ISO the perfect hotel in San Francisco
 

Date of travel: either late March or early April 2011
Number of rooms: six with two beds
Ideal qualities:
on site gathering areas for casual meeting before meals and outings
quiet
view
easy access to transportation to airport
on site breakfast
high degree of comfort (we're all over sixty)
WIFI

Locatiion: We won't have cars and will rely primarily on public transportation. We will be going to Beach Blanket Babylon, maybe a day trip to Napa, ferry to Sausalito, shopping, dinner out.

My plan is to identify five to ten good choices and then start monitoring them for rate specials. What do you suggest for us?

Where you're going from the hotel doesn't matter as long as it's near public transportation, and there are very few good hotels in San Francisco that aren't.

Are you looking for very high-end, like the Four Seasons, middling, like the Westin or Marriott on Market Street, or something simpler/less expensive.

Areas - Union Square (shopping restaurants, sightseeing buses and tours), Embarcadero (near the bay, quieter and more picturesque, near the Ferry Building), Fisherman's Wharf, Nob Hill?

Do the onsite gathering areas have to be private, or just a nice lobby area?

View? That certainly limits your choices.

Transportation to airport -- taxi? BART?

By on-site breakfast, do you mean a place where you can BUY breakfast (which will undoubtedly be very expensive) or breakfast included (which it won't be except in some non-high-end hotels)?

I am personally fond of the area around Union Square. I have stayed at the Westin st Francis, the Grand Hyatt and the Sir Francis Drake. They are all lovely properties. I think there are some strategies for Priceline for these hotels. We were there for meetings.

You are close to the cable cars and restaurants etc.

The easiest transport from/to SFO (or OAK) is BART. This limits your stay to Union Sq. and Embarcadero areas. Both are good areas.

Going to Napa or Sonoma you either need to rent a car, or get on a tour bus, there is no convenient public connection, if even inconvenient exists.

Expedia is a good site to look up hotels and to read travelers' reviews.

<I>"Going to Napa or Sonoma you either need to rent a car, or get on a tour bus, there is no convenient public connection, if even inconvenient exists."</I>

Took the words right outta my mouth, Dayenu.
:)

R5

My perfect SF hotel is the Hotel Monaco.

I love Kimptons and the joie de vivre group looks very attractive. The view is not a huge issue. We like to sit at breakfast and plan our day so we prefer to eat at the hotel. The meal need not be included in the rate. sf, I think we will be fine with midrange, Westins and Hyatts usually work. The gathering area need not be private, just a place we can sit together and chat before we go out. We are going to arrange for transportation to Napa. Embarcadero would be my first choice with Union Square second.
I hope my responses will help with suggestions. I appreciate the ones received so far. thank you.

Except for the on-site breakfast, the Harbor Court (a Kimpton Property) sounds like it would suit your needs. www.harborcourthotel.com/ It is close to the Ferry Building and public transport (we took BART to/from the airport), has views of the Bay Bridge, and a nice lobby sitting area. The rooms were comfortable, but kind of small. We found a Travelzoo.com deal for $130/night on an April weekend a couple of years ago (pre-recession). Since you are starting early, you may find deals, especially if you sign up to be on the Kimpton mailing list.

The Monaco offers great breakfasts at the Grand Cafe. GREAT breakfasts. Their mushroom omelet was divine.
You can gather downstairs in the comfy sitting area and enjoy complimentary wine before you go out at night.
Union Square is a good location.
If you decide to drive to Napa, there are rental car locations nearby.
Views? Nope.

I have Harbor Court and Monaco on the list, thank you so much for those suggestions. I am a big fan of Kimptons.

I wouldn't overlook the Hyatt Regency. It is on the Embarcadero so the walking opportunities are endless. We stayed here a few months ago and loved it. The room was comfortable and a good size with a balcony that overlooked the Bay. It is right across the street from the Ferry Building and all that has to offer. If you are priceline savy (I am not), rooms can often be had for a very low price. Ours was $169 a night on some sort of Hyatt special deal. There is a huge atrium that would be a good gathering spot for you and your friends. Downside is that it is a large mid-range hotel and not a cutesy boutique hotel, which frankly doesn't matter to me. The location is excellent.

The hotel looks lovely, imaq. Thank you for the suggestion. They haven't published their rates for our time frame yet, but Hyatt does do some nice discounts for seniors.

Given the parameters, I too would suggest Hyatt Regency at Embarcadero. At least you would have some view (walk across the street to the Bay), reasonable access to transportation & the Hyatt conciereges are free & the best. (Sonoma, Napa tours & other tours, reservations dinner..etc. (Best kept secret)

We usually stay at the Hyatt Union Square & get great rates. Breakfast is expensive tho unless yu go acroos teh street to Starbucks.

If you are military you can stay at Marine Memorial Fund, old time but clean, hotel near Union square: you can get some great suites w/view for great rates, has a decent restaurant for backup meals & a live theater venue right inside the building.

As for transport to & from airport, I think the Airporter Bus which stops at all the hotels is the easiest & best price: they are slow tho...BART is ok for young mobile people who don't mind schluping their suitcases.

I think for our next trip I would like to stay at the Hyatt as well. I did like the Westin St. Francis and you can get great rates there. It is a higher end Westin imo.

One of my favorite hotels is in Sausalito and I would love to stay there again - Casa Madrona but that really would not be ideal for your group.

Since there are several folks posting some good SF suggestions right now, I thought I would top this old thread and see if anything new might be added.
I appreciate the help.