Anniversary in San Francisco
 

My wife and I are celebrating our 10th wedding anniversary with a trip to SF. We are looking for some place to stay. We want a place that is more romantic, not family or business oriented.

We were hoping for something unique and luxurious with some amenities, not just a basic room. After reading some posts here, we think we might like the Embarcadero or Union Square areas.

We are "foodies" and I am a coffee fanatic. We like to shop, people watch and site see. We are on a budget and trying to keep the cost to around $200 per night.

Can anyone recommend a good hotel for us?

Coffee, you say? Do not miss Caffe Roma on Columbus in North Beach. Predates by decades all of the Starbucks, Peets, Seattle's Best, etc. Real Italian coffee made by real Italians in a really Italian cafe (frescoes included!)

As for being a foodie -- SF is a great restaurant town. You can't miss, whether you go to the "hot" places, the Zagat's places, the Chowhound places, or simply wander around and discover your own gems.

Try Hotel Vitale--nice location, great views.

The Vitale is wonderful - but isn't it well over $200?

Great people watching on Wed. night at the Top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel. Chic bar with great views, and LaVay Smith and her Red Hot Skillet lickers are playing live swing and jazz and all kinds of swing dancers show up in vintage clothes ready to dance. Its wild!

If you are focused on food, welcome to our town! There are numerous restaurants here that obtain produce and meats from local farmers and celebrate the seasonal harvests in their menus - I think you would enjoy eating at places like these. Off the top of my head, a few restaurants in this category would be:

One Market
Boulevard
Range
Bar Tartine
The Blue Plate

One Market and Boulevard are convenient to the Embarcadero and the Ferry Building. On farmers market mornings, their chefs/buyers are often seen buying the best offerings of the day at the Ferry Plaza.

Bar Tartine and Range are on Valencia Street, which is the funky/hip stretch of the Mission District. Bar Tartine is the restaurant offshoot of the wildly popular Tartine Bakery. The Blue Plate is further out towards the southern end of Valencia Street, near 29th Street and Mission. If it's a warm day, call them early and reserve a table for dinner in their garden - romantic and very special at night.

I'm sure others will post with their favorites. Enjoy.

If you're a coffee fanatic, be sure to try Blue Bottle while you're here. People are pretty fanatical about their microroasting, drink-it-within-24-hours philosophy. You can get a cup at the Ferry Building, but making a pilgrimage to the garage kiosk in Hayes Valley is a trip.

Enjoy!

Seconding Blue Bottle. They are so hard core about their freshness concerns that they won't grind coffee for take-home - they'll only sell you whole beans so you'll grind it yourself just before drinking.

Ritual Coffee House on Valencia is a another favorite that I recommend frequently for good reason - it's worth a trip across town to buy their product. Their list of beans changes all the time according to what estates they're buying from, but the Harrar from Ethiopia is consistently good. Ritual also sells a single-origin Java from time to time (I think the estate is called Djampit), which is unusual, since so much of "Java" goes into Mocha-java blends.

For pure Moka Sannani, I suggest you go to one of the Peet's shops - they sell a killer Arabian Moka that is the essence of what coffee is all about.

Thanks to all of you for the excellent information (I am looking forward to getting some coffee when I get there).

We love what we have heard and seen about Hotel Vitale but still would like to spend less. We are considering the following hotels, does anyone have any feedback about these?

Hotel Rex
The Westin St. Francis
Hotel Monaco
Hotel Palomar
Hotel Adagio

I stayed at the Adiagio when it was Shannon Court. It was nice, but I like being closer to Union Square. I would choose Westin St Francis for it's great locations, and it's well rated.

I forgot to include Hotel Nikko too! Please add it to the list to comment on.

The Embarcadero area is really pretty, we really enjoyed the Ferry Building Marketplace on our visit last May. Boulevard is an excellent choice for a meal. Have fun and Happy Anniversary! ***kim*** ((f))

Take a look at www.travelzoo.com. They are showing specials on several SF hotels right now. We found a great deal at the Harbor Court in the Embarcadero area for a last-minute getaway last month.

I am not familiar with the hotels they are offering now, but I'm sure the helpful Bay Area Fodorites will give you the lowdown.

My Hotel suggestions are:
Clift Hotel (new and cool with an edge by Union Square); Hotel Rex (funky, bright, very nice by Union Square); Hotel Drisco (small, romantic, classy boutique hotel with a European flair in Pacific Heights).
My restaurant suggestions are:
For lunch- Fog City Diner or Swan's Oyster Depot (get there early before the line);
For dinner- Gary Denko, Boulevard, Michael Mina, The Slanted Door, PlumpJack Cafe, Aqua, Myth, Zuni Cafe, Moose's and Garibaldi's.
Evening Entertainment- Check out Teatro Zinzanni or Beach Blanket Babylon.
You must visit the San Francisco Ferry Building Marketplace because you will love the food and atmosphere! Also, have an Irish coffee at the Buena Vista Cafe and check out the de Young Museum.
Enjoy!

Just returned from SF and stayed at the St. Francis. Union Square is my favorite area to stay as you are within walking distance to many attractions and there are always people out and about. We had a room overlooking Union Square on the 12th floor of the main building and were very comfortable but it was over $200 per night. The Stanford Court on Powell and California may have some rooms for under $200 with coffee delivery to your room with a wake-up call. Do try to get a room with a view however. It's San Francisco!
Here is a list of the top 100 restaurants in SF. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/listings/r...amp;Submit=Nav
We also like Albona restaurant at 545 Francisco just 1/2 block from the end of the Mason/Powell Cable Car turnaround in North Beach.
We found that Macy's Union Square has a Boudin's bakery and cafe so we were able to buy our sourdough bread to take home just before we left for the airport. Also good coffee and croissants.

The "W" is kind of cool; rooms small but chez cool. Palomar is nice, but pretty busy area. Hyatt Embarcadero is across the street from Ferry Building and a great place to be on a Saturday morning for Farmers Market and a walk along the embarcadero. Another place close to the Hyatt is Hotel Griffon; pretty nice. 2 places I like to eat - Il Fornaio in Justin Herman Plaza...also on the outdoor enclosed patio, and Calzone's in North Beach on Columbus. The lasagna is to die for. While I love to walk all over the union square area, I avoid the hotels in the area. Too busy. If you want something really nice to do, drive to the marina, park your car and walk along the coastal path past crissy field. On a clear day I sit in crissy field and the view of the bridge is breathtaking. Lots of locals go there.

In my opinion, the only place to stay in SFO for a special occasion is the Ritz-Carlton, Club level. More than worth the high price tag. In addition, if you can get a reservation, Quince, is a very nice place for dinner. Have a wonderful time!