The Wyndham Canterbury offers large, modern suits near San Francisco’s Union Square, making it great for longer stays. It’s excellent value on Wyndham Rewards points, but expensive at cash rates. As a timeshare property, the sales pitch can be annoying to some people, or an opportunity to save money on your stay for others. I’d be happy to stay on points again, it’s some of the best value in the Wyndham Rewards program.
Location: The Wyndham Canterbury is located just 3 blocks of San Francisco’s Union Square, making this a good location for a shopping or culture trip to the city. You’ll have all the stores you want within an easy walk. While there also are lots of restaurants in the neighborhood, they mostly cater to tourists, making them not the best choice.
The Powell Street BART/MUNI station is a 10-15 minute walk away, including a climb/down the hill, making the location less than ideal for public transport. The trip from the airport is about 30 minutes by car or 1h by public transport. There is valet parking at the hotel, but prices are steep and I wouldn’t recommend bringing a rental car.
Service: The Wyndham Canterbury has a bell desk at the door, although I didn’t need any help. The front desk processed my paperwork pretty quickly, gave me the keys and information about the property.
The Wyndham is a timeshare property, part of Wyndham Club, so the next stop is the “concierge”, which really are timeshare sales folks trying to get you to attend a sales presentation. They were nice enough and let me go to my room quickly. They didn’t give up though and called me later at my room to follow up. I did end up attending their presentation (more about that later), but if this bothers you, it can be a bit of a nuisance…
Housekeeping is on request only, so make sure to request it if you want it. When I asked for it they cleaned thoroughly and quickly. They did not replace amenities, like coffee – that seems to be a one-time supply, so you’ll have to request more as needed.
Room: I had booked a 1-bedroom suite and it’s a large room by San Francisco standard: You enter into the living area, with a kitchen to your left and a dining set to your right. The kitchen has a microwave, fridge, dishwasher and tea/coffee facilities. You’ll also find a full set of white and silverware, so you can make and have full meals in your suite. There is even a blender – let the cocktail party begin! They provide full amenities, including coffee and tea, dishwashing and laundry detergent, etc. The dining set consists of a round table and four chairs, so you’ll have to keep the party intimate!
The sitting area offers a sofa, comfy chair and couch table. A TV is mounted across from the sofa.
The bedroom is very compact, with a queen bed at the center. The sheets, comforter and pillows are of good quality and the bed was very comfortable. You have a large, reach-in closet for your stuff, but placing a large luggage on the floor is a challenge – there is little floor space in the bedroom.
The bathroom is also small, with a narrow shower with glass door on one side and the toilet and a sink-in-cabinet on the other. There are plenty of thick and fluffy towels and a set of toiletries is provided as well.
The decor of the unit is contemporary. All the furniture, carpets and curtains looked new and everything was very clean. The free WiFi internet was fast at an average 6.2Mbps – enough to stream video. The upload speeds were much lower, making work more difficult.
Restaurant & Amenities: The Wyndham Canterbury offers a small gym with cardio and weight equipment for a basic workout.
The apartment style set-up is ideal for longer stays. Every other floor of the property has a laundry room with washer/dryer and the units have laundry detergent. The equipment is new and works very well.
Value & Rewards: I booked the Wyndham Canterbury using Wyndham Rewards points at a price of 15,000 points/night (valued at $120). That’s excellent rewards value as the cash rate for my dates was $310. I would book the hotel again on points – it’s one of the view properties that did not increase in price in the last Wyndham Rewards devaluation, making it some of the best value in the program. I would not pay that cash rate for a stay – there is much better value, even in high-priced San Francisco! You can find current prices here!
As a Wyndham Gold member, I did not receive a room upgrade. The hotel has a (ridiculously early) standard check out time of 10am, but my request for a late check-out at the typical 12noon was denied – that’s terrible elite treatment.
As I mentioned above, the Wyndham Canterbury is a timeshare property and I relented to the sales pitch when they offered me 30,000 points for attending – the total cost of my two-night stay and $240 value. Purchasing a timeshare is a poor investment for me and the session was moderately painful, but worth the time to me. If you are a rewards member and don’t mind spending 90 minutes, you can basically stay for free for two nights in San Francisco, not a bad offer.
Bottomline: The Wyndham Canterbury offers large, modern suits near San Francisco’s Union Square, making it great for longer stays. It’s excellent value on Wyndham Rewards points, but expensive at cash rates. As a timeshare property, the sales pitch can be annoying to some people, or an opportunity to save money on your stay for others. I’d be happy to stay on points again, it’s some of the best value in the Wyndham Rewards program.