The Union Hotel

What a little gem this place is! One of the women that lives in Venetia in the art class I was taking suggested that we try this versus where we were going to go for dinner. The owner is the chef and the waiter and the entertainer.It is a very old hotel that has lots and lots of Stainglass windows in character. The bar in the front you can have dinner, and it is loud and boisterous. If you go to the dining room in the back, it is much quieter and a little more refined.I wish I had taken some photos but I did not. My husband and I shared a spinach salad and it was perfect. The homemade ravioli with butternut squash, and two different types of sauce was absolutely delicious. You can have one type of sauce on one side and one type of sauce on the other. I don't usually order pasta dishes but I'm really glad I did. My husband had the salmon, and when I tasted them. It was absolute perfection.It's a very cute, friendly, wonderful place to go. You should try it.

I love the long history of this place. And I like to investigate haunted hotels. The bartender told me she has seen several different ghosts over the years. The room on the top floor has a lovely view of the water. The horror movie elevator will definitely put you in the mood for ghost hunting.

I really wanted to like this little place but it was a letdown from the get go. I booked an ocean view room online via booking.com. The room was supposed to have a view and breakfast the next day before checkout.I got a call the day of the check in that the front desk would be closed after 6pm and late check in would follow. I tried to call back immediately but the phone was not answered. This was before 5pm too. We opted to just go to dinner first before coming back to do self-check in. When we arrived we got in easily enough but there were no instructions on how to find the room. The rooms have names, no numbers to identify a floor. Luckily it's small because we had to go to two different floors to try to find it. The room was clean and that was the only positive. There was no ocean view. Half the lights didn't work because they either were missing bulbs or were flickering on/off. The "spa" tub was non functional. There was no filtered water for the coffee pot. if you wanted coffee in the morning you had to fill it up in the bathroom which sounded ick. If you wanted ice you had to go down to the bar because there was no staff and no easy access to ice. We were already in PJs so we skipped it.The walls are thin. We could hear a guests barking dog and some guy above us walking around loudly all hours. The next morning we discovered "no breakfast" as promised. Everything was closed.Very disappointed for 200 bucks for a night.

Dinner here is always on point. The food is great. Nice quaint place. The Owner is so kind, and we love that it's a family place where his daughters also work. Love coming here.

My wife and I have stayed here several times over the past nine years and watched it deteriorate with each passing year. As the pictures on the website show, this was once a nice place to stay. Conveniently located downtown on First Street, it is in easy walking distance to a number of fine restaurants. It even has a wonderful restaurant on its first floor. However, to say that the rooms and their furnishings were tired would be generous. Everywhere one looks, there are examples of poor maintenance and less than professional repairs. The breakfast offerings have continued to shrink over the years and are now just the bare minimum. During this our final stay, the weekend staff has been very pleasant but unaware of the published hours for breakfast. My wife and I have came down at 7:15 and 7:30 and found the doors to the small breakfast counter locked. Even when they were opened, we found that the yogurt selection had gone from a half a dozen on the first day to one container on the next day to none today. One might think this was because it was a three day weekend, but running a "hotel" means working weekends and holidays. Finally, the outside looks more rundown with each passing season. This place has the potential to be an historic jewel in downtown Benicia, but appears to be in another period of decline to add to its long history. Hopefully its ownership will change soon and someone will infuse it with the money and attention it so desperately needs. Until then, we cannot recommend anyone to stay here.

We came here for our 10 year anniversary and it was wonderful!We had a beautiful room with an amazing view. Later we spent some time in the bar/restaurant. Very nice experience. The manager Anna was incredible!!!She was so welcoming and made the best drinks. The service was amazing as well as the food. We have decided to make this our yearly spot!!We are very happy with our stay and we are telling all our friends to go see for themselves. Thank you Union Hotel!And a very special Thank you to Anna!

I had an amazing experience at The Union Hotel recently! The drink was strong yet refreshing! The salmon was the best I ever had! It was absolutely delicious. The waitress and chef were also extremely kind. I will definitely return and soon.

Decent happy hour!I went here recently with some friends and was impressed again by their happy hour. I feel like Union is one of those places people pass on 1st St all the time and never try. If you are looking yo save some money while getting some good grub I definitely recommend giving them a try sometime. The only thing I wish they would change is if they could make those wings buffalo style. Don't get me wrong, the parmesan cheese is different and is a nice touch but hotwings are so classic when it comes to Happy Hour!

We were shocked at how bad the place was; we didn't even sleep there even though we paid after seeing the condition of the room. We had to scramble to find a place nearby. This place is a glorified hostel; we returned the next day to drop off our key and explain why we didn't use the room. She said she would speak to her manager about a refund. We never heard back, and they charged our card. Union Hotel. Never again.

Where is the dining info?No information on the website?I'm scrolling on the website and see only general hours posted. I see photographs of food but nothing else.