Mito I.
Yelp
Quick Summary:
- cozy, rustic, and well-kept interior and furniture
- Super cool and working elevator
- Complimentary breakfast (7-10am)
- Complimentary tea and coffee all day
- Checkout before 12pm
- Plush and warm bed
- Located halfway up the steep Powell hills
- Check in entrance is by the doorbell, but after checking in the card key beside the doorbell works
It was a really great experience staying here. We booked three days and two nights, so we tried the delicious complimentary breakfast. This hotel is located on the steepest hills in San Francisco, so it could feel like a workout to return here at the end of the day.
I loved the elevator, and took it whenever I got the chance to. The loudest parts were the two doors, but the trip up and down was smooth and silent. It does jolt you around when it starts moving and does it once more, when it reaches the destination. Again, I loved it! So cool to have experienced this working elevator with a faint smell of DW-40 and watching the chute and a glance of the other floors. My relatives, on the other hand, preferred the stairs right beside it and only took the elevator if I was with them.
Our room was the fourth floor and down the hall. I have read a review, that some were woken up in the middle of the night when guests returned to their rooms, but I haven't experienced this. It could have been because our room was far from the staircase. The staircase did creak on every step, so if there were more guests who took the stairs more than the elevator, then it might have been noisy at night. We didn't even hear any footsteps above us either.
The room was quaint and well-kept. We had the room with the bathroom, a mini kitchen like coffee space, another vanity with a walk-in closet. I felt history of the room in two ways: not enough outlets. I had to swap out some lamp fixtures and coffee machines to charge my watch and devices, and then trade these with my relative, once they were done. The other was the bathroom door. The knob was loose, so not knowing this I had a struggle when the door closed on me. It was a short scare, but after that we avoided the scare by not closing the door all the way.
The bed was plush, very soft and morphs your body. I felt myself sinking into the mattress; that's how soft it was. The only drawback is that my body temperature is on the warm side, so at night this comfy bed was stifling with heat. The second night was better because the remedy was to remove a blanket layer. Still, I found myself waking up in the middle of the night with no blankets covered on me, and that was still warm.
The complimentary breakfast was the best experience there. It was available all day from 7am to 10am. It was located on the lower floor -- since this hotel is on a slope, the hotel entrance is actually the 2nd floor, so the breakfast area is on the first...I think. The interior was so cute and so cozy! I always wanted to experience the Victorian feel, and the breakfast area was so good! (Took so many photos)
The breakfast menu slightly changes by the day, but the general list was that there was always coffee, tea, bread for toast, jam, butter, and a boiled egg. Pastries were different each day. There are tables and chairs closest to the breakfast, near the outside deck, down the lower deck (this area were mostly couches and lounge sofas), and past this room was another wider room of more tables and chairs.
Eating breakfast here was like a quaint time-skip. This was my favorite experience staying there.
If one is looking for an extravagant stay, others can try for Fairmont or Palace Hotel, but this hotel let me step away from the current time and enjoy the slow life.