Hotel Kabuki San Francisco Review

I love the Bay Area, and I travel there at least a few times a year. When I stay in the city of San Francisco, I often stay in the Financial District neighborhood, which is convenient for business, but leaves a lot to be desired otherwise. Well, this time I decided to stay at the Hotel Kabuki which is decidedly away from the FiDi. And I loved it! Check out my review of the Hotel Kabuki to see why.

In This Article...

Overall: Lovely hotel with a distinct boutique vibe

Pros: Chic design, fantastic views, great neighborhood, wonderful gym

Cons: “Guest amenity fee” of almost $35/day

We paid: $228/night (including taxes and fees)

Could have paid: 20,000 Hyatt points/night

How to stay here without paying full price:

Get the Hyatt credit card and link it to your account. You can also get a card that earns Chase Ultimate Rewards points such as the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card and set it up to link to your Hyatt account.
Hit the minimum spend required to reach your bonus – as of this writing:
- $3K spend on the Hyatt credit card in the first 3 months gives you 25,000 Hyatt points; AND
- $6K spend in 6 months (total) gives you another 25,000 Hyatt points;
- $4K for the Chase Sapphire Preferred card gives you 60,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards points.
Wait for your bonus points to land in your Hyatt account. Transfer points from Chase Ultimate Rewards to your Hyatt account as necessary.
Once your bonus points/nights hit your Hyatt account, search the app or website for award availability. Standard Nights at the Hotel Kabuki cost 20,000 points per night. This is a Category 5 hotel, so “free night” awards cannot be applied.
Book online through the Hyatt app or website.
- For a full guide, see my 5-step Guide to Booking Hyatt Hotels for Free.

Full review of the Hotel Kabuki

Location

I normally stay in the Financial District when I’m on business in San Francisco. (In the FiDi, I’m usually a fan of the Grand Hyatt San Francisco.) But the FiDi neighborhood has a serious homeless problem, which has gotten worse rather than better. I decided I’d take Ubers to my meetings in the FiDi and see how it felt to stay at the Hotel Kabuki in Japantown.

And it really made a positive difference in how much I enjoyed the city!

Map showing a 41-minute walk from the Hotel Kabuki to the Financial District of San Francisco

Note: There are LOTS of hotels in the FiDi because that’s where most business travelers go. If you haven’t traveled to SF much in the last 5 years, the neighborhood has gotten significantly worse. I visit San Fran frequently and it is now “normal” to see people using needles, screaming obscenities, urinating, and defecating directly on the street in the Financial District. You cannot avoid this behavior, even in broad daylight. Many locals talk about this problem openly.

Outside of the Financial District is a completely different story.

The Hotel Kabuki is located right in the middle of Japantown, a neighborhood that actually reminds me of walking around Tokyo. It’s safe and has an incredible number of food and drink options.

Less than a block away from the Hotel Kabuki is the Japantown Mall. There are a lot of boutique restaurants and bars, plus shops selling imported Japanese goods. Attached to the Japantown Mall is the Nijiya Market, a Japanese grocery store that sells lots of prepared food. I bought fresh, wonderful sushi every day there.

You’re far enough away from the Financial District that you will need to take Uber, Lyft, or public trans to get there. I happily did this, and minimized my time in the FiDi.

Check-in and the Hotel Kabuki lobby

I booked a Corner King room, and unfortunately didn’t get an upgrade. They did let me check in early though, which was a big plus.

Also, the lobby is fantastic. There are lots of areas to sit, and everything is light-filled because of the beautiful courtyard.

Chairs and couch around a coffee table in the lobby of the Hotel Kabuki

Regrettably, I didn’t spend time at the bar, which had happy hour specials and was well-attended. I did take a pic of the bar before it opened, though.

Bar on the first floor of the Hotel Kabuki, displaying colorful bottles of liquor, modern furniture, and overhead lamps — *Happy hour was popular at the Hotel Kabuki bar*

The Room

The Hotel Kabuki feels very boutique-y Japanese, and this was the decoration on our door from our room, 1302:

Colorfully painted door of the Hotel Kabuki, room 1302 — *Our room was decorated according to the Hotel Kabuki’s theme*

Our room itself was modern, with clean lines and really interesting design details. The sheer size of the room was very comfortable, and it was light-filled due to the panoramic windows.

Hotel Kabuki king-sized bed with nightstands and Japanese art on walls

View of a bed with a little nook with a seat and mirror next to it — *Small nook next to the bed with a mirror and stool*

View of a nightstand next to a bed, with a digital-wooden clock on top of it, at the Hotel Kabuki — *This wooden digital clock was very unique*

Sitting area with small table and two chairs, with drapes over windows behind them, at the Hotel Kabuki — *Light-filled sitting area, in front of the effective blackout drapes*

Large wooden desk with chair and light bulb-designed lamp — *Design details such as this little desk lamp really stand out*

Hotel Kabuki's open "closet" area with robes, a safe, and a mini fridge

Check out those VIEWS! This corner room has floor to ceiling panoramic views, plus a small balcony.

View of San Francisco's city buildings on a nice day with lots of blue sky — *The sky was this blue when I took the photo standing on my balcony.*

Mountains in the distance; view from Hotel Kabuki of San Francisco

More of the view of San Francisco from the Hotel Kabuki's corner king room — *The Corner King rooms at the Hotel Kabuki have floor-to-ceiling windows with panoramic views and balconies.*

The TV is huge, and swivels to be easily visible from the bed, which is a nice touch.

