San Francisco Hotels

http://www.thepowellhotel.com/

http://www.themosser.com/

http://www.grantplaza.com/

What's up with Elements SF? It's like the most gentrified-looking thing on Mission St. I've always steered away from it since it looks so rediculously out of place.

dont do this

If you're rich, try one of those Nob Hill hotels.

Otherwise, if you're not feeling spendy go to the Cathedral Hill on Van Ness - http://www.cathedralhillhotel.com/

Any updates? Looking for good deals for a single traveller in January - basic, clean and in an area good to walk to/from for general sightseeing purposes. B&Bs fine. Hostels fine if they do private rooms.

Still stand by Cathedral Hill (link upthread). I was there last year and it's still my go-to place.

The website says it closed in October!

Oh no!

That's a bummer, I really liked that place.

In February I stayed at the Hotel Carlton - about a mile west of Union Square, kind of on the edge of the Tenderloin. I liked it, not too many amenities but cheap and clean, walkable to transport and Union Square, a couple of good dive bars in the area. Walk south a couple of blocks and the area gets pretty crappy late at night.

In june I stayed at the Hotel Abri, which had just opened from a remodel. Very nice, great staff, nice rooms (but tiny, maybe 2/3 the room at the Carlton). I got a good deal through Priceline.. It's right in the middle of Union Square, so a nicer surrounding area than the Carlton, but it wasn't as good for transportation (the nearest lines were the streetcars that were packed the entire weekend), and I liked the bars and cheap pizza near the Carlton (said pizza place is where a dude got stabbed to death this week, FWIW).

I'm going to stay at the Hotel Vertigo next time, I think. It's the actual hotel from Vertigo!

I paid $80-90 a night for the above two.

It's not really walkable to the sights, but the Hotel Kabuki (in Japantown) looked like a good option as well.

San Francisco is tiny and the Muni is good, so every hotel has good access to the sights, really.

Thanks Milo - all those look great, though could only see a good rate on Vertigo - will fish around more though for the other two, I'm sure it's possible in January.

Mithila looking like a good deal as well at around 55 a night.

I'd prob not stay in japantown if I weren't coming w/ a car

If it matters at all, the free wi-fi at the Carlton was terrible, at the Abri it was good (and there are two computers in the lobby + a printer).

Priceline has the Carlton at ~$83/night.

yeah just found that! And the Vertigo at around 64, though I think that's the 'original' rooms...

Thanks iatee re Japantown. No car, and I don't know SF at all.

Any thoughts on the Good Hotel? Some reviewers think SOMA is sketchy. Some don't.

I guess it depends on what you consider sketchy. there will def be plenty of homeless people on the streets around the area of your hotel.

I mean I guess esp at night there's no denying that the area is gonna feel pretty sketchy to a tourist.

re SOMA:

6th Street between Market and Mission is skid row. Any hotel within a 1-2 block radius I'd define as "sketchy" if you're not familiar with street cretin/urchin-ry.

Got it. If I knew the city it would be ok, but maybe not the best idea for intro to SF as a single female.

haha yeah probably not

stayed at the grant plaza a few weeks ago. great service, great location. had some in-laws in tow who didn't fully appreciate the uh rustic charms but def. recommend to average ilxor (they're renovating as we speak, to hear them tell it)

looking at tripadvisor maps, Grosvenor Suites and Mosser Hotel appear to be the better locations of the top 10.

NB: I've never been to or heard of these hotels!

Yeah Mosser and Grant both seem good options - also good deal on Andrew's, mentioned upthread, if it has availability (its website says it does, tripadvisor says it doesn't)

yeah the grant plaza is a pretty ideal tourist location

but really, anything north of market street that isn't the tenderloin is gonna be safe and really walkable, so I wouldn't overpay for a good location.

