Late night at San Francisco International Airport and a crashpad for the night – The Crowne Plaza Burlingame
Polishing Silver
It’s been a long day of travel… and I need to put my head and body in the horizontal position. Given I need just a comfortable bed, can The Crowne Plaza Burlingame fill the bill… or does it need a lot more love?
In this Tier Point-laden adventure
- All I ask is for one decent airfare. Just ONE. Anyone?
- Off to Birmingham Airport
- FR669 Birmingham to Dublin Airport with Ryanair
- Welcome to Dublin, Premier Inn – Dublin Airport
- Early Morning Dublin Airport and US Preclearance, 51st and Green Lounge
- AA723 Dublin to Philadelphia – Flagship Business Class
- A Rocky Interlude – Exploring Philadelphia
- Return to PHL and the Philadelphia American Airlines Admirals Club
- AA2663 Philadelphia to San Francisco – US Domestic First
- A new terminal and The Crowne Plaza, Burlingame
- The Intercontinental San Francisco (and trying the new BART trains)
- Asian Eats around San Francisco
- A challenge unto myself: Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge
- Ferrying around the bay with Golden Gate Ferry
- Of Dragons and Lions – Celebrations in San Francisco Chinatown
- Back to SFO, American Airlines Admirals Club
- AA164 San Francisco to New York JFK – Transcontinental Business Class
- A snow-laden pit stop at JFK and the American Airlines/British Airways Greenwich Lounge
- AA104 New York JFK to London Heathrow – Flagship Business Class
- Transiting across Heathrow Terminals and the British Airways Galleries North
- BA836 London Heathrow to Dublin Airport – Club Europe
- A Two Hour Dublin Turnaround featuring the Dublin Airport Lounge
- BA4469 Dublin to London City Airport – Club Europe by BA CityFlyer
- To the trains… and on the cheap
- Points in the bag
Now Entering… The Harvey Milk Terminal
No. I’m not going back to Philly on that thing.
Exiting the aircraft, it was clear there was a hike ahead from the gate area to the exit… and that it was new territory for me. I was last in San Francisco in 2018. As such the refurbishment of Terminal 1 (and its merging of several airlines in one place) makes the terminal look light and airy.
That’s great to see.
Of course, it being nearly midnight, most of the amenities were closed – including the toilet nearest the gate – requiring a hike to the security area for a small room.
Sparkies
I’d love to know how one gets a car here.
That, I’m not a fan of. What I am a fan of is the toilet selections
The toilets cover all identities. I welcome that.
Welcome!
Post TSA Check area.
I followed the signs, as this layout was completely new to me – and by some blind luck at one point, found the exit area
The exit!
I headed out in the public zone, working out how to get to the airport hotel. Whilst I could wait for a shuttle bus, at this time of night – that’s not reliable. So it’s off to Uber and Lyft, which required meeting in a parking garage in a zone late at night for the cheap rides.
No. Just… no.
I headed downstairs to the taxi rank. After finding a disgruntled taxi driver to take me the short distance to the Crowne Plaza, I settled in and watched the taxi meter climb at astronomical speeds.
Gotta love an airport taxi.
Eventually, I was dropped off at the front door of the Crowne Plaza. I paid up and headed indoors.
This day had gone on too long.
Crowne Plaza Burlingame
Crowne Plaza Burlingame
Price paid: £88 (Advance Rate).
I headed indoors to be welcomed by the night receptionist. After providing my passport and payment method, I was welcomed as an IHG Platinum and a welcome amenity of 600 points had been deposited.
That’s welcome, as I need to add back to my points balance after blowing 40k on Ambassador membership.
The charge for the room was taken, along with a $50 holding charge.
With keycards issued, I was informed that I was on a high floor. I headed past the retail vending and headed to the lifts.
Also, just past reception is a vending area for those with late-night munchies.
Shop till you drop!
These corridors always feel deserted – even after midnight.
This Crowne Plaza hasn’t changed much in all the times I’ve been here – other than a room refurb in 2018.
