The only San Francisco outpost of Ian Schrager's celebrated Morgans Hotel Group (others around the country include the Royalton in NYC, St. Martins Lane in London, Ames in Boston, the Delano in Miami, and the Mondrian brand with several locations), the Clift San Francisco (495 Geary St., 415-929-2372) is one of the scene-iest and swankiest properties in the entire city. This dramatic paean to haute design, its lobby graced by a 35-foot fireplace and artwork by Masters of the Surrealist movement, is spectacular if - according to some critics - a tad too snooty.
Even the standard rooms, which still fetch a princely tariff, are quite dazzling, with furniture designed by the chief vision behind the Morgans look, Philippe Starck, and such amenities as Korres bath products and Merino wool blankets. There's more posing to be had in the hotel's vaunted Asia De Cuba restaurant and one wonderful remnant of the Clift's rich pre-Morgans past, the Redwood Room, with a magnificent bar fashioned out of a lone redwood tree (Starck still made his mark here, in having designed the lounge furniture).