We will be visiting San Francisco for four nights pre-cruise in mid April. We want to stay in the Fishermans Wharf area. I have narrowed my hotel choices to the following....the Hyatt, Sheraton or Radisson. Your input will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Lenore
We stayed at the Radisson and was pleased. The location to Pier 39 is just steps away where the ferry to Alcatraz and other destinations reside. We walked to the Cable cars that took us to Chinatown. Actually you can walk most everywhere. If you have an extra day, you could rent a car and drive to wine country which we loved.
We also wanted Fishermans Wharf which a lot of people do not because it's filled with tourists and not locals. We asked for a room with view of the Bay and if we opened our window at night we could hear the seals from Pier 39 barking.

I've stayed at the Sheraton and the Marriot on Bay (not one of your choices, but I thought I would mention it anyway).

The Sheraton was ok. It was clean but looked a little worn - not shabby, just worn. There were a lot of families with kids when we were there, so that might be why Our room was nice, but the beds could have been more comfortable. They were pretty hard.

The Marriot was nice - fabulously comfortable bed, nicely decorated room. The hotel is on a triangular-shaped lot, so it is sort of triangular itself. I had trouble finding my room a couple times, but that probably has more to do with me than the hotel.

I have stayed at the Hyatt a few times. It's a nice hotel and has a pool which is rare for a SF hotel. They are all good shoices if you want to be in the wharf area.

>>We also wanted Fishermans Wharf which a lot of people do not because it's filled with tourists and not locals.<<

That's only one reason - and perhaps not even the main reason locals don't go there - and, I suspect, frequent visitors don't like it either.

The place is quite tacky with the T-shirt shops, gawd awful souvenir places, "theme" restaurants, tourist restaurants, Wax Museum (with a statue of Brittany Spears out front), Ripley's "Believe it or Not Museum", fast food places, Hooters, tourist oriented shops, etc. Also, except for the Cannery & Ghiradelli, the architecture is really ugly - compared with other places in The City.

People who visit SF and spend most of their limited time at the Wharf, are really missing a great opportunity to explore one of the greatest cities in the world. Instead, visit the Noe Valley, Haight, Cow Hollow (Union St), Golden Gate Park, take a Victorian House free walking tour, bike across the GG bridge, walk along the Embarcadero from SBC park to Teatro Zinzanni, Ferry Building, Cable car museum (free), Union Sq, Chinatown, North Beach, SOMA, MOMA, newly opened DeYoung Museum, Palace of the Legion of Honor & the drive from there with blockbuster views of the Golden Gate and the GG bridge, view from Twin Peaks, view from Treasure Island, view from the GGNRA on the other side of the bridge looking through the bridge back to SF, etc, etc, ect - I could go on , and on , and on...

Stu Dudley

Thanks guys for your input and recommendations. Actually we've been to San Francisco once before....it's where we spent the 2nd half of our honeymoon 15 years ago. On that trip we spent a day touring the Napa Valley wineries and another day doing Muir Woods and Sausalito. Of course we saw Alcatraz, Lombard St, Chinatown, rode the cable cars and wandered around Fisherman's Wharf. We had a blast, but we'd like to do a few different things this time. We plan to rent a car one day and drive down to the Monterey/Carmel area. Still haven't decided which hotel to book though (the Marriott is way more expensive than the others). Thanks!

Sheraton has some packages such as Romance package at $209 per night, as low as $139 per night some nights...not sure what's included in the packages...what other rates are you getting?

I'd research the drive to Carmel a little before undertaking it...if you go down through Silicon Valley during the week the traffic can be a nightmare.

I just wanted to echo StuDudley's thoughts on the wharf area in San Francisco. Not my cup of tea as well.

If you fit the criteria for using Priceline, you might want to see about using it to reserve your hotel room and save some money.

Just got back from San Francisco last week. We stayed at the Tuscan Inn in Fisherman's Wharf. The wharf area is definitely touristy and a little tacky, but I love to be around boats and shipping piers and water, so that outweighed the "scene" for me!

Anyway, the Sheraton was undergoing renovations while we were there, so it was noisy and covered in scaffolding -- you may want to check and see if they'll be done construction in April. And we liked the Tuscan -- right next to the Hyatt, spotlessly clean, and significantly cheaper.

Have fun!

We are staying at the Radisson on the Wharf May 12-May 18. For $189 per night we have a bay view room including parking, breakfast, and 4 cable car tickets each day. We are staying simply for the value and proximity to places we want to visit. We plan on spending little time in the Wharf area, though I can't wait to go to Ghiradelli!

Lenore,

Check out the comments on Best Western Tuscany on tripadvisor.com. We just booked it for three nights on our way back from Hawaii (in September) based on these reviews as well as comments and recommendations from friends who stayed there. We have stayed at the Marriott in the past as well, but we wanted, as you, a home base thats convenient and comfy and not too pricey. This seemed to have some good reviews.

Good luck, whatever you choose...and enjoy your cruise!

NannyJan