Review title
Victorian yes, charming not really
Review excerpt
I definitely was not expecting "the typical Hilton", as another reviewer put it. I was expecting an old building, and perfectly prepared to deal with a bit of hokeyness and dilapidation. One other Victorian hotel I've stayed at in SF had paint peeling off the ceiling everywhere, made no apologies for it, and had one of the most bizarre bathtubs I've ever seen, and I loved every minute of it.
What disappointed me about the Hotel Majestic is that the place felt unfriendly, and stilted. It wasn't a homey place where you could kick off your shoes and bask in the feeling of being someplace unique, comforting, and time-honored. The four poster bed didn't seem to be saying "ahhh, see, they had a few things right back then, didn't they?" -- I felt like if that bed could talk, it would have been laughing derisively at the scores of previous occupants who had approved of it not on its own merits but simply because it had the cachet of being a four poster bed.
The cleaning staff also apparently decided that the plastic shopping bags in which I had packed my toiletries looked untidy, and threw them away. If it had been a more expensive hotel, that might have seemed in keeping with the probable expectations of monogrammed-leather-bag-toting guests; as it is, I suspect a lot of guests probably look like me, wear jeans, and put their toothbrushes in plastic bags. If you fit that description, beware the cleaning staff. Or better yet, find a different hotel.