San Francisco is a beautifully vibrant and diverse city that has it's own rules and sets its own standards. It's known mostly for it's boutique hotels and we found that luxury hotels seemed to be scarce - fortunately there is The Clift. Designed by Philippe Starck and Ian Schrader, it's immediately alluring with an artsy furniture collection in the lobby; a giant chair which is predictably popular with guests (us included), a wonderful fireplace (quite possibly our personal favourite and the centrepiece standing high at thirty-five-foot with a Bronze chimney sculpture by Gerard Garouste) and a...