I have found these under $ 100 hotels fo r mid April 05 trip; hotel Vintage Court, Cartwright Hotel, Nob hill hotel, they all should have ok location and breakfast included. Do you recommend any of these or anythig in similar price group with nice restaurants, bars and shopping nearbyfor a couple in mid thirties. We are not too picky about the hotel, but location should be somewhat nice and rooms should be clean with private bathroom.

You can get a better price and nicer hotel on Priceline. Check out www.biddingfortravel.com before bidding on Priceline

We liked the Cartwright, and have heard good comments on the Vintage Court.

We love the Andrews on Post Street, two blocks from Union Square.. they hae a fabulous breakfast on each floor in the am., a glass of wine in their Fino Restaurant after five... They only have 44 rooms...not glamourous and many times hard to get in..www.andrewshotel.com

I beg to differ with you regarding The Andrews Hotel. The place is an absolute dump with the world's tiniest bathroom and their breakfast "buffet" as you put it, consists of coffee and danish!!!!! There was no juice or fresh fruit as was advertised. I wouldn't stay there again if they were the only hotel in San Francisco. Do you work for them???????

I want to keep recommending the Cartwright, I really do....I have stayed there 2 or 3 times but my last stay there (after they broke off from the Kimpton Group) was not so good. The staff is very nice, the location is good, and the free nightly wine reception is a very good touch. But the room I had was really noisy....I dont know what it was, I am usually not sensitive to noise but I could hear everyone slamming their doors or talking in the hallway. The room is a little small, as well, but whaddya expect for the price & location.

That is a surprise..when we were there two years ago....there were scones,bagels, muffins, fresh fruit, hot chocolate, tea, and coffee,.

I had the same good experience at The Andrews Hotel, two different trips. But like ParrotMom, I guess mine was a couple years ago now. Sunshine, was your stay there more recent?

Here is a link to a great company that runs boutique hotels and is worth mentioning.

moshttp://www.jdvhospitality.com/hotels/

I have stayed and really enjoyed the Carlton - note this in not the Ritz Carlton but the Carlton on Sutter St., and is in the Union Square area but not right at Union Sq. it did not include breakfast. Hotel Rex is also very nice.

Enjoy, Eileen

sorry about that, link did not paste above - here's the proper one.

http://www.jdvhospitality.com/hotels/

Sunshine..I DO NOT WORK FOR THEM!! (I live in the Northeast) The hotel was recommended by a workmate who goes there several times a year.. then another workmate went...and the next trip she changed hotels and said it definetely wasn't worth the change.. No, they are not luxury, like the Hopkins or Nikko they are more European and affordable. YES,, it is a budget hotel and we found it very convenient and the staff hospitable. They also have a discount for parking down the block, when we need to rent a car

Stayed at the Vintage Court last year.

It was part of the Kimpton group then. It was well kept, comfortable, helpful staff. All non-smoking property, clean, no odors.

Requested a quiet room away from street and they obliged. Arrived about 11 A.M. and they allowed early check-in. Breakfast had coffee, danish and juice. Two wines were offered about 5 p.m.

The room was slightly wider than the king bed, and twice as long. In front of bed was a desk with chair on the left. TV , door to hallway was on the right half. Plenty of space for one. I would probably want a more square room for two to get around in without bumping into each other.

Very happy with location, 1 block from cable car, a couple of blocks from Union Square and BART. Could easily walk through Chinatown and North Beach for "Beach Blanket Babylon" show.

Yes, we stayed at The Andrews in Oct. I thought we'd be having more than pastries and coffee for breakfast, so we ate breakfast out twice. I'm also one of the few people on the planet that doesn't drink coffee. It also didn't help that when we arrived to check in, there were 2 couples arguing with the guy at the front desk about how unhappy they were with their rooms. Our room wasn't ready when we got there and we couldn't check in til 5 pm. The whole experience was an unpleasant one. My husband and I did laugh about the fact that the bathroom was so tiny that we couldn't pass each other on the way in.

Thanks for the update on the Andrews. sunshine, I appreciate you taking the time to answer. In my experience they had offered coffee, tea, a pitcher of orange juice, heaps of nice pastries, and a bowl of fresh fruit. Obviously things can and do change. I will have to agree the bathrooms are comic-ly small.

I've stayed at the Nob Hill Hotel and it was very nice-especially if you can get one of the larger rooms. We paid much more than that, but the poster who said you can get a much better deal on Priceline is right--we stayed at the Marriott on Embarcardo for $75 (and they even upgraded us to a suite!)