Going to be in San Francisco area June 16-19 (the end of a two week California driving vacation ... ending up home in Vancouver).

Have stayed at Chelsea Motor Inn twice in the past (perfectly adequate except that one of my suitcases was lifted from the drive-through car park when we were unloading the car!!). Once at The Golden Gate on Bush St. (bad street noise). I'm now considering the Nob Hill Motor Inn after reading good things about them (specifically "free parking").

BUT ... for a splurge ... would it be worth it to stay in Sausalito at the Casa Madrona? Has anyone stayed there?

Would it only really be worth it if you had one of the view rooms with a balcony (US$205 a night from what I can tell). I assume the US$130 a night is for a queen bed, garden view. I would still want to stay there with a garden view queen if it was truly a nice place. As I said, we have a car and can drive to town.

We like the Filmore/Union St. area alot (nice people, good restaurants) and will likely spend a lot of time there but wouldn't it be nice to stay at a kind of funky out of the way place??

Poor us though ... the US$130 becomes quite a bit more in the conversion to Cdn. dollars. So ... go big or go home??? ... take the US$205 view suite and really enjoy???

Thanks in advance for any advice and thoughts.

Have you considered the Hotel del Sol in the Cow Hollow/Union Street part of town? It's funky and quite reasonable. For info and reviews check out: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...alifornia.html

There is also a lovely B&B on Union Street, called the Union Street Inn. Check out: http://www.unionstreetinn.com/

Have a great trip!

Did you stay at Casa Madrona in a $130 room? We are planning to stay there also and would like to know what the room is like for that price. We were told the rooms in that price range are in the historic mansion not in the new building. What did you think - old vs. new?

Boxer
Have you been to Sausalito before? It's a cute little town that we visited for an afternoon, had lunch at a restrauant on the water with terrific views but I would not want to stay there for 3-4 days. You would have to drive into SF each day and where to park?? By staying in SF you park your car (get a hotel with free parking) and take public transportation or walk. Have fun, we are looking forward to visiting Vancouver someday soon!

We have completed our driving vacation (home on June 21). Sorry that I can't help with what a $130 room was like at Casa Madrona. The entryway to the spa looked pretty snazzy though. We ended up not staying in San Francisco (have stayed there 3 times before). We did stopped in Sausalito for a walk and something to eat before pushing on to Cambria where we stayed at the Sand Pebbles Inn.

We had a great vacation and were really impressed with Lake Tahoe and Yosemite (even though we didn't stay long in the park). Loved driving from Yosemite through the small towns (Bishop, Independence) and looking at the Seirra mountains ... awesome. Ended up in L.A. (Bev. Hills) for four nights. Had fun, ate well. Then home up the coast (Cambria, Gualala, Cannon Beach, Ore.).

While I agree there is not a whole lot to do in Sausalito for several days(except for Boat USA and Westmarine stores!), it is quite convenient to take the ferry into SF if you opted to. I have had difficulty finding a decent room with free parking in SF though. Parking usuall runs between $22 (Hilton) to 40 (W) per day in my experience.

Boxer, thanks for the reply. It sounds like you had a great vacation.

Maybe someone else has stayed at the Casa Madrona and can offer some information about the $130 rooms and old part vs. new part of the hotel. I think we just may jump up a category or two anyway.