In November, my hubby and I will have one night & the next day in SF on our way back to the UK from Hawaii. We'll be arriving mid-evening and leaving the following evening. Could anyone suggest a nice hotel (up to around $200, more if it's really amazing!) which would be easy to get to from the airport (but not an airport hotel) but from which we would be well-located to do a brief bit of sightseeing the next day? Also - any suggestions on how to spend the day - we like 'culture' and 'scenery', if that narrows it down at all! Thanks in advance....

If you want to see the city, you probably want to stay downtown, perhaps on Nob Hill. Downtown is about 20 miles or so from SFO. I think that the Mark Hopkins Intercontinental has an Internet rate of $159 or thereabouts; it's a very nice hotel in a good location. You can walk to the Cable Car lines, Chinatown, etc.

Although I'm not a big fan of tours, this might be the best solution with only one day in SF--it would give you an overview of highlights. Sorry I can't recommend any specific tour company, but I would suggest those that use smaller tour vans versus big buses. If you are going to take BART into the City from SFO I would suggest a hotel such as W or the Hyatts which are closer to BART stations. If you are going to take a cab, any downtown hotel such at the Mark would be fine.

Appreciate your input. The Mark Hopkins looks very nice - tempted to go for that. I just wonder whether the Fisherman's Wharf area would be better as a base, even if only for the day? Is it really tacky round there? I think all we will really aim to do is go over Golden Gate Bridge and generally stroll.

Fisherman's Wharf is fairly tacky--fun to visit, but personally I'd rather stay somewhere else, if for no other reason than that(good)restaurant choices near the Wharf are limited.