Very large flat-screen TV in the Hotel Kabuki room — *The TV swivels so you can watch it from the bed.*

I really liked how they gave you a real mini-fridge that you could use, because I definitely took advantage of Nijiya Market to buy fresh sushi and other Japanese snacks to take back to my room.

Empty mini fridge in the room at the Hotel Kabuki

The bathroom was nice, with interesting bath amenities by Jonathan Adler and a very large, Japanese-style shower with two showerheads and a bench. No bathtub, and just a single sink, but you can’t have everything I guess.

Bathroom counter with Jonathan Adler lotion, cups, and an orange design motif — *Jonathan Adler Citrus & Sandalwood bath amenities were nice.*

Large walk-in shower with multiple showerheads and a large bench — *No bath, but a large walk-in shower and a bench*

View of a shower with multiple showerheads — *Rainfall showerhead above*

Single, modern, slate-gray sink at the Hotel Kabuki room — *Single sinks*

All in all, I thought this room was great, and for $228 it represented a great value. I saved money compared to the hotels in the Financial District!

Amenities and “guest amenity fee” at the Hotel Kabuki

Hotels have been increasing the practice of adding fees on top of room rates in recent years. This is an unfortunate trend and serves to make the true price of the room harder to understand. “Resort fees” are the most common of these fee types, but increasingly we’re starting to see “destination fees” and “guest amenity fees” added to non-resort properties. This was the case here, at $27 per night — which, when you add up the extra taxes assessed on top of the fee, came to $34.58 per night.

Sign stating that the guest amenity fee at the Hotel Kabuki is $27 per day and includes items like wifi, a large gym, and access to yoga classes — *$27 plus taxes adds up to almost $35 per day*

The amenities were definitely nice, including a fabulous gym, which I’ll talk about in the next section. But $35 per night is approaching Vegas proportions, and I don’t think any of these amenities were really over-the-top.

Sign in colored chalk about the classes offered as an amenity at the Hotel Kabuki

Page describing events at the Hotel Kabuki including yoga classes and happy hour info

I really liked the Hotel Kabuki’s gorgeous courtyard. It is tranquil and the design is in keeping with the Japanese theme.

Outdoor courtyard at the Hotel Kabuki showing exotic trees, a small pond, landscaped rocks, and a swing in the distance — *Courtyard at the Hotel Kabuki*

Close-up of a painted red, white, and blue horse in the courtyard of the Hotel Kabuki — *Well hello there.*

There’s a tree swing that I used on a nice day. I don’t know if this counts as the “Meditation Station” mentioned on the amenity fee list? In any case, it was a lovely little touch.

Circular metal chair suspended by a chain so that it swings. The chair is purple and sits in the courtyard of the Hotel Kabuki — *The swing in the courtyard was comfy.*

Gym at the Hotel Kabuki

Hotel Kabuki’s gym really stands out as one of the best hotel gyms I’ve ever seen. It looks out into the pretty courtyard too.

Hotel gym looking into a courtyard, showing about 9 cardio machines and some free weights

The gym is decorated with Hotel Kabuki’s familiar theme:

Gym at the Hotel Kabuki with a painted wall and yoga equipment

Boxing equipment, a punching bag, and weight equipment at the Hotel Kabuki gym

You’ve got everything in this gym from a set of boxing equipment, to a punching bag, to a Peloton bike.

Peloton bike looking into the pretty Hotel Kabuki courtyard — *There’s one Peloton bike and a couple dozen other cardio machines.*

They even have a Smith machine, which you don’t see often in hotel weight rooms.

I’m not sure that I agree that “pain is pleasure,” but I appreciate the sheer number of equipment options you have in the Hotel Kabuki gym.

Row of treadmills with some free weights in the distance. Above the treadmills the walls are painted to say "Pain is pleasure," at the Hotel Kabuki gym — *Pain = pleasure, you say? Not sure I agree, but this is a great gym.*

Value for points

I paid cash for my stay because Hyatt points are worth somewhere around 2 cents per point, and the cash rate for this room was only $228, including taxes and fees. $228 divided by 20,000 points per night only represents a value of 1.14 cents per Hyatt point, which is not a great redemption rate. However, note that when you book a room using Hyatt points, they do NOT charge you any resort or amenity fees. Be sure to take all taxes and fees into account when you’re running this calculus for yourself.

Note, the value you’ll receive for your points depends on the rate you’d pay for the hotel. San Francisco is a busy city, and base cash rates at the Hotel Kabuki can easily climb up to $300-$400+ per night. When that happens, I’d definitely consider paying 20,000 Hyatt points per night for this hotel.

Bottom line

Would I stay at the Hotel Kabuki again? Absolutely! I think the Hotel Kabuki is a lovely hotel. The design is beautiful, if a bit quirky, and you can see a strong attention to detail common to more traditional luxury hotels.

The rooms and the amenities were very high-quality, and the gym is fantastic. I loved walking around the Japantown neighborhood too, and it didn’t bother me one bit that it’s away from the Financial District. I’ll look forward to staying here again next time I’m in San Francisco – whether for work or for play!