If staying at the Chancellor Hotel, would not having air-conditioning really matter? There is a ceiling fan, but I just wondered if anyone who has stayed there was bothered by not having air? Also, does San Francisco get hot and humid during July? (I'm from Chicago and sitting in Air Conditioning as I write.

We don't have humidity like other parts of the US. It may feel "damp" but that will be due to the fog. "The coldest winter I even had was the summer I spent in San Francisco"--Mark Twain. You should be fine.

It does not get hot in San Francisco....ever. Few of the older hotels have air conditioning and even the newer ones which do call it "climate control", meaning that it might be necessary to turn on the heat. I am sitting here at my computer on Monterey Bay wearing a sweater. I think you will enjoy the Chancellor. The staff is friendly and helpful and the location is great.

Humid - yes. Hot - no. As others have said, the humidity is caused by coastal fog, so the temperatures remain low. If the weather heats up, and by "heats up", I mean reaches 80 deg F, then the fog will not show up and the humidity will be fairly low. The average high in SF in July is 71 degF.

Out of many trips to the city (in the hundreds) over 50 years, I only remember being hot twice. And both times it was in September. One of those times, we were staying in the city a couple of nights and had to borrow a fan from the front desk. But even then it wasn't too bad, and the high was about 90F. Very unusual, and still not that hot.

"hot and humid" - no. No AC - it's OK in the city, really! Not many buildings, including apartments, have them.

Make sure you have at least a light sweater! The wind can change from pleasant to freezing any moment, unpredictably.

It does get hot in SF although not very often and it doesn't last long.

Last summer in July there were record temps all over the bay area, 115 where I live and it was in the low 90s in SF.

Everyone I know that visited SanFran in the summer bought a souvenir fleece jacket out of necessity!

You will need a good assortment of clothes though- the weather does vary by elevation, how close you are to the water, etc. I've been both hot and cold in one outfit just in the car.

You know that I still haven't decided about which hotel to stay at. So if we stay at the Wharf Inn, we will be in a cooler area because of the water. I think that being near the water may give us a change of pace from the city atmosphere, now that I think of it. Although, the Chancellor is a hotel I would try sometime. The Columbus Motor Inn (even though we won't have a car) has been written up with good reviews for the price. However, if we stayed there, then we wouldn't have the wharf experience. I guess just being near the water might really be kind of nice, and the cost of the hotel isn't very expensive.

How long does it take for the fog to burn off? I would imagine that there is fog in the morning for a while.

don't assume being near the Wharf will automatically be cooler. It is on the NE corner of the city and the fog rolls in mostly from the west. SF is nothing if it isn't a bunch of mini-climates.

As for when the fog burns off - it depends on the neighborhood -- plus the hotter it is inland the more fog there is in the city. Don't over think things too much - just pick a hotel you like and ignore whether it has a/c or not.

Staying at the Chancellor puts you in a great downtown location where you can walk anywhere. The wharf will require transportation - cable car, taxis, which aren't all that expensive, or something else to get downtown. Weather in July should be very pleasant. Would recommend staying in a room high up on the backside (away from Powell St) at the Chancellor since the street side can be busy.

Princess:

We are visiting next week and booked at the Hyatt Regency on the water front. The Chancellor was always on my short list of places to stay. If one of you is 62 you can get 50% off the cost at the Hyatt by clicking on the Senior rate (subject to availability).

I will top one of my old posts about help with deciding on where to stay.

We are visiting from the St. Louis area and I am so looking forward to getting away from the heat and humidity.

Sandy

We stayed in SF in Oct. at the Hyatt Embarcadero and were very glad there was A/C. For some reason July is not as hot.