Had a great stay at Hotel Des Arts for one week. Each room is decorated in it's own way. Mine had a cartoon of sorts, featuring the Roadrunner, while a colleague was living inside a "gift box". Really cool!
The hotel is perfectly located. We had a short distance to our conference hotel, as well as Union square and North Beach (the italian district) within walking distance. And China Town lies right across the street. The neighborhood feels safe to be in, even at night.
There is breakfast included in the fee, but it is a very simple. (Bagels/toast and creamed cheese, coffee and juice. Some nutrition bars as well.) Works fine for a few days, but grew a bit boring while staying for a week.
Worse were the nightly noise. Somehow, the garbage trucks find 3-4 am a good time to come around, often staying for a long time while making a lot of ruckus. Around 5 someone else started loading scaffolding onto a truck. This woke me up almost every night, which might be connected to me staying on the second floor facing the back alley where the ruckus took place. Though the hotel can hardly take the blame, it does affect your sleep while staying here.
Overall:
Despite the nightly noise, I think I would stay here again. Mainly because of the perfect location and the (very) cool rooms. Staff was also very helpful.