expensive offerings in the city.

It’s the people, like Edwin, the night manager a passionate hotelier who will move heaven and earth to accommodate his guests, Judi on the concierge desk who as a  high value realtor in the city knows San Francisco like the back of her hand and with experience at the John Hopkins Intercontinental Hotel before joining the team at the Handlery, she can sort out anything from a highly sort after hair appointment with the city’s best stylists, to show tickets or reservations at the secret celebrity dining spots no one really knows about, the art of an experienced veteran concierge.

It’s the human touches like being rescued in a downpour with an umbrella by security personnel Mario from a restaurant around the corner, or getting the room air con sorted by engineer Kenny, it’s an old building with quirks and rattles, that make staying at the Handlery all the more inviting and understatedly stylish.

This is a hotel where you imagine if the walls could talk the stories would be alive and enduring, just like the old world art deco building.

For anyone expecting 5 star luxury this is not the place for you, but if you enjoy charm and five star service where the value is contained in the property location, the heated all year swimming pool, dry sauna and fitness gym, old fashioned ice machines on every corridor, even though the bar and restaurant is currently closed while the hotel raises investment to bring the hotel back to competing with the more expensive hotels in the neighbourhood, book in immediately. Contacting the hotel directly through their website is the best way to become a friend of the hotel, join their loyalty program and secure the best rates.

There is so much to fall in love with at the Handlery Hotel, it’s an old building which Europeans and South Americans perhaps would appreciate more than US travellers used to a Marriott, a Ritz Carton, or a Hyatt Hotel.

When I stayed for 6 nights the other guests I met were from all four corners of the globe, Australia, South Africa, South America, Finland, Switzerland and the UK and Ireland, all with the same thing in common, in search of an exceptional value product in prime location within walking distance of shopping, food and the cultural experiences the City of San Francisco offers.

I was staying for business, my only negative was unreliable and sometimes slow internet in the room however this was even tackled with the offer of an Ethernet cable connection in the business centre downstairs.

The hotel cannot offer breakfast, or any food in house but they have developed strong partnership relationships with local restaurants offering discounts of up to 25% for hotel guests and every one we tried we couldn’t fault, loved the food, the welcomes and service was first rate.

The other lovely thing was how warmly the staff at The Handlery spoke about the hotel owners, most on first names terms with father and son Jon and Jack.

You know that feeling you get when you are invited to stay at someone’s home who you find warm, hospitable and a little bit quirky in a rambling property that has better stories than curtains, you might find an old bath tub, cronky bathroom fixtures or rattling pipes but you don’t care because the water is piping hot and the towels are abundant, bright white and fluffy, welcome to the Handlery Hotel.