Parking $$ in San Francisco Union Square area - OMG - Need advice
 

I am planning our upcoming Oct 22-28 trip to Sonoma Wine Country and San Francisco. We are flying in to SFO and renting a car for the drive and two day stay in the Healdsburg area. We return to San Francisco on the 24th for our stay at Hilton Union Square, departing on Oct 28. I was surprised by the daily parking fee at the Hilton of $50 per day. This seems very high to me. Are there other parking options in the area that are cheaper?

I considered returning the car when we return to SF on the 24th but there are some day trips that I would like to do, such as Muir Woods - will we need a car for that? We often travel to larger cities and opt not to use a rental but I felt we needed the car for the trip to Sonoma.

When we stayed at the Hotel Rex, near Union Square, we used a public parking facility which was just a block or so away from them. I don't remember the street, but it was the same street the hotel is on.

This was several years ago, but you could Google the Hotel Rex and see if the parking structure is still there. I think we paid $25/day, about 8 years ago or so.

BTW, the Hotel Rex is a very nice boutique hotel.

You could park the car on the street where there is not restricted parking or they won't do street cleaning on the days you'll be there. Then take public transportation to Union Sq. I usually do this & park in the Noe Valley & take the J-Church in. However, the Noe valley is at the opposite end of SF from where you'll arrive from Sonoma. I'm not familiar with areas of non-restricted parking on the north or northwest side of the City. You can't park overnight in Golden Gate Park.

Stu Dudley

There are motels away from the Union Square area that have free parking (e.g. Cow Hollow Motor Inn) or low-cost parking (e.g. Best Western Hotel Tomo charges $20).

HTTY

Here are some links to help find best rate options:

http://sanfrancisco.bestparking.com/index.php

http://www.all-sanfrancisco.com/info/parking.html

SF City owned & operated parking gargarges are usualy your best prices. I use Sutter-Stockton for Union Square as it is across the street from Grand Hyatt Union Square and we find on our annual TDay Sf trip this works best. See links below

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/pgar/garages.htm

http://www.sfmta.com/cms/pgar/13468.html

I agree - cancel the Hilton reservation and go somewhere with free or less expensive parking.

Do you need to keep the car the whole time you are in SF? Can you visit the sights on the way there - or your first day? this will save you not only parking but also the cost of the rental. $50 a day does sound high. I wouldn;t change hotels just because of this - just go to a cheaper garage nearby - that isn't the going rate except for a hotel valet. You shuold be able ot find something in the range of $25.

Why not do Muir Woods the 24th or 25th and change the reservation to return the car early?

Also you might stay in Marin County the night of the 24th.

The Jones Street garage is close to the Hilton. I was referred to it by another nearby hotel. I think you can reserve by email. Be sure to nail down what rate you are paying and when you can enter to get that rate. I've seen it quoted as low as $20 per night for 24 hours with in and out priveleges.

http://www.parkforless.org/

$50 is high -- but no higher than many SF hotels. You don't need/want a car in SF.

Visit Muir Woods on your way in to SF from the wine country. Then drop your car in SF and use public transport for touring the city and getting to SFO.

<<<SF City owned & operated parking gargarges are usualy your best prices. I use Sutter-Stockton for Union Square as it is across the street from Grand Hyatt Union Square and we find on our annual TDay Sf trip this works best. >>>

The Sutter-Stockton Garage is on one side of the Grand Hyatt and the Union Square Garage is on the other side (also a city-run garage).

<<<$50 a day does sound high. I wouldn;t change hotels just because of this - just go to a cheaper garage nearby - that isn't the going rate except for a hotel valet. You shuold be able ot find something in the range of $25.>>>

$50 and up is the going rate for parking at downtown hotels (the Hyatt Regency Embarcadero charges $62.50). There are public lots that are less expensive, but be sure the price you are quoted is for 24 hours and not 12 hours. "in the range of $25" would be CHEAP for downtown San Francisco.

Here are the yelp reviews on the parking garage I mentioned above. I'm not sure why anyone would park elsewhere

http://www.yelp.com/biz/best-parking...treet%20garage

When we stay in Union Square we park in the lot at Mason & O'Farrell. It's right across the street from the Hilton. It's about $29 per 24 hours. Until you hit the limit of $28-$29 it's by the 1/2 hout. It's super clean. The people who run it have always been very nice.

We did a similar trip last year (stayed in Healdsburg on the advice of Stu Dudley - thanks Stu!) - and had the same dilemma regarding money spent to park a car that we didn't need once we got into SF, other than to drive back to the airport. We left Sonoma and drove down the coast, which was beautiful, stopped in Muir Woods and spent time there before continuing on to SF. Enroute, we hit major traffic, in part because the Bay Bridge was out, so we detoured off the freeway and spent a bit of time walking around Sausalito and had dinner while enjoying an amazing view of the City, and then headed into SF after the rush hour, to check into our hotel (where we also paid $50 a day to park a car we didn't need). If you are holding on to the car just to see Muir, see it on the way in, dump the car, and find out how much a taxi, or other alternate means of transportation, would cost to get to the airport.

We rent a car for the day that we want to go out of town. We pick it up first thing in morning and return it that night before rental office closes. Car rental cost is reasonable and no need to pay overnight parking fee - seems silly to pay to part a car overnight when you don't need to. Then you can rent it the very next day, if you need it and again get it back before rental office closes.

Have done this several times and it works great. There are several rental places SF proper that this will work - Dollar on O'Farrell near Union Square and also the Dollar at Fisherman's Wharf.

<<<If you are holding on to the car just to see Muir, see it on the way in, dump the car, and find out how much a taxi, or other alternate means of transportation, would cost to get to the airport>>>

And the answer is --- a taxi is about $40 from SF to SFO, and BART (the subway) is $8.10 per person one way.

BART is a super easy way to get to SFO or OAK at a bargain price.

My car was broken into in broad daylight in the Sutter-Stockton garage. The attendants shrugged their shoulders and told me to file a police report.

Stay away from that place like the plague.

Another vote for just renting the car from an in-town location for the days you want to use it. Not only to you save on parking, you save a LOT on the rental fees - no added airport fees.

This reply isn't meant to be snarky. $50 for 24-hours isn't so bad...Some hotels in downtown Chicago charge $60+ (n no in/out) for the same period. These rates are not decreasing, either, nor do I anticipate them to do so.

Whenever someone is going to a major metropolitan area which is more compact and has extensive public transporation (NYC, San Fran, Chicago, etc.), it's always best not to have a car.

I would just say no to $50 per day for parking even if it is the going rate. My last trip to SF, I was able to do free street parking, believe it or not.....it required some effort though.

Thanks very much for the parking info. I will be staying at the Hilton soon and must bring the car. In the past I have parked in the city parking garage near the Metreon. Don't know the exact rate but it was around $36 per 24 hours. Am considering using the hotel parking simply for convenience and security.

Ronda, if you are talking about the Hilton on Mason and O'Farrell then the parking garage right across the street is very convenient and about half the price as the hotel's parking.

Thank you Suzie!

Thanks for the replies everyone - very helpful. Our trip turns into business on Sunday which is why we are staying at the Hilton - really no option to stay elsewhere. If we can't manage to see Muir Woods on our way back in to the city on Sunday then I like the idea of just renting for the day. Excellent advice all, appreciate the help.