The LINE SF

Serif, the flatiron-shaped building containing The LINE SF, stands proudly at the corner of Turk and Market, its curving forms and offset grid of windows striking a futuristic, even utopian note amid the city center’s mixture of Victorian commercial buildings and modern glass towers. And it’s optimistic in more than just its aesthetics; this is a hotel that brings the warm and convivial side of boutique hospitality to a city whose hotels often feel insular and over-private.

Its rooms, of course, do offer a respite from a neighborhood that can often feel overwhelming. Raw concrete ceilings and visually austere modernist furnishings lend them a Zen aspect, while the graffiti-inspired art above the headboards is a reminder that your environment is a decidedly urban one. Meanwhile the comforts are substantial, if not ultra-luxe — for that sort of thing, the Financial District is another mile or so down Market Street.

Here in Mid-Market the hotel works hard to engage with the streetscape; Joe Hou’s lobby-level restaurant, Tenderheart, serves inventive multicultural Northern Californian fare in an indoor-outdoor space, and the first Bay Area outpost of the Los Angeles–based Alfred Coffee is a neighborhood institution. Soon to come are Rise Over Run, a rooftop solarium bar with far-ranging views, and Dark Bar, a nightspot by the local cocktail wizard Danny Louie.