SydneyLA

Hi all,
I know there are a million and one postings on hotels/motels in San Francisco, but I've got a quick opinion question for those of you out there that might be able to help.

My significant other and I are heading to San Fran over Labor Day weekend to check out the city as a potential place to move to (from LA). For that reason I am shying away from the Union Square hotels, even though I could probably get a really good rate over Priceline. Since we're not going to be the typical tourists, I thought it would be better to stay in a more resedential neighborhood to get a better feel for the city.

I've got 2 reservations - one at the Nob Hill Motor Inn (for $94/night which includes breakfast) and the Coventry Motor Inn on Lombard (for $84/night without breakfast). Both offer free parking, which I'm assuming can be a pretty significant amount of cash at the downtown hotels.

Given the fact that I'm not expecting 5 star accomodations, is one motel better than the other? Is one cleaner? Is the extra $10/night worth it for the Nob Hill motel?

Any advice is very much appreciated!!

SAB

Where is the Nob Hill located? Lombard Street itself will not you give you a feel for residential SF as Lombard is a four lane divided road that is a major thoroughfare (think La Cienga), however once off the Street you will be in the Cow Hollow/Marina area--popular location for post college, sort of preppie, young people (not exclusively of course). What sort of neighborhood are you looking for--as small as SF is, it does have a variety of different neighborhoods, each with subtle but different feels.

SydneyLA

Hi SAB,
The Nob Hill is located basically at Broadway and Van Ness. I realize that neither motel will be located in a place that I would necessarily want to live in, but it should still give more of a sense about how people live.

I was thinking more of the Glen Park/Noe Valley area to locate to, but know that those neighborhoods are probably a little short on hotels. And part of the purpose for the trip is to try to get a feel for the different neighborhoods to find one that feels the most comfortable (taking cost of living into account too, of course!!)

kikahead

There is a motorlodge called Beck's in the Castro (on Market St). I have never stayed there but it is in a more residental neighborhood and very close to Noe Valley. I would still do Priceline--just maybe instead of downtown hotels look in the Cathedral Hill zone which will put you on Van Ness or in Japan Town.

SFImporter

Beck's is definitely better if you want to know how locals live. While Beck's is in the Castro district, it's not in the heart of it all. It's a few blocks down on Market Street and within walking distance of some great restaurants and plenty of shopping.

It's also right next to the F-line streetcar that can take you downtown or all the way to Fisherman's Wharf in one direction or under Twin Peaks and into West Portal in the other direction.

It's definitely more similar to Glen Park and Noe Valley than the Marina or Nob Hill.

SAB

I would agree that staying at Becks would give you a more "residential feel" than any motel on Lombard or Van Ness and the Castro is more like NoeValley/Glen Park than Cow Hollow/Marina.

mjs

Where you end up living in San Francisco will depend on alot of factors such as how much room you need, where you will work, buy or rent, have a car or not, budget etc. I can recommend the Coventry as I have stayed there. It is ok, clean, has free parking and is close to alot of restaurants etc and will give you some feel for the Marina, Cow hollow and possibly Pacific Heights.

SydneyLA

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I'll probably keep the Coventry reservations and let go of the Nob Hill ones.

As for the Becks recommendations, I'm a little nervous about it given the reviews on tripadvisor.com. I hear what you're saying about wanting to be closer to the targetted neighborhood, but if what people are saying is true, the Becks may turn us both off to SF!!

TravelinMom

Hope I'm not too late to respond! I'm a Noe Valley resident (since 1987) and love it! You won't get any idea from either of the places you've mentioned. If you can afford a tiny bit more, try one of the B&B's in the area -- there are at least 3 or 4! Find them in the local newspaper, the Noe Valley Voice, on the web at http://www.noevalleyvoice.com/classads.shtml.

FYI, my sense of the 2 neighborhoods is that Noe has slightly bigger houses and bigger price tags. The little commercial strip is a lot more fun. Glen Park has better access to BART, Noe to Muni, both to I-280, Noe better to I-101. And if you're interested in these 2 areas, you may also want to check out Bernal Heights.

For a great neighborhood restaurant in each area, I'd also recommend Firefly (Noe), Chenery Park (Glen Park) and Liberty Cafe (Bernal). In all three, you'd probably hear a lot about the neighborhoods by talking up the people there!

kikahead

Since you are looking at the Nob Hill Inn and the Coventry--I would say to opt for Priceline. With the prices people are getting you could quite easily pay for parking while still saving money. Check out biddingfortravel.com. Travelinmom has the right idea on restaurants!! If you can spend a couple of hours on 24th street in Noe Valley. I LOVE that neighborhood. Just a note--if you are looking to buy: we had been looking for a two bedroom house in Noe Valley with a budget of $600K. It cannot be found! Also if you are driving a lot, check out Cole Valley and some of the cuter parts of Potreo Hill.

SAB

FYI $600K won't buy a house in Cole Valley either, a condo maybe. You might find 2 bedroom house listed for around $800K but it probably won't sell for that. Rents starting around $1600. Don't want to be discouraging just realistic. The housing market here might have cooled slightly, but the only on the really high end, there lots of people looking for 2 and 3 bedroom houses. The rental market has come down however, but only from outrageous to expensive.

SydneyLA

Sigh. Thanks for the (depressing) advice about the area. Although we were looking to buy, maybe we'll keep our LA house as a rental property and rent up in the Bay Area for a while. I hear that rents have dropped more than home prices.

And I'll definitely have to try those restaurants you suggest, Travelin Mom.