August 23, 2025
Dear San Francisco Suites Owners,
Sui Generis
Does this scenario sound familiar? You’re talking casually with friends, and the subject of San Francisco comes up. As your discussion moves through the latest news from our favorite city, you mention that you have a place in San Francisco where you stay regularly, the San Francisco Suites on Nob Hill. Then, as you begin to describe the Suites to your friends, the conversation probably develops in much this way:
“We own two shares at the Suites which gives us two weeks.”
“Oh, how nice! Which weeks?”
“Well, we use our weeks as we wish. One or two nights at a time. Or a week. We even stayed once for the full two weeks.”
“Isn’t it a timeshare? You don’t have assigned weeks, or a particular apartment?”
“It’s kinda like a timeshare, but it’s more like a small, European hotel. We have daily housekeeping, and an onsite staff to take care of us. And we stay in various suites, usually of our choice, all of which are beautifully furnished with antiques and fine art.”
“That’s nothing like our timeshare where we check in, and check out after our assigned week’s stay, with no one cleaning up until we move out and no personal attention at all. The furnishings are pretty much functional, very basic, and that’s about it.”
In summary, we may refer to the San Francisco Suites as a “timeshare” out of convenience and it may resemble other timeshares in its basic purposes, as a comfortable place to stay. But essentially we’re unique, in our organization, our intimacy, and our amenities. That’s one reason that the Board about five years ago, with the approval of owners, decided to divest the Association from California’s Davis-Stirling Act, which governs the operations of Home Owners Associations such as condominium communities. In many ways, Davis-Stirling still suggests the best and most legally supportable ways to operate our Association. But in other, very significant instances, Davis-Stirling’s mandates are irrelevant to us, or they conflict with our own singular vision of San Francisco Suites.
I recall a conversation with our attorney during the time when the Association was deliberating on the move away from Davis-Stirling, mostly because of its cumbersome election rules.
“But if we aren’t really a timeshare, what are we?” I asked him. “Our founding documents describe us as a City Share, whatever that is.”
“I would suggest that the Suites is a private community-owned apartment building, perhaps a co-op with sixteen apartments mutually owned by members of the Association,” he replied.
You can see then, given the tossed word-salad above, why we often revert to the term “timeshare.” It’s so much simpler although a slight misnomer.
However, because we are not overseen by some larger corporation such as Marriott or Hilton or Wyndham and are self-managing, we can define and run ourselves as our owners wish us to be defined and run, and can efficiently adjust ourselves to the changing circumstances within our shareholding community and outside in the city and in the industry. We are not beholden to distant CEOs or anonymous stockholders but only to our owners, i.e., our shareholders, within of course the parameters of our governing documents and the law.
More important than our corporate and legal independence is our operating freedom to make all who stay at the Suites, be they owners, AirBnb or Exchange guests, experience a personal connection to us and be treated like individuals, like friends or family members, not meaningless names or account numbers in a registry. When our staff smiles at your return, when they ask about your welfare, and when they inquire about your plans or needs, they really mean it.
Indulge me with something overheard at the Front Desk:
“Mrs. Jones, it’s so wonderful to see you again. How are the grandkids? Did Joseph graduate from Cal last month? Mechanical Engineering, wasn’t it? And how’s your cat Cassie? Still tearing up the upholstery? Oh, we’ve placed an extra firm pillow in your bedroom, and we’ve put a Keurig in the kitchen in place of the coffee maker. Pedro, will you help Mrs. Jones with her luggage?”
The Latin expression “Sui Generis” applies to San Francisco Suites more than any other “timeshare” (Dare I use that term again?) that I know. Within its category, which still remains a bit vague, it is absolutely unique. More than a place of comfort and beauty and quiet retreat in a big, noisy city, it is as our motto says, “A home away from home.”
I’d love to hear from you of your singular experiences at the Suites.
Best wishes,
Geoffrey Bellah, President
Board of Directors
San Francisco Suites on Nob Hill