Please help me plan my first trip to San Francisco
 

Hi,

I will be flying out to San Francisco May 2nd for 9 days. For the first 5 days I will be with a my friend then I will be solo for the rest of the trip. So far this is what we have for an itinerary:

Day 1 - Arrive SFO around 10 p.m., rent car and stay in a hotel right by the airport (suggestions welcome)

Day 2 - Leave very early and drive down to Big Sur stopping along the way. Overnight in Carmel

Day 3 - Leave Carmel and drive up to Muir Woods for a brief visit. Then head to Sonoma to visit some wineries. Overnight somewhere in Sonoma (please help with lodging)

Day 4 - Would like to take a hot air balloon ride over Napa. After the morning ride, visit more wineries. Overnight somewhere in Napa

Day 5 - Return rental car to the aiport and take public transportation to the city. Since niether of us has ever visited the city, we will more than likely take a city tour. Also, this will be my friends last day with me therefore, would love a fabulous restaurant recomendation for a farewell dinner

Day 6-9 Exploring the city on my own.


I'd like to keep the lodging to no more than $200 per night.

I'm torn on what area to stay in the city. I've read a lot of posts here and Union Square seems to be the place to stay. However, many people say that to get the "true" feel of the city we should stay in Fisherman's Wharf.

We are two ladies in our 30's and enjoy beautiful scenery, great shopping, wonderful food, wine, walking endlessly, more wine etc.

Any help you could provide would be wonderful.

Thanks,
Linda

Hi LindainFL-

I just stayed at the Grand Hyatt Hotel on Stockton which is a block off of Union Square. I got a rate of $85 a night off of Priceline.com. I went to "name your own price for hotels" and picked 4 star hotels deluxe and picked Union Square East-Embarcadero. It seems as if that hotel comes up as my friend also got the same hotel for the same price. Just remember that they won't tell you which hotel you get until after you pay.

Now, I didn't think the hotel was a 4 star deluxe hotel, but it was fine. I asked what the cost was to upgrade to the club level and it was $75 to do so. Instead, they placed us on a higher floor which gave us great views of the city and the bay and did not cost us anything. The rooms are average, comfortable and clean. The beds were comfy. The cable car is within walking distance, as is Union Square. Cabs are super easy to get and I thought they were a great way to get around the city.

I am not a big fan of staying near Fisherman's Wharf as I find Union Square and surrounding area more central to what I want to do (shop and eat), but that is just my opinion. I don't live in the city (I am in San Jose) but I am sure some locals can give you a better comparison then I can.

I also wanted to recommend a fabulous restaurant I ate at...Frascati over on Hyde Street. It is about a $10 cab ride or a $5 dollar cable car ride away (much more fun). See comments about Frascati on tripadvisor. The best meal I have had in a long time.

Hope you have a great time!

Monica

Your days 2-3-4 itinerary is very rushed - you'll be all over the place (south, north, west, east, and back south again). If it were me, I'd do either Carmel-Big Sur OR Sonoma-Napa, but not both with only 3 days.

Second, there is nothing "true" about the feel of Fisherman's Wharf. It's a tourist area. You may like it to visit (see the thread of the last few days about it), but I don't think it's where you'll want to stay. If you stay at Union Square, you'll be near restaurants, theatre, shopping, MOMA, etc. I'm not suggesting you skip Fisherman's Wharf, just that you stay somewhere else more "appropriate" for your age and self-described travel habits.

Yes, come to Napa Valley where the wine is the best!

dmlove is right. That's way too much driving the first few days. Also, traffic in the Bay area is horrible. Either go north or south but keep your driving through the Bay area to a minimum.

We are in your same age range and really like staying in Union Square vs the wharf area. We like to stay at the Kimpton boutique hotels- find them on expedia and pick which one is the best deal. We have stayed at both Sir Francis Drake and the Palomar and have been very happy with both. The Monoco is also a great choice. These hotels cater to the 30 something crowd and are perfect for women travelling together!

what kind of restaurant are you looking for? there is so much to choose from!!

Thanks for the responses so far. I know it seems like a lot of driving but my friend has her heart set on seeing those areas in the short time she'll be there. At least I'll have some time after she leaves to just be in one area and explore.

As far as restaurants we are big on Italian but even bigger on Asian cusine. I like everything but for our farewell dinner I'd say it's between these two cusines.

Well for our first night I was able get the Hyatt by the airport for 77 dollars on priceline. They charge for parking so I think we'll take advantage of thier complimentary shuttle to the airport and rent the car starting Saturday.

I'll check out those Kimpton hotels :-)

Thanks for the tip and please keep them coming.

I definitely agree with the recommendations to stay in the Union Square area rather than Fisherman's Wharf. The Kimpton hotels are great--in addition to the ones mentioned, I've also stayed at the Prescott and liked it quite a bit.

