Songdoc

I stayed at Cow Hollow in April. The rate for a king room was $82 for Th., F. and Sun. -- $98 for Saturday. You might want to call them.

Betsy

4sharie, according to biddingfortravel.com, here are the hotels you'd be very highly likely to get if you bid on a 4* in the Embarcadero area:

Omni San Francisco Hotel
Hyatt Regency San Francisco
Hilton Financial District
Le Meridien San Francisco

Here are the hotels that PL uses in the Union Sq. East area:

Westin St. Francis
Grand Hyatt San Francisco

They're all very nice hotels, so you wouldn't need to do any research.

If you decide to use PL, go to biddingfortravel.com and be sure to learn how to bid; otherwise it's very easy to overbid.
You want the "Name Your Own Price" option.

Just checked the calendar. The dentists will need 2300 rooms and the microbios will need 6000 rooms, but they only overlap on one night, so you might have a chance with PL. We're going to be in SF at the same time. I booked our hotel in June through a Travelzoo special.

4sharie

THANKS for all the extra info tonight!! We're headed to Chicago bright and early tomorrow morning for 2 days, so will process all this info as soon as I can on Friday. Thanks again!!
Sharie

LunaBella

Royal Pacific Motor Inn. Love the location, it's right between North Beach and China Town. It might not be under $100 but last I checked, I think it's close, and parking is included.

4sharie

Okay, I'm back from a quick trip to American Girl Place in Chicago for dd, and am ready to tackle San Francisco in 2 weeks!

Thanks for the extra suggestions! I read around on biddingfortravel.com and am trying to decide if I should try for Priceline or not. Ohhh, what to do?!

Royal Pacific Motor Inn has potential! It is available for our dates for $113, which is $33 more than we're paying in San Bruno, but that would cover our parking fees if we drove in and parked for the day. So basically the price is the same, and we'd be within walking distance of the main places we want to go.

Might try Priceline for kicks, though with the conventions in town, not sure if it's worth the hassle.

Or I could just forget it all and keep our reservation in San Bruno like sf7307 and mlgb agree...

(head spinning)

mztery

Couple of points

I don't know why you are planning to drive to treasure island? I've never seen Stu's driving tour but there isn't much for tourists- people live there...

Same with Lincoln Park unless you are planning to go to the Palace of the Legion of Honor (museum) and the Presidio unless you just want to drive through it and see where George Lucas' people work.
Also note the Ferry Bldg is JAMMED on Sat so parking may be a real bear.

Parking rates at meters here have gone WAY up - sfmta.com will have see current rates.

If you just want to take a nice drive the parks are nice but I don't get why Treasure island would be on the itinerary

Leburta

I have stayed at the Royal Pacific a number of times in the past. It is a convenient location -- nothing fancy, but nice and clean. It seems a little closer in than Lombard Street.

travelbuff

Last time I was in SF, I stayed at the Andante Hotel, which is off Union Square. The rates are really good there, and the room was very comfortable, and nicely appointed. It's not the Hyatt, but it was a good choice and I was there for a week. There's a cafe off the lobby with great sandwiches and wine bar. Parking was reasonable next door.

Dayenu

If you are in the city for 2 nights only, and plan to see Lincoln Park and Treasure Island, you will be seeing the city out of the car window only.

Both places are beautiful, we took great photos of the city from TI, but we live here, and our time is unlimited.

okoshi2002

For $40 more a night I would stay at Cow Hallow rather than driving in from San Bruno-totally worth it. And they have availablilty.

4sharie

Treasure Island... just thought we'd do a quick drive over for a view of the city, then come right back. Nothing our heart is dead-set on, just thought if it was easy and quick enough we could start our day there, after the Farmer's Market at the Ferry Building... IF we can even find parking for that! Sounds like it's a crazy time.

When you leave the GGPark from the west side, wouldn't you be driving through Lincoln Park to get to the Golden Gate bridge? Looking for pretty views, not museums.

Thanks for the heads-up meter rates have increased. Looks like we're going to have to budget in more $$$ for parking on this trip!

Looked up the Adante Hotel and there is no availablity our nights. Thanks for the suggestion!

4sharie

okoshi2002, the Cow Hollow only has double beds room available and we can't stand double beds. Thanks for your vote to stay in town. We're still trying to weigh the pros/cons and decide what to do.

gonna try Priceline, though with the conventions in town I don't think we're going to have much luck.

paula1470

I would book the Royal Pacific Motor Inn and then try Priceline. You can always cancel the motor inn if Priceline works. I have done a lot of driving around SF which was usually for work. I have always enjoyed my trip more when I didn't have to worry about driving in the city and finding parking. When I am in SF for pleasure, I never rent a car-there is so much you can do without one.

As far as bidding on Priceline, even with the conventions you might have good luck with 4* in the Embarcadero area. Conventions tend to put their people in the Union Square and Moscone Center area hotels first. According to Betsy's post, the conventions are just over 8,000 people and I know the city can accomodate much larger groups. So you might have a chance on Priceline. Some of the 3.5* or 3* might be okay, too. If you are looking at any of those on biddingfortravel, come back here to Fodors or look at tripadvisor for hotel reviews.