I'm actually heading there from a conference in San Diego (planning 1 day/night in SD after the conf). I have a week free. Should I (using buses):

a) stop in LA on the way up for one night (NB no car but hear public transport not as impossible as it seems)
b) spend all 5 nights in SF
c) spend 1 or more nights away from SF but nearby (NB lone traveller and get bored easily if things are too bucolic)
d) stay longer in SD

I know, I've gone off-topic.

iatee, great location advice summary - thanks.

b maybe c

one day in LA w/ no car and not knowing what you're doing isn't gonna be so great.

if c there's lots of options. berkeley/oakland day maybe.

marin is awesome but better with a car. napa or sonoma'd be fun if you're into wine. south bay sucks avoid it.

I'd really only consider 6th to be sketchy. I mean I guess there are surrounding areas (mainly market past 6th) would be kind of sketchy but on the whole SOMA is less sketchy than the tenderloin.

aforementioned hotel is 7th and mission, I think that's plenty sketch at night

Only thing about taking one night elsewhere is how much time you're going to lose checking into/out of hotels and travelling.

There's plenty to do and see in SF to fill up five days if you take things easy, IMO.

^^^^ why an east bay day is probably the best option for a car-less tourist, cause you can just keep your sf hotel and take BART across the bay for a day. but still, def more than enough to do in sf.

Thanks for reviving this thread - my parents are visiting in Jan as well so I'm looking for cheap hotels for them (Holiday Inn - Civic Center- seemed pretty cheap, but no idea how decent that is). There are also cute guesthouses in places other than downtown but these are expensive and probably not worth it if you have no reason to experience the residential areas.

Last year I stayed at the King George hotel (http://www.kinggeorge.com) because it was central and pretty cheap. Wasn't luxury at all but had a diner next door for breakfast and good basic service.

Wouldn't bother stopping in LA for one night, unless you just want to spend a day in Santa Monica or whatever. We did it without a car and although not impossible to get around, it took absolutely ages to get anywhere.

Another SF hotel I really liked is the Oceanview: http://www.oceanviewmotelsf.com/ The catch is that it's way over in the Sunset District near the SF Zoo and the SW corner of Golden Gate Park. It's in front of a MUNI stop though and the neighborhood is very quiet in the evening.

ljubljana - LA is too much of a sprawl to deal with in one day. Go with option b and a little of c and wave at the LA ILXors as you pass overhead.

i had a nice experience with the andrews hotel that is mentioned upthread. good location a couple blocks from union square

Thanks very much all. I'm definitely going with option b/c. I'll probably book the King George if I'm feeling cheap (100 dollar saving on the others over 5 nights), otherwise Andrews if I can get it or the Carlton. Will let you know... will make an appearance on yer fapping thread as well. Is this the one to use?

oh no wait, Carlton/Vertigo = edge of Tenderloin. OK then so King George or Andrews or maybe Grant Plaza

Mosser seems nice enough from the outside and is conveniently located wrt BART/Union Square/SFMOMA/Yerba Buena/LOL Westfield (knock it if you want but two Beard Papas in two blocks is worth something).

Ahaha, after all that it looks like a friend of a friend and his family (who I last saw 17 years ago) now lives there and wants to put me up. Not a done deal yet though and I don't know what part of town they're in. Our mutual friend just said it had a high Chinese population (but I don't think it was actually Chinatown).

Thing with mutual friend worked out. 1500s block of 20th Ave. What area does that count as?

It's kind of awkward. I'm very grateful but in some ways would rather have the bliss of my own hotel room. But I'm sure it'll be fiiiiine.

that is on Fulton right next to the park. it's definitely the Richmond district, maybe middle-Richmond more specifically? It's pretty residential but allows you to take advantage of the nature: direct access to the park and the beach is only about 25 blocks west of there.

you have a few small neighborhood shops on the 3 "ABC" blocks north of there (Anza, Balboa, Cabrillo) before you get to the bigger streets like Geary and Clement which will have tons of shops, cafes, restaurants.

The 5 Fulton will get you downtown if you don't feel like huffing it a few blocks to Geary and the 38 (or the 38X express) will get you downtown much faster.

Thanks Steve. It's nice to know roughly where I'm heading and how to move about.

Our mutual friend just said it had a high Chinese population (but I don't think it was actually Chinatown).