And it shows. Whilst it’s £88 for the night I was paying for that as at least in the public areas, the hotel needs a refurbishment.
It’s also slightly concerning when you see only one of the emergency exits available when you reach your floor.
I was honestly too tired to worry about this sort of thing – my mind was in “get me to something flat and comfortable”. It’s amazing what happens when tiredness takes over.
Going into the bedroom, I was right… nothing has changed since 2018. That’s fine in this respect. There’s a reasonable enough space in the room and I got comfy, fast.
The bed dominates the room, with a TV on the wall. Meanwhile, there’s an occasional seat to the side, along with coffee-making facilities.
At the sides of the bed, there are main outlets, with a USB hidden away. This is a welcome thing to see (and the second hotel in the room that has easy access to power in two forms at least).
Perfect for plugging in a Laptop and a phone to charge. I also took the opportunity to start the charge of other things – like cameras and batteries, as it seemed the day had given them both of them a pounding.
As well as the power bank. But that is the job of these things – to take the pounding.
There’s also an iron and ironing board. Hear that hotels in Germany… of course not…
The other thing I needed was a small room. Thankfully, this hotel has a reasonably well-appointed and clean bathroom, with a bathtub.
Whilst the soap bar was individual, everything else had been converted to a bulk-style “pump to get” product. That’s… honestly fine – enough to keep me clean in body – if not in mind.
With the day wearing down on me, eventually, I got comfortable… and fell asleep. Hiking around Philadelphia and a six-hour trans-continental flight, along with the morning flight from Dublin, had finally got to me.
I lost track of time, but when I woke up, it was light outside. Although peering through the window, I noticed my timing was worse than usual.
Rain and drizzle outside. Wonderful. How I just like my holidays.
This was the perfect time for a pre-portioned cup of coffee whilst I planned out the day ahead. Badly of course but I do a little planning. After all – I have to keep myself entertained whilst out in the world.
I checked the shuttle bus timetable that I borrowed from reception – and worked out some times that worked for me – given that the bus would operate every 30 minutes.
I pondered staying in bed a bit longer – but my mind was in the mood to take advantage of every minute I had on holiday. And stuff it, I was going to take advantage of the time – regardless if I get soaked.
Therefore, I packed up my trash and made myself feel at least semi-human. It’s amazing what new clothes and a wash do sometimes.
I headed downstairs and proceeded to get lost in the downstairs conference centre.
With the amount of advertising for it, I honestly forgot they had on-site dining
Eventually, I found my way to reception and checked out.
With everything in order, I headed outside to the waiting area, to wait for the bus back to the Terminal area.
Boarding the shuttle bus, I had no baggage to worry about – so I took my bags into the main cabin. Once everyone was aboard, the bus made its way over to the Doubletree by Hilton, where it seemed that an airline had based a lot of its crew.
Allegedly, this had a $10 charge – but I was not charged it on this journey.
Once the drop-off/pick-up was complete, the bus hit the highway back to San Fransico International Airport.
I was aiming to get off at the International terminal – as it’s a short walk to the BART from there. That was the plan – the reality was a lot different as the shuttle spent quite a bit of time parked up waiting for the crew of an airline to turn up.
I bailed at that point and headed for the AirTrain to take me towards the BART. It would be a lot easier.
I had a city to rediscover – even in the rain.
Overall
There are some hotels I’ve been in and thought “This is fine” to “This is looking tired”. Whilst the room at the Crowne Plaza Burlingame was clean and I got a good night’s sleep, the rest of the hotel doesn’t seem to fit into the Crowne Plaza brand and needs to be dragged kicking and screaming into the 2020s with some updates to brighten up the hotel.
Whilst it was one of the cheapest hotels I could find that night – it shows sadly.
Put it like this, the Premier Inn I was in the night before felt like it had more thought put in. If that’s the standard I’m holding this to, I’d expect a lot better.
Next:
Into San Francisco and the Intercontinental San Francisco. Let’s to the BART, man.
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