W San Francisco Reviews

We had our cocktail hour and reception at the W, and it was also the hotel that most of our guests stayed at (we had a "destination" wedding in SF). Everyone at the hotel was amazing, especially Kelly in the sales department who answered every email in a timely manner and was instrumental in getting our day set up. My mom did all the flowers for our wedding, and Kelly helped her get them stored somewhere nice and cool at the hotel before we all checked in, which was really just above and beyond. We used the 4th Floor Terrace, which is now enclosed with a HUGE sliding glass door with beautiful views of downtown. It fit our ~110 guests perfectly. The bartenders at both the UPSTAIRS Bar (where we had cocktail hour) and the Terrace were all friendly and great drink masters. And last but not least - the food!!!! We had the hanger steak, a chicken breast option and salmon, and all of the food was simply delicious.

The fiance and I trekked it up to the city to make a day of touring four weddings venues, and The W was our second stop. Sacha Chin, Director of Catering & Conference Services, was our tour guide for the day, and without going into too many details, let's just say that we knew, almost immediately, that The W would soon host our upcoming September wedding.

We were in the market for a venue that would host both our ceremony and reception, and the W is it. We were in the market for a modern, hip, unassuming- if that combo is even possible- venue, and the W is it. The actual location, easy to find & get to, and event space, spacious & pushes the envelope in their choice of carpet/color scheme/design/furniture, really speak for themselves. Really, not much needs to be done to the spaces we intend to utilize so it allows us to incorporate small & unique touches here and there.

Sacha... what can I say about Sacha? What can I not say about Sacha? First and foremost, upon sending an electronic RFP through the W's website, Sacha called me within 24 hours, instead of emailing the information I needed. Everyone else that I inquired with either didn't get back to me, or emailed me with the standard jargon for such inquiries. The effort she made in calling me really made an impression on me- it, however, doesn't end there.

Our first meeting with Sacha was very informative, and she offered herself to answer all of our questions. She also offers herself as a visionary as she often chimed in with the ideas and suggestions that allowed us to realistically envision our ceremony and reception. Sacha is experienced, is very good at what she does, always follows through on what she says, and we feel really fortunate to have crossed paths with her during such an emotionally-charged time in our lives.

Fast forward to our wedding day, 09.10.11. I literally would not change a thing. Everything went off without a hitch thanks to Sacha and her talented team.

Lindsay, the catering coordinator, is great! She gave us a great deal for such a high end venue and we can't wait to get married here! We're having our ceremony and reception on the terrace and blocking off the second floor bar and lounge for cocktail hour. I love how modern and unique everything is. I've had a great experience so far, they've helped me so much, especially me being the worried and anxious bride. We couldn't be happier with our choice!

I cannot say enough about the staff at the W -- yes its a bit pricy, but not really that much beyond a typical SF wedding when you add up all the different cost elements. And for the perhaps small premium you pay you get a world in return.

We initially worked with Mark, but when he moved positions the head of events Sacha Chin stepped in to manage our event. She went above and beyond with every aspect of the planning -- helped us resolve concerns with vendors, thought of every last task and detail, managed an unbelievable staff, and was such a delight to hang out with during the various planning stages.

The food and drink was also delicious -- they served high quality food, all farm to table, and we got rave reviews from our guests.

Finally, what I really loved was that the entire hotel was ours by way of events -- we got to utilize every event space in the building without any worry of competing with another event.

The process in planning our wedding reception with the W was very smooth. First off, I gave Sacha Chin our budget and she was able to show me what our realistic options were. The great thing about the W is that you don't have to do too extra stuff to it in order for the venue to look great because the venue is modern and sleek which is what we were looking for. Chairs are basic black along with the linens being basic black. It worked for us because our colors were black, white, orange, and grey. Also for cocktail hour, the W just played their usual music through the cocktail area so we didn't have to pay the dj for that hour. Another bonus was that the morning of our wedding, I was able to get ready in one of the smaller conference rooms so that there was plenty of space for our makeup artist, hair dresser, and the bridesmaids. Definitely better than everyone getting ready in a regular hotel room. Sacha coordinated everything for the reception for us which was great. She was there for our food tasting and gave us some tips in planning the food and drink as well. When I had other vendors booked (photographer, photobooth, cake, dj, florist) I had them get in touch with Sacha and she took care of the rest. Sacha took in any items (Seating Chart, Candy Cart, etc) we needed to have at the reception a few days before which was great so we didn't have to worry about it. The day of the wedding, Sacha was there to coordinate as well. Beyond the wedding itself, Sacha also helped us plan our honeymoon with a Starwood hotel as well which was a nice bonus. We were very happy with how our wedding day turned out.