The Mosser HotelSuperior tourist class, two stars. No smoking anywhere in the building. Definitely recommended for location, decor, and comfort.
The Mosser Hotel, recently renovated and redecorated, sits half a block south of Market on Fourth Street, opposite the massive San Francisco Marriott Hotel. Valet parking is available if you pull up in front of the hotel; they'll take care of your car with unlimited in and out privileges. Getting your car back is not quick (they suggest you give them 20 minutes' notice), but it's a very convenient arrangement otherwise.
The Mosser lobby is beautiful, with the original early 1900s design enhanced by the recent redecoration. 
The stairs invite you to climb to your room, no matter how many stories up that may be. The lobby furniture combines aggressively modern with florid art nouveau in a delightful contrast that works. The elevator's original carved silvery panels hide a fuschia interior with jazz muzak. Over all, the Mosser feels comfortable and cozy, and smells of clean wood and marble.
My room was on the sixth floor and included a private bath (not all the rooms do). The room was tiny but well designed, with storage space under the seat of the chair and under the platform bed.
The room has white walls and was decorated in black and dark brown with raspberry accents. The chair, in subtle raspberry and black textured stripes, had a table attached to the right arm which swiveled, reminiscent of my college 's lecture hall desks. 
The carpet and fitted bedcover were brown and black, the two down throw cushions on the bed were raspberry. The bed was fitted with soft soymilk-colored 250-count cotton sheets, a blanket, coverlet and several fluffy pillows. The light natural wood venetian blinds made soothing clacking noises when the windows were open and the wood glowed in the morning sunshine, especially from the bay window behind the chair.
A very tall mirror (framed in black wood with beveled glass) leaned against the wall in one corner, facing a Sony wall stereo. You waved your hand over the stereo and a panel slid down and the stereo lit up with vibrant blue light. A small gray Philips-design television perched on a tiny platform at the foot of the bed, with built in clock. Remote control, game controller and web keyboard were included.
The closet offered the perfect doorway to take refuge during an earthquake as it had a curtain rather than a door (which would smash your hands when you braced yourself in the doorway). The closet was equipped with an iron, ironing board, wood hangers, and two thick white cotton pique robes. Laundry is available on the premises and drying cleaning is same-day service before 9:00 am.
The room's metal work is all chrome and brushed steel, the artwork is pen and ink drawings of microphones,
reminding one of the professional sound studio in the hotel's basement. The ceilings are curved above the moldings, and look like the original 1900s design, but overlaid with a Zen theme. The whole room felt well-designed and not cramped.
The bathroom contained a deep tub (the sides were higher than my knees, which could be a problem for some people) and a toilet that flushes well (a rarity in water-conserving San Francisco). The shower curtain was two layers, the inside one of the usual white plastic, and the outside layer was luscious deep white terrycloth (an idea I intend to borrow). The toiletries were from Judith Jackson Spa, and are delightful.
The rooms without a bath share the common toilets and bathtub/shower on each floor. The toilets (one Men, one Women) are just that, in a tiny room with an energy-efficient timer on the light. The bathtubs are deep, but the bathing room is tiny, with the floor space being half that of the tub as there is a hallway storage closet taking up the rest of the space. There's space to turn around—just. The only sinks are in the rooms themselves.
The cute little corner sink in my room turned out to be more attractive in looks than in use. The shelves and vanity above the sink left room for hands but not for faces. Even trying to spit while brushing your teeth was an aiming challenge. There were other downsides, too, to this room.
The only cooling of the room was from the ceiling fan, which in the unseasonably warm spring weather was not adequate. When the window was open, the room was more comfortable, but my room overlooked a noisy alley and a fire escape, so I mostly kept it closed.
Then, around 2:00 am, someone decided to knock on a door down the hall from me. And not just knock. If you've ever seen the 1960s horror film "The Uninvited", you may recall a scene where some unknown but presumably malevolent force is pounding on our heroines' door, starting slowly and softly and increasing in both speed and force until the door shudders and starts to give. This was what it sounded like. Over and over again. However, I was sufficiently exhausted that I never quite roused enough to reach up and phone the staff for someone to get this to stop. Maybe it's just that it was a warm Friday night, there were anti-war protests up Market, and it was the night of the monthly bicyclists-take-back-the-streets ride called Critical Mass.
Having a recording studio in the basement sounded cool, until I was reminded of Artistic Temperament. One Artistic person conducted a very loud and tearful cellphone conversation as he wandered between his room across the narrow hall from me and the corridor. He paced up and down the hall. I gathered that a woman (I think a singer recording downstairs) wasn't paying him any attention anymore and she was listening to someone else now and he felt shut out and this was insupportable and he was suffering and the person on the other end of the phone needed to fix this. He threw a sobbing hissy fit for at least 20 minutes, but I had to check out and never heard the end of his story.
Did I mention the rooms had self-closing doors, which slam unless slowed by hand? With my bed only ten inches from the door, on a Friday night, it wasn't terribly restful.
However, the double paned and double set of windows did keep out most of the street noise when closed (4:00 am garbage trucks don't count), and the location of the hotel can't be beat. Rooms currently run from about $49 to $145 per night, depending, with a 48 hour cancellation policy.
The adjacent restaurant, Annabelle's, offers up tasty California cuisine at reasonable prices, with excellent service. A Portobello sandwich on focaccia with salad ran less than $9 and was delicious.
The Mosser is half a block from Virgin Records and Sephora, one block from Nordstrom and a BART station, two blocks from Union Square, the Yerba Buena gardens, Centre for the Arts and other buildings (including an ice rink), the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, and the Moscone Convention Center. It's a marvelous alternative to the high priced hotels in the SoMa area, especially for the young and energetic.
I'd stay there again, no question.
© 2003 CG Cameron