1st time in SFO, Wchi is best area to stay?
Feb 25th, 2005, 04:56 PM
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1st time in SFO, Wchi is best area to stay?
First time visiting San Francisco, Should I find lodging by, Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf, Embarcadero? I'm on my way to tokyo and China and have 4-nights 3 days in San Francisco. Help! Thank you.
Feb 25th, 2005, 07:17 PM
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It depends.
Depends on how many, do you have kids, and what's your target price (budget)?
Maybe if you gave us a few more details, we could help you better. SF is full of all kinds of lodgings for all kinds of people!
Depends on how many, do you have kids, and what's your target price (budget)?
Maybe if you gave us a few more details, we could help you better. SF is full of all kinds of lodgings for all kinds of people!
Feb 25th, 2005, 08:37 PM
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oceanblue: OOOOOOHHH SF first time, how fun!!
Trust easytraveler to give
you great advice tailored to you needs!
and mikemo's advice about Stanford Court
is great as well!
What time of year will you be in our fair city ?
R5
Trust easytraveler to give
you great advice tailored to you needs!
and mikemo's advice about Stanford Court
is great as well!
What time of year will you be in our fair city ?
R5
Feb 26th, 2005, 09:35 AM
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We enjoy the Union Square area. Less carnival atmosphere, not tacky. We stay at the Crowne Plaza near Union Square. Cable car goes right by, though you have to walk a few blocks to get in line for a ride. Sears for breakfast right across the street. Very good, very popular and pricey.
Feb 26th, 2005, 10:14 AM
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I'd suggest the Fairmont on the top of Nob Hill. My favorite in town, great views from there. There's also the Union Square Hyatt and the Hyatt Embarcadero, all nice and convenient to everything you will want to see.
Have a GREAT time and make sure you get to Ghiradelli Square for some icecream sundays.
Have a GREAT time and make sure you get to Ghiradelli Square for some icecream sundays.
Feb 26th, 2005, 10:33 AM
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Heed easytraveler's advice to give us more info about you and your priorities, and also her use of the abbreviation SF rather than SFO for the City. SFO specifically refers to the airport. There is no need to go to the effort of tacking on that "O" unless you want people to know you are talking about the airport.
If you are a single adult, as your question seems to imply, I would avoid Fisherman's Wharf, a place for tourists with children, if anyone. More info about your likes will bring you positive recommendations. I'm glad that you have chosen to visit this wonderful City in which I lived for a long time, and I hope you enjoy it greatly.
If you are a single adult, as your question seems to imply, I would avoid Fisherman's Wharf, a place for tourists with children, if anyone. More info about your likes will bring you positive recommendations. I'm glad that you have chosen to visit this wonderful City in which I lived for a long time, and I hope you enjoy it greatly.
Feb 26th, 2005, 10:57 AM
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Aloohaaa,
It always seems to me my first time to SF every time I come thru the tunnel and see the The City!
A FoMar location would be nice (Foot of Market) so Hyatt, Harbor Court, Griffon or even the Park Hyatt.
And you're at the end of a lot of public trans lines that will take you everywhere in The City.
It always seems to me my first time to SF every time I come thru the tunnel and see the The City!
A FoMar location would be nice (Foot of Market) so Hyatt, Harbor Court, Griffon or even the Park Hyatt.
And you're at the end of a lot of public trans lines that will take you everywhere in The City.
Feb 26th, 2005, 05:41 PM
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I don't know if this is the correct way to thank everyone for your help! Thank you JBC411 for correcting me about the O. Now that I know better...I'm travelling to SF with my husband and Hotel price Range could be in the $300. I read everyone's advise
including previous from StuDudley and easytraveler. Thank you All.
including previous from StuDudley and easytraveler. Thank you All.
Feb 26th, 2005, 06:11 PM
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I thought that I had already posted to this question but I apparently answered a different query. Here goes...I would not recommend Fisherman's Wharf. It has become so incredibly tacky - it may be worth a visit (one of our favorite restaurants is there), but stay somewhere else! Our personal preference is Nob Hill. We like the Union Square area during the day, but ultimately think Nob Hill is best overall. Views are good, little park on Nob Hill is pretty - fun to watch people who gather for Tai Chai (sp) in the morning, cable car comes by, easy to get to other parts of the city, Grace Cathedral has self guided tours, the large hotels have great places for a drink, Union Square is nearby for wonderful shopping, etc. As I said, it's a personal preference, but you might look into it. The downside is steep hills - if you are not in good shape it may be a problem.