― ljubljana, Saturday, November 28, 2009 3:33 PM (1 month ago)

haha, welcome to SF! There was an article in today's paper that stated that more than 100,000 Chinese residents are undocumented due to poor census penetration and that Chinese are already the majority ethnic group measured at over 30%.

The 5 Fulton also crosses the major arteries of Masonic and Divisadero (leaving you 6 blocks from the Upper Haight and seven from the Western End of the Lower Height/one block from Nopa, respectively) goes by the Painted Ladies and, at Laguna or Octavia, leaves you 5 blocks away from the center of Hayes Valley, before it passes by our lovely beaux-arts Civic Center. It's a cool bus. I bet Steve takes it a good deal. I do but it's not quite as close to my place as the Haight Street buses.

I bet Steve takes it a good deal.

I actually don't pubtrans much (velo bicyclette!) but if I go that way I take the 21. Jblujlama: The 5 is more frequent and the 38 has possibly the highest frequency of all muni, the 38X Express stops at every 3rd stop in "the avenues" then every other stop once you approach downtown.

Fulton & 20th is not far from the Presidio either for more natural beauty (Land's End, Baker Beach, GGB)

I kind of hate the 38, though. I mean, if you're on Geary, fine, but otherwise...

Ha, this mutual friend is Russian, and this was his first time in the US. But I was equally naive about the high level of Chinese immigration.

Also, thanks for my first ever xtra display name.

ljubljana, hope you enjoy your stay.

also, interesting fact: the first city in the US with a majority asian population is only 45 minutes south.

San Jose?

If anyone is interested in fapping on 13 or 14 Jan give me a shout - but realise it's pretty short notice.

haha, my ignorance of slovenian capitals is on full display.

how slovenly

"I kind of hate the 38, though. I mean, if you're on Geary, fine, but otherwise..."

It's a hassle, but there are worse buses. But both the 5 Fulton and the 31 Balboa are better and closer.

The express buses (Geary or whatever) are great btw if you want to go straight to the Financial District during rush hour though.

Milpitas, of all places, is 52% Asian. and that's only the official census.

tabletto, if you can get from SF to milpitas in 45 minutes, can i hire you as a full-time driver?

Thanks for all the info - had a great time. Turned out the 1500 block of 20th is in Sunset, so I used the N to get into town, which was very easy. I salute your city, and worryingly I especially liked the popped-collar parts of it! Didn't like the Haight-Ashbury though. It creeped me out.

did you go at night? the haight is pretty innocent, just sorta crusty

No, daytime, and it was a weekday... probably not the best time to go. It seemed kind of jaded rather than innocent - maybe 'creeped me out' is the wrong phrase. Depressed me a bit.

okay yeah it is pretty jaded

Cliff House on the other hand was pretty ecstatic-making.

The Marina popped-collar part is o_0 but I can't really argue with diggin' Sea Cliff.

Thinking about maybe coming up for NYE. We usually stay at the Grant Plaza, but it wasn't so great last time around. Where is good now? Don't mind paying a little more if place is nice/well-situated.

Guess downtown wld be convenient because we want E Bay access too.

You belong to the city

Part of me always will, it is after all, where I had my first flour breadlike wrap filled with beans and vegetables and possibly meat.

I love a good shawarma...

not only humorous, but wordly

Not only humorous, but worldly

Like I said

Hayes Valley Inn used to be nice if you can stand shared bathrooms and it's convenient to BART.

staying for 3 nights in august. any new recommendations? i'm thinking about andrews hotel right now since it seems to be free

Marriott or what, like?

A good friend always likes staying at the Hilton in the Financial District

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Hilton+San+Francisco+Financial+District/@37.781592,-122.4117158,15z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x0:0xa49802f84f7ddb35!8m2!3d37.7951609!4d-122.4042016

Has the advantage of being easy walking distance to North Beach, City Lights bookstore, etc, as well as the Ferry Building, Embarcadero, etc.

Ta

I wanted to stay at the Hotel Vertigo last time I tried to plan a vacation but room rates had gone from $125/night circa 2000 to over $300.

xp Ned - that's a Hilton now? when I used to work there semi-regularly circa 2000 it was a Holiday Inn

last time, i stayed at an Airbnb btwn the Castro and the Haight; i don't think i can afford hotels there anymore

Yup, Hilton.

