recommended hotels in san fran

[timdog]

spent some time on tripadvisor and expedia, think I have narrowed it down to a few hotels but wondering if anyone has a specific hotel to recommend for a decent price in San Francisco. Looking to be probably near union square or any of the other desirable areas. thanks

[Pacman]

I usually book via Hotwire as it has the best deals. Last time I did SF, I stayed at The Palace for $130/night instead of the regular rate which was at least double that price.

[likwid]

Hard Rock Hotel

[benyl]

I booked through priceline for $60/night at the Westin St Francis. Hotel is older. Our room overlooked the square.

[B18C]

Westin St. Francis

It's right on Union Square and the Cable cars are right outside.

[googe]

I don't really like the St Francis, but $60 is a steal haha

[timdog]

thanks for the info.
normally the St. Francis would probably do the trick, but this time around we're looking for something a little nicer as it's a special occasion. $120 - $160 is probably the range I would be happy with. I did the a place called the Intercontinental San Francisco and it looks pretty shwanky.

I'll check out hotwire too, thanks. for some reason I just find it unsettling to not be able to know the name of the hotel until after it's booked.

[googe]

St Francis isn't *bad*, it is a Westin, which are going to be 4ish stars pretty reliably. It's still the tail end of cheap season, otherwise it'd be north of $120 easily. Location is really good. Rooms are just kinda small, and old, er, "historic", and service is shitty. By comparison, the Westin in Palo Alto is pretty amazing, but it's a long ways from downtown.

If you have a car, don't forget to budget $60 - $70 per night for parking at the hotel

Don't walk too far east of union square

Tip, if you sign up for a starwood preferred guest card (Westin/Sheraton etc) and you call them and ask nicely, it's possible to get upgraded to gold for a year, which gives you free room upgrades and 4pm checkout

[timdog]

cool thanks. we won't have a car which is why it's important to be close to everything. i expect to take a taxi to the pier and stuff, but would like to be able to walk to restaurants/shops etc in the union square area. i left this for last minute, so i dont have time to get the mastercard i don't think. i should really get that though, i always hear it's the best one.

[benyl]

Originally posted by timdog
I did the a place called the Intercontinental San Francisco and it looks pretty shwanky.

Haha, I wouldn't walk alone at night around there... hahaha There are going to be some pretty sketchy people in that area.

[rage2]

I stayed at the Hyatt on Embarcadero for 10 days when I was down there last year.

http://sanfranciscoregency.hyatt.com/



Pretty decent hotel.

[bmeier]

I have stayed at Hotel Carlton before. good location decent price.

[timdog]

Originally posted by rage2
I stayed at the Hyatt on Embarcadero for 10 days when I was down there last year.

http://sanfranciscoregency.hyatt.com/


Pretty decent hotel.

looks awesome. whats the location like though?
I was in San Fran about 4 years ago so having trouble picturing that location...

[rage2]

Originally posted by timdog
looks awesome. whats the location like though?
I was in San Fran about 4 years ago so having trouble picturing that location...

It's right across the street from the Ferry building, Pier 1. It's a 20 minute walk to Fisherman's wharf along the piers, with Chinatown kinda somewhere inbetween.

http://maps.google.com/maps?sourceid...6&z=16&iwloc=A

[timdog]

cool thanks. when can i join the replicon alumni band?

[brandon]

I had nothing but a great experience last summer at the Hilton in the financial district! It's a block or two away from union square and the Grille @ Seven Fifty is located on the main floor and is quite relaxing!

Enjoy the trip!

[timdog]

thanks i'll check out all these places. like i said i have been there before, only for about 5 days. so i have seen the usual stuff. anything to recommend that the average tourist probably hasn't seen (i.e. not alcatraz, or fisherman's wharf)?

[max_boost]

I stayed at Hotel Maxwell last summer just off of Geary St. It's basically a block from Union square. At the time it was an older boutique hotel but was under going extensive modernized renos so I bet it should be looking really nice now. The new name is Hotel Frank. Possibly worth looking into. I got it through priceline.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...a.html#REVIEWS

or if you want bling, just go on hotwire and pick the 4.5* hotel, you can't go wrong with that.

[B20EF]

I've stayed at The Fishermans wharf Hyatt. It is pretty nice hotel and the wife and I enjoyed being so close to Pier 39. It had a lot of great restaurants minus the crab shacks at the wharf which were surprisingly expensive and crappy. Parking was $40/night.

[USED1]

I stay at the Mark Hopkins when I am in San Fran, it's a pretty good hotel and a short walk to union square.