Rather than going back south of downtown to SFO from Napa and then having to get back downtown, can you drop the car off downtown without incurring much of an extra charge? That'll save you at least a little time.

I just went to the Slanted Door last week and really enjoyed it--upscale Vietnamese cuisine in the Ferry Building. But my favorite SF restaurant by far is Gary Danko--I still dream of that meal from a year ago ;-). Both are very popular so you'll need to book as far in advance as you can.

YUMMM! Gary Danko!!! Make ressies now! they fill up!

Are you into cocktails? Bourbon & Branch is a great experience if you are

Here's my take on it...I used to live in SF and have been back more than a dozen times. Each time, we come back we stayed right by Fisherman's Wharf. Here's why:
1. Loved easy access to all the ferries.
2. Loved walking along the tourist shops and watching street performers at night.
3. Easy access to cable car and all public transportations.
4. Basically, just love being near the water, gorgeous views of the ocean...etc..
5. Lots of places to eat, but favorite restarant is in Richmond area(not Richmond Oakland) for authentic Chinise food or Cafe Sport for Italian. Another great place is right by the wharf, gorgeous views of the bay - McCormick and Smik(spelling?)

Union Square is just a large shopping area...pretty boring at night really.

I think you can do wayyyy better than the McCormick and Schmidts chain (I also don't know how to spell it) as SF has some of the best chefs in the states! Not to discount M&S it's just that every major city has one and the dishes are all pretty pedestrian.

Incanto is fabulous, but not really Italian. I'm not up on the Asian restaurants so I'll let others chime in, but I did have a very nice meal at the Slanted Door which is in the ferry plaze so that might be good. I would still say Gary Danko is a winner!

You might want to check and see if you can drop your car off in the city instead of heading back out to the airport.

Last time we were in the city we went to the tower and then walked down and explored the neighborhood around it. fabulous. Also great to walk around Haight area. Great place for a bite and a drink there is Alembic. Very small and perfect for if you are on your own (although crowded on Fri and Sat nights)

You will have a great time I'm sure! TONS of great shopping!

Hi,

I checked out the website for Gary Danko and it looks wonderful. In addition you experts rave about it so we just might go there.

Thanks for the suggestions on dropping the car off in town. I have yet to book a rental and am hoping to get a steal on priceline.

Those Kimpton hotels are GRAND but yikes they are about 300 night which is a little more than I wanted to spend. I wish I could afford to stay there :-(.

Stormygirl - what tower are you referring to?

Again, thanks for the responses.

Linda

I was surprised to hear that about the Kimpton rates--I would have thought they've be more in the 200-250 range but I plugged in your dates on their website and you're right! I wonder if there's a convention going on or something then that rates are so high...

You might try the Joie de Vivre hotel group--I haven't stayed at any of them but they get good reviews and I believe they are a bit lower in price as a rule than the Kimpton Hotels.

What have you seen that's in your price range? Maybe you could post a few places you're looking at and get comments on them.

Hi,

Some hotels I'm looking at for the city in my price range are:

Kensington Park Hotel - Union Square

The Cartwright Hotel - Union Square

Chancellor Hotel - Union Square

Best Western Tuscan Inn - Fisherman's Wharf

However, those Kimpton hotels are very tempting...

Any comments on the hotels above would be greatly appreciated. One very important thing for me location in the city. I will be alone for most of my city stay and would love a hotel in the middle of it all and close to public transportation.

Thanks,
Linda

i got a room at the mark hopkins on hotwire for 130 a night.

we've also stayed at the prescott (a kimpton if i remember correctly) for approx 115 (again on hotwire)...

as for asian food, we are going to umami in about a month - i've heard its great but never been there...

have a good trip

I've never used hotwire but just checked out the website and the prices are great.

JMWF, how far in advance do you book your hotels on hotwire? There is a 3.5 star rating hotel in Fisherman's Wharf for 129 but I'm skeptical it will not be what we want.

Thanks for the input.

Linda

i find generally there are better prices further in advance. as hotwire is owned by expedia, the prices between the two sites seem to converge as you get closer to the travel date. that said, i've seen good deals avaliable in the past reasonably last minute - just less frequently.

as for the hotwire process, i've used it many times and never been really dissapointed... that said, i've booked a 3.5 star once and it was very ok, nothing special. other times we've done 4 stars and i've found them to be very safe bets, in some cases we've been very lucky.

as for the 3.5 star in fisherman's warf - i might hold off. 1) i don't think i would like to stay around the warf 2) 3.5 stars (on hotwire) can be dodgy and 3) i assume there are 4 star hotels near union square for approx. 160?

to me it would be worth the extra ~30 a day simply for the location and closer proximity to shopping and restaurants. not to mention with the extra .5 star, you have a better shot at a nicer hotel.

best of luck!