Lots of SF hotels have been getting fancier brands, not surprised the prices are way higher

an impressive example:
http://www.innattemescal.com/#gref

this used to be a very different kind of hotel

If you're looking for cheap and not super dumpy in a safe neighborhood - The Metro Hotel on Divisadero is highly recommended by me
If you got the cash stay at The Palace, The Fairmont, The Intercontinental or a suite at The Kabuki.

honestly if you got cash - stay somewhere nice in Berkeley

though, if you don't drive or can't drive American style, then staying in SF makes more sense.

berkeley sucks shit.

I like Tilden Park and the Vivarium and some of the Indian shops around University and... yup that's p much it

hey I live there!

the hotels there are nothing to rave about but they're probably cheaper. it's easier to just get a hotel in Oakland though, if you want to spend time in SF.

there's a amazing app I use (and I HATE apps) called Hotels Tonight - I get super cheap rooms to rad places on it on the reg. I recommend.

The Claremont Hotel is p. swanky. There's that one downtown that looks nice, that has a really dope bar/restaurant downstairs. There's the one by the Marina that was a Marriott up until the mid-90s, then it was a Radisson, and now is something else ... it has regular problems with ants, but it's right by the water and is a nice place to chill.

I have a love/hate relationship with Berkeley, but seriously dude, Moe's Books, Starving Musician, the Bulb, a gazillion restaurants that are as good as anything in SF, ... at this point the only things that SF excels at over Berkeley/Oakland/Alameda are women's clothing, art museums, and surfing

which one has the best homeless encampments

okay you win on homeless encampments, ours keep getting set on fire :(

also your police department is better at avoiding get caught having sex with underage women

dubious distinction

ours is better at not getting caught starting street brawls over inauthentic latinx food

I feel like SFPD is ahead in the "killing unarmed residents" sweepstakes recently, let's not forget

We're catching up in the suspicious fires, probably arson, no arrests have been made category!

tbf fire season is just beginning

our weather is warmer, our fire season lasts longer

sf sucks too, but sf sucks because of young people. berkeley sucks because of old people. but if you are on vacay and want that CLASSIC SF HOTEL EXPERIENCE you're not going to find anything like the Fairmont in the EB

there is the Claremont which IS a Fairmont hotel but has a fucking nice pool

but no tonga room

Marriott or what, like?

― jk rowling obituary thread (darraghmac), Tuesday, 25 July 2017 18:16 (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I've stayed at both the Marriot Marquis and the JW Marriot - expensive and grotty but not as bad as the Hilton Union Square. It seems that for major hotels in SF there is no point refurbishing them as people will stay in them anyway. (eg. me - we have a corporate contract with Marriot and therefore that is where I have to stay)

I highly recommend Izakaya Rintaro on 14th St - Bergamot Tofu, beautiful sashimi, yakitori and if you have seen 'The Birth of Sake on Netflix' they have Tedorigawa Kinka which was nice to try having seen the film.

sf sucks too, but sf sucks because of young people. berkeley sucks because of old people. but if you are on vacay and want that CLASSIC SF HOTEL EXPERIENCE you're not going to find anything like the Fairmont in the EB

Great post

The fairmont above Berkley is lovely, I got to stay there for a meeting. The bartender could do great things with St George Terroir and Botanivore.

but tonga

The Palace is both a nice hotel and has personality, my parents like to stay there. It is also very centrally located depending on your itinerary. There are basically no hotels in Berkeley. If you want something cheap and vaguely convenient, stay in Emeryville or downtown Oakland. Or Air BnB in SF, you will definitely get more bang for your buck.

Berkeley also has:
http://berkeleycityclub.com/hotel/

HotelTonight (mentioned above) has good options usually.

Hotel Nikko if it's not to pricey: Japanese experience all around.

The bar at the Loews (formerly Mandarin Oritental).

