St. Regis Hotel

Description:

• The latest in full-blown high-tech luxury is yours at this überchic 40-story SoMa tower, which debuted in late 2005. Strategically located near the Museum of Modern Art and Yerba Buena Gardens, this shrine to urban luxury welcomes guests (and residents willing to pay upwards of $2 million for an apartment) with a 16-foot-long gas fireplace and streamlined lobby bar that's frequented by city socialites. A "personal butler" will take you to your room and show you how to use its coolest feature: a touch-screen control panel that works everything, from the phone to the drapes to the temperature to the lights. Decor is minimalist, with dark woods, cream, taupes, and sexy touches like Barcelona benches, 42-inch plasma TVs, and leather paneling (at least in the suites). Bathrooms beckon with deep soaking tubs, 13-inch LCD TVs, rainforest showerheads, and fancy toiletries. You may want to lounge on a chaise and can peek into the happenings of downtown bustle or the green patch of grass that marks Yerba Buena Gardens, but definitely leave your room for an afternoon at the posh two-floor Remède Spa, the huge pool and fitness center, and restaurant Ame, where chef Hiro Sone, who also owns Terra in Napa Valley, presides over an Asian-influenced menu that includes delicacies such as hamachi sashimi and decadences like foie gras and unagi (eel) over mushroom risotto.

• © Frommer's 2012

Awards:

Ciao Bambino Family-Friendly Hotel

•  Reviewed 2009

Travel + Leisure 500

•  Best Hotel 2009

Frommer's

•  Very Highly Recommended 2010

ForbesTraveler

•  Forbes Traveler 400 2008

Other features:

Design highlights include the stunning vestibule area with leather-textured walls, sleek window seating, and a dramatic 42" plasma television. The bathroom embodies pure indulgence with its oversized soaking tub and separate shower area. For an unforgettable experience of boundless luxury, 46 spectacular suites range in size from a spacious 700 to a lavish 3,200 square feet. Ever-resthe hotel'sceful St. Regis Butlers are at ythe hotel's beck and call, ready to transform every request, every need into immediate and delightful reality.