Coit Tower! sorry about that!

those prices are steep for the Kimpton's. We usually notice that 1 of the 3 around Union Square will be dramatically less and go that route but as someone said maybe there is a convention booked?

I stayed at the mark hopkins via priceline once too.

I haven't stayed at any of those--but it seems like the Chancellor gets recommended a lot and the reviews on TA are pretty good.

For me, the hotel I stay in is too important a part of the travel experience to choose it "blindly" like you would on Hotwire. Plus I strongly prefer boutiques to the chains so I'd be very disappointed to end up with a Marriott or something. So it really depends on what's more important to you, the pure cost of the room or the total experience. That said, I think JMWF's advice about going for a 4 star in the Union Square area is good if you're going to go that route.

Let us know what you decide!

I would definitely stay at the Chancellor. It is 1/2 block up from Union Square. The staff is well trained, friendly and helpful. The rooms went through a refurbishing last year and are lovely. We stayed there last week for two nights and loved it.

They have a bar and a restaurant for breakfast and lunch, and, again, the wait staff and bartenders are efficient and friendly.

This is a boutique hotel, so you don't expect huge rooms or bathrooms, but we were very comfortable.

Hi,

JMWF - The 4 star Union Square hotel on hotwire is $229 and then there are 2 3.5 star Union Square hotels for $189. Some are in Union Square East and some West. Is one area better that the other?

NWWanderer, I hear what you are saying about hotel choice being important. I think that's why I'm a little skeptical about booking my hotel via priceline or hotwire. This trip is a big deal for me and sort of a gift to myself. The airfare was free due to years of accumulated mileage. I can't believe that I had enough for a roundtrip first class ticket to San Francisco. I want this trip to be memorable and I want pillowtop mattresses :-).

I may just need to splurge and work some overtime :-).

Stormygirl, I will check out Coit tower and do that walk.

I'll make a decision soon on lodging in the city. You all have any recommendations for hotels in Carmel, Sonoma and Napa? We will have one night in each area before the 4 nights in the city.

Thanks,
Linda

linda,

i can't really comment on east / west union sq. but i assume the further west you go the more likely you are to be in the tenderloin...

one other option i just thought of is sign up for the Fairmont President's Club on their website - it is an email sign up with no criteria, they were advertising SF Fairmont (beautiful hotel in nob hill) for $129 a night if you book before feb 8 i think.

good luck

Look at Inn at Sonoma, in the town of Sonoma. This is just half a block from the lovely historic Plaza, is quite a new property and very comfortable.

http://innatsonoma.com/

Just because your friend has her heart set on both Carmel and the wine country doesn't automatically make it a good idea. Why spend your whole vacation fighting traffic?

There are some wonderful wineries in Carmel Valley. Spend an extra day enjoying the area. Then drive up the coast to Santa Cruz for another great beach town. From there you could visit Ano Nuevo State Park for its hordes of elephant seals and Big Basin Redwoods State Park for more massive redwood trees than five Muir Woods put together. Heck, the Santa Cruz Mountains has its share of good wineries, too. Ridge Vineyards is one of the best in the country.

As for San Francisco, if you like good shopping and good food then Union Square is the place for you - Fisherman's Wharf has neither.

Hi,

jtrandolf - I checked the Inn and it looks great however they have no rooms with two beds. They will do a rollaway but that does not seem appealing. Hmm, I would love something similar and the price is great. Thanks for the suggestion.

bobludlow - Thanks for he info as well. I know those first few days of the trip will be packed but we want to hit those areas even if it's just for a taste. I'm sure we'll go back. As far was staying in Sonoma and or Napa, I'm thinking maybe staying in Sonoma for two days instead of one in Sonoma and one in Napa. My research on wine country is still very raw so I'm not sure if I can stay in one area and travel across to Napa without wasting too much time etc. There are certain wineries she wants to visit - I'm still waiting for the list and a hot air balloon ride is a must.

I'm happily overwhelmed with all the tips - thank you.

Stu where are you? You are the resident expert on San Francisco :-)

Hi, Lindain,

We were there a year and a half ago ago and paid about $200 at the Marriott on 4th Street. It was a good location for getting to places and near Union Square. For us, it was a novelty to have a hotel room on a high floor like that. We also liked the pool and hot tub area.

I notice for your dates, they are asking $249, but if you called they might come down closer to $200.

We also really liked Coit Tower and did the tour that shows you all of the murals; I believe you link to to the tour dates through the public library. Some of the murals are in a locked area you won't see otherwise. Fascinating stories.

Congrats on your big trip!

Hi,

5alive - thanks for the information.

Choosing a hotel in the city is not easy :-(.

Hi,

I booked the Villa Florence in Union Square for the city portion of our trip. It looks really nice and the price was right.

Now I'm going to focus on Carmel and Healdsburg.

Thanks again for all your help.