Feb 26th, 2005, 07:11 PM
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Wow! R5 and JBC411:
"Trust easytraveler to give you great advice tailored to your needs." That is, except when she's had one limoncello too many - then all bets are off. 8-)
Really, guys, knock it off! I'll never be able to live up to the reputation you are giving me!
oceanblue: seriously, you've gotten some great advice so far. Stanford Court used to be our favorite pied-a-terre in SF. It's kinda a boutique (read, large boutique) hotel.
Nob Hill is always a good choice, even tho it's a bit far removed from everything, but the views are spectacular.
Kal always gives good advice: south of Market, especially the Hyatt or even the Harbor Court (another boutique hotel) would be good choices.
Yes, avoid Fisherman's Wharf. Not for you. It's really family oriented and mostly 3* hotels. No real high rises. The only one that may capture your interest is the Argonaut Hotel.
Well, for that kind of price, I'd suggest looking into the Mandarin Oriental. It's the bathrooms - huge - and the views, but, most of all, for me, I love the subtle Asian welcoming touch. Mandarin Oriental is NOT my favorite Asian hotel chain, but it'll have to do in SF.
Ritz Carlton would be another good choice.
Hope this helps! Cheers!
"Trust easytraveler to give you great advice tailored to your needs." That is, except when she's had one limoncello too many - then all bets are off. 8-)
Really, guys, knock it off! I'll never be able to live up to the reputation you are giving me!
oceanblue: seriously, you've gotten some great advice so far. Stanford Court used to be our favorite pied-a-terre in SF. It's kinda a boutique (read, large boutique) hotel.
Nob Hill is always a good choice, even tho it's a bit far removed from everything, but the views are spectacular.
Kal always gives good advice: south of Market, especially the Hyatt or even the Harbor Court (another boutique hotel) would be good choices.
Yes, avoid Fisherman's Wharf. Not for you. It's really family oriented and mostly 3* hotels. No real high rises. The only one that may capture your interest is the Argonaut Hotel.
Well, for that kind of price, I'd suggest looking into the Mandarin Oriental. It's the bathrooms - huge - and the views, but, most of all, for me, I love the subtle Asian welcoming touch. Mandarin Oriental is NOT my favorite Asian hotel chain, but it'll have to do in SF.
Ritz Carlton would be another good choice.
Hope this helps! Cheers!
Feb 26th, 2005, 07:56 PM
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Mandarin Oriental would be exactly my first choice if the budget allowed ($300 might not make it.) The hotel takes up the upper stories of one of the tallest buildings in the City (hotel lobby and public areas on first two floors, about 35 stories of office building, then the hotel the rest of the way up.) Some years ago, I used to work on one of those 35 floors, and I knew how to switch elevators on the second floor so I could surreptitiously get up to the hotel and gape at the views out the hallway windows, which I liked to do. (I presume security is tighter these days.)
There are other outstanding hotels in The City, but in S.F. I would go for the stupendous views which you just cannot get other places, and the Mandarin's are the best. This hotel is not quite in, but very close to, Kal's recommended area, and has the same relationship to Union Square. The knock on the Mandarin's location is that it is on an office building block which is dead at night. This is true, but you only need to go a couple of blocks in three directions for this to change radically.
My next choices would be the Fairmont or Mark Hopkins Intercontinental hotels on top of Bab's favorite, Nob Hill, again because of their superb views, although at these the hotel rooms don't start 35 stories up and even though they are on a hilltop, you need to specify you want a view at them.
Aside to Easytraveller: please tell us your top recommended Asian hotel chain and top recommended brand of Linoncello. We did just get a new Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., and I have heard rumours of a coming Peninsula.
Plus, I have spotted at least one brand of Limoncello, with which I was not familiar, not only in Washington but even being carried at the State store we must go to in order to get hard liquor here in suburban McLean, Va. Jefferson, surely, would approve of the recivilizing of his beloved State. (Limoncello at Monticello!) And I have seen the infamous picture of you with your bottle of Limoncello, and you look so......very happy. I definitely want some of what you were having.
