Serrano Hotel, San Francisco

Call them boutique hotels. Call them design hotels. By whatever name, small hotels are a dime a dozen especially in big cities like San Francisco. But, once in a while, you discover one so special you wish you could stay forever.

The Serrano Hotel, a National Historic Landmark, raises 16 stories in the heart of San Francisco, two blocks west of Union Square. Originally the Hotel Californian, the 1923 Renaissance Revival building was designed by Edward Eyestone Young, who also designed nearly 600 San Francisco apartment buildings and residences. In 1929, a four-story Art Deco addition was added by Alfred Henry Jacobs, an MIT grad who designed the landmark Curran Theatre, still going strong a block and a half away. You might not notice every column, scroll and keystone adorning the hotel’s facade. But you can’t miss the vertical neon sign, moored at the building’s corner. It’s a hint that you’re in San Francisco’s Theater District.

But the drama starts in the Serrano’s lobby. Decorated in lavish Spanish Colonial- Revival style, it sports a floor to ceiling stone fireplace with a splashy armorial crest, rectangular columns faced in faux red marble, twisted gold-leaf columns and intricately patterned tiled floors. Upholstered armchairs and couches cluster to create cozy seating areas, perfect for the hotel’s twice weekly Wine Hour. Behind an ornate wrought iron grill, friendly front desk staffers offer guests a warm welcome. Above it all is an elaborately painted and carved coffered ceiling, embellished with sculpted angels and a black wrought-iron chandelier. A splendid stage set of a lobby, it hearkens back to a time when historical architecture was all the rage. Costing a whopping $65,000 back in 1923 and now worth nearly a million, the Serrano lobby dazzles.

Upstairs, along hushed corridors with bright yellow and white patterned wallpaper and gleaming white trim, are 236 well-appointed rooms and suites. Given the hotel’s landmark status and central location, and the quality of its rooms, restaurant and fitness center, rates are remarkably reasonable. At the time of this writing, rates were about $140 for a standard room with queen-sized bed. The hotel’s $25 Urban Fee is a bargain that includes extras like morning tea and coffee, daily newspaper, use of the sauna and hotel bicycles, unlimited local phone calls, a 10 percent discount at Jasper’s, the hotel’s restaurant, plus high speed Internet.

In your tastefully decorated room with burnished dark walnut furniture, flat-screen TV and well-stocked minibar, stretch out in a double, queen or king bed with luxurious high thread count Egyptian linens. Baths, attractively tiled, feature deluxe amenities. All rooms, from the 240-square-foot queen double to the 510-square-foot Luxury Suite, have large windows dressed with clubby red and white striped drapery. And most rooms provide stunning city views.

The Serrano’s guest rooms are cozy and relaxing. Book the Wicked Suite and you’ll fall asleep beneath a large green faced likeness of Elphaba, Wicked Witch of the West. She’s the star of the musical, “Wicked,” which went on to become a Broadway legend after trying out at the Curran Theatre in 2003. That kind of theatricality is part of what makes the Serrano Hotel such a wonderful experience.

*For fitness buffs the Serrano has a 24-hour fitness center complete with Precor equipment and a well-maintained sauna.