I was at a conference in SF in 2006 or 2007 and my coworker stayed at the Nikko and it was really nice from what I saw, I'm guessing they kept to about the same level of service. I stayed at the Metropolis on that trip (again, a decade ago so idk what it's like now) and somehow ended up on the top floor. I didn't realize it was the top floor and thought it was weird it had a balcony door, but it was the rooftop! First time in SF and it was a pretty great view down Market Street, and on the corner of the neighborhood bordering the Tenderloin. Looks like that corner's firmly into gentrified zone now, though. It was the only trip where I failed to check out what seemed like a decent lobby restaurant/bar and I regret it.

A few years ago I was at the Clift and it was pretty decent, the rooms had been remodeled but not luxe, really nice lobby bar that seemed a little too classy and full of douches

All close to or bordering union square, if that's where you really want to end up. idk, it's ok

at this point the only things that SF excels at over Berkeley/Oakland/Alameda are women's clothing, art museums, and surfing

sarahell, what else do I want in life? really

I stayed a the clift back in the heyday of priceline bidding - awesome at $95/night. (I'm guessing it was 2009 so I expect things have changed)

I can't remember when it turned into Schrager (sp?) hotel but maybe around that time. It got all aspirational and shit, with a $14 manhattan lobby bar

2000-2001 the Clift got the remodel. I worked there periodically prior to the remodel.

but tonga

― kurt schwitterz, Tuesday, July 25, 2017 4:16 PM (yesterday)

someone wrote an article for the SFMoMA blog recently (I think) about the Tonga Room is racist/colonialist and white ppl should not participate in this by going to Tonga Room and other tiki bars. The writer is moving to NYC soon so ... idk?

Think I'll go there on principle so

i always hear it's impossible to visit sf without a car, which puts me off.

dmac i stayed in an awesome airbnb in the mission district a couple of years ago, why not take advantage of ~the sharing economy~

(the tonga room is rad, you should def go and enjoy yr white privilege)

don't inflict deems on some poor defenceless hipster

xpost

i never saw the owners!

i did enjoy perusing the large collection of terrifying-looking folding knives i found in their kitchen tho

i always hear it's impossible to visit sf without a car, which puts me off.

― Bein' Sean Bean (LocalGarda), Wednesday, 26 July 2017 10:14 PM (twenty-five minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

That is crazy talk. It would be madness to visit SF with a car. Transit is OK and Uber fills in the gaps.

"i always hear it's impossible to visit sf without a car, which puts me off."

yeah, this is wrong; there's no parking anyway. it's not necessarily worse than NYC but it's almost on par. although if you want to go to marin or napa or something, then yes.

ah cool, i dunno if people are conflating it with other american cities - nyc is fine without a car, tho i'd say nyc is a particularly good city for walking.

I'll check out air BnB but I'd be looking for full-place only and wasn't sure if a two night stay would be worth it

Driving on from there to Seattle, months away yet, may ilx thread if ppl feel like not arguing with me in person

my sf airbnb was for three nights and we had the run of the whole three-bedroom place, with decent-sized back garden, and we never saw the owners - all for less than a dece sf hotel, just sayin'

I think the car necessity thing is not for SF itself but the fact there are a lot of touristy things to do up the coast and a lot of people make it a combined trip. I've been a couple times, never needed a car.

Will digest the suggestions for locale upthread where I can separate them from local rivalry postings, which I enjoyed anyways

sf is a good walking city because it's quite small, you can conceivably walk from any point a to point b and the weather is weird but never unbearable. if you're with someone who doesn't like walking as much as you do, sf is not always the best walking city. the hills are no joke.

lyft/uber really changed things for sf, since it's a place where people don't want to rely on cars but the public transit system was never really capable of picking up the slack. I was just in town a month ago for the first time in years and it seemed like half the cars on the street were ride-service. guiding a group of tourist friends around the city felt so easy compared to how things were 10 years ago.

I was just in town a month ago for the first time in years and it seemed like half the cars on the street were ride-service

hate this fucking shit so much

you don't need a car for this city, the only reason I have one is cuz kids/grocery shopping

also tonga room is rad everyone should go there

yeah you don't need or want a car in SF
The only time I stayed in a hotel in SF it was a cheapy one right near Union Sq - wouldn't particularly recommend but it's a convenient location. My friend stayed right out in Sunset and it was such a pita to get anywhere she moved so don't do that.
Don't stay in Emeryville if you can help it (lived there for a while). If you're downtown you can get to Mission etc really easily.