There are other outstanding hotels in The City, but in S.F. I would go for the stupendous views which you just cannot get other places, and the Mandarin's are the best. This hotel is not quite in, but very close to, Kal's recommended area, and has the same relationship to Union Square. The knock on the Mandarin's location is that it is on an office building block which is dead at night. This is true, but you only need to go a couple of blocks in three directions for this to change radically.
My next choices would be the Fairmont or Mark Hopkins Intercontinental hotels on top of Bab's favorite, Nob Hill, again because of their superb views, although at these the hotel rooms don't start 35 stories up and even though they are on a hilltop, you need to specify you want a view at them.
Aside to Easytraveller: please tell us your top recommended Asian hotel chain and top recommended brand of Linoncello. We did just get a new Mandarin Oriental in Washington, D.C., and I have heard rumours of a coming Peninsula.
Plus, I have spotted at least one brand of Limoncello, with which I was not familiar, not only in Washington but even being carried at the State store we must go to in order to get hard liquor here in suburban McLean, Va. Jefferson, surely, would approve of the recivilizing of his beloved State. (Limoncello at Monticello!) And I have seen the infamous picture of you with your bottle of Limoncello, and you look so......very happy. I definitely want some of what you were having.
Feb 27th, 2005, 09:22 AM
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Can't speak from personal experience, but possibly the Miyako, in Japan Center? Anyone stayed there recently?And of course maybe the true Asian expert, Easytraveler, will chime in as she answers my questions above.
Feb 28th, 2005, 07:21 AM
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Well, one last try - nothing like having long messages cyberzapped 
Bodi: on getting an "Asian" experience - I personally don't know of any hotel in SF that can offer you that. The closest is probably the Mandarin Oriental. There are also the Hotel Nikko and the Pan Pacific, both Japanese owned and mostly business traveler oriented. There are also two Miyakos in Japantown, I don't know much about these two.
The "Asian" experience that I'm talking about is a blend of the best of East and West: western bathrooms, usually with both a bathtub AND a separate shower; fairly large and attractive rooms; bathroom amenities which include not just soap, shampoo, etc. but also loofah pads and other Asian items; free slippers for tired feet; free bathrobes, and so forth.
AND, most importantly, a service staff that is attentive but not intrusive and which places you, the hotel guest, at the center of their attention. I don't mean fawning or arrogant, nose-in-the-air type of service. It's the kind of service which makes me glad to enter the lobby of the hotel with an inward sigh of relief after a long tourist/business day in a foreign city. The staff is unfailingly smiling and courteous - it's going to be a downhill slide from hereon out, after a long grueling day - that sort of feeling.
JBC411: My favorite hotel chain in Asia is the Shangri-La, which unfortunately does not have any North American locations - as yet. Many people favor the Peninsula chain, which also doesn't have a presence here in SF.
Any kind of limoncello will do!
Bodi: on getting an "Asian" experience - I personally don't know of any hotel in SF that can offer you that. The closest is probably the Mandarin Oriental. There are also the Hotel Nikko and the Pan Pacific, both Japanese owned and mostly business traveler oriented. There are also two Miyakos in Japantown, I don't know much about these two.
The "Asian" experience that I'm talking about is a blend of the best of East and West: western bathrooms, usually with both a bathtub AND a separate shower; fairly large and attractive rooms; bathroom amenities which include not just soap, shampoo, etc. but also loofah pads and other Asian items; free slippers for tired feet; free bathrobes, and so forth.
AND, most importantly, a service staff that is attentive but not intrusive and which places you, the hotel guest, at the center of their attention. I don't mean fawning or arrogant, nose-in-the-air type of service. It's the kind of service which makes me glad to enter the lobby of the hotel with an inward sigh of relief after a long tourist/business day in a foreign city. The staff is unfailingly smiling and courteous - it's going to be a downhill slide from hereon out, after a long grueling day - that sort of feeling.
JBC411: My favorite hotel chain in Asia is the Shangri-La, which unfortunately does not have any North American locations - as yet. Many people favor the Peninsula chain, which also doesn't have a presence here in SF.
Any kind of limoncello will do!