(Downtown SF I mean)

there is literally no reason to stay in the Sunset, anywhere past like 19th st is just rows of houses

the sunset and the richmond districts should be bombed and rebuilt, they are such a tragic use of space

eh there's cool stuff in the Richmond imo I like those weird old Russian delis and shit

they can reopen their deli at the bottom of a 10 story building

there's that iatee content I log on for

Iatee yet to be proven not otm iirc

oh if you mean it's a waste from an infrastructure/building sort of POV yeah no question

I didn't actually want to kill all the people there

important distinction

we should probably check out who's living there before we make a decision in either direction

there is literally no reason to stay in the Sunset, anywhere past like 19th st is just rows of houses

― Οὖτις, Wednesday, July 26, 2017 9:20 AM (two hours ago)

unless you want to ... go to the beach? see the ocean? It's very pretty.

Driving and parking in SF isn't that bad, I do it on the regular. Cars are awesome!

I was just in town a month ago for the first time in years and it seemed like half the cars on the street were ride-service

hate this fucking shit so much

you don't need a car for this city, the only reason I have one is cuz kids/grocery shopping

Man this is like the ultimate SF sentiment encapsulated.

hahahah! I think all the ubers and lyfts make the traffic worse, and it was better before -- like if you wanted to go somewhere by car, you had to think about whether it was really worth dealing with the parking and traffic. Now, that's someone else's problem, and it's double parked ubers for miles.

^^^

unless you want to ... go to the beach? see the ocean? It's very pretty.

I like Ocean Beach and go there all the time (was just at Land's End last weekend), but that doesn't mean I would recommend living or staying there for a visit

it's like staying in the suburbs, but you don't have to pay bridge toll to get into town! It's kinda pleasant.

also the sun never shines

not true at all

I remember it being one of the hottest days of the year, sun completely blazing in all directions, heading down to the beach and getting off the Muni to freezing damp fog

I really miss SF though

I like the outer sunset and richmond. If i were to ever move to SF (I never will) I wouldn't mind living out there, I like the ocean, the fog, the lack of sunlight, the relative lack of crowdedness. but living in west berkeley near Oakland I'm honestly probably closer to downtown SF than if I lived out there. it takes me 25 minutes to get to work.

yes to what sarah said. it is like living in the suburbs! also the houses are quaint. those are some of the only places in SF that still feel like the SF of 30 years ago.

you except for the fact that the houses still cost 2.5 million dollars.

xp, always best to take a sweater or fleece when traveling around SF. I do think the weather here is great, though, sun or fog. You can walk for hours around the city and not feel uncomfortable. I was in NY last week and it was so hot and humid it was unbearable to be out in the sun for any significant length of time

You can walk for hours around the city and not feel uncomfortable.

except when it's pouring pissing rain

but it never rains in the Bay Area!
They told me the day I arrived in a hurricane

yes, it's 100% why I like the 6 months from mid April to mid October so much more than the other 6 months!

it is DAN

Fun to see in the Westin St. Francis lobby - there are hotel photos Ansel Adams took for hire for the hotel's architects in the 1930s.

that's an incredible hotel

I didn't actually want to kill all the people there

Given that my sis lives in the Inner Sunset, I appreciate the clarification.

Westin St Francis is where that Fatty Arbuckle party with the dead hooker went down. The rooms are small af unless you're $$$$.

Presumably he was

St. Francis also traditionally where GOP presidents stay when in SF (Democrats stay at the Fairmont)

also your police department is better at avoiding get caught having sex with underage women

― sarahell, Tuesday, July 25, 2017 2:18 PM (yesterday)

on the other hand ...
http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/SF-Police-officer-arrested-on-child-pornography-11438413.php

On my visits I've stayed at the Stanyan Park (in the Haight but not necessarily of it - oriented more toward GG Park). And, as a splurge, the Sir Francis Drake (fun bar in the sky).