S.F. hotels
 

We will be visiting SF with our 2 children (ages 14 and 11). Am trying to decide between the Pan Pacific, Park Hyatt and the Mandarin. Which would you recommend? Would like something with upscale romms, a view, safe area, quiet but not desolate location, and very accessible to transportation without having to walk hills! Thanks!

the NO hill area is Union Sq...

Look at the Hyatt Union Sq....or for Upscale- the Sheraton Palace--No hills at all and in the heart of downtown SFO , within walking distance of the cable cars....

How about the Hyatt Regency with the cable car and antique street cars that run on Market St. right outside your door? I've always thought it was a great location if you want to avoid the hills. The Embarcadero is beautiful now, especially for walking.

I agree with laurelt that you might want to consider the Hyatt Regency at the Embarcadero. I stay there in April. The rooms were very nice and the hotel is the most convenient for public transportation that I have stayed at in SF. Right outside the door, on the Market Street side, you have access to Muni buses and subways as well as BART and the cablecars (which runs through the middle of Chinatown and is just a block or two from Union Square) start right there. Muni buses also include the F line which makes it convenient to get to the wharf area.

Mandarin's rooms have the best views of any hotel in SF. The hotel is atop the 3rd highest building in the city.
If you book one of the Mandarin Suites you get rooms about the 50th floor with ceiling to tub top windows in the tub. The glass is mirrored of course.
No hills involved in walking to/from the Mandarin.
The Park Hyatt is nice, and is a good value. It's a little farther than the Mandarin from the heart of downtown and it's not quite as nice. But it's also cheaper.
I haven't stayed at the Pan Pacific before.
The Palace is not as nice as either the PH or MO (at least the rooms aren't. The public areas are very nice).

I am also considering a stay at the Hyatt in the Embarcadero area, but wondered about parking. Are there any less expensive options in this area than parking at their site? I think I read parking is about $30 a day. I will have a car as SF is the first stop on a trip down the coast and back through the national parks.

mlm59--- DO NOT bring a car into SFO and pay for parking at the hotels- it is outrageously high...

You can fly into SFO and take an shuttle to your hotel...then pick up your car IN the Union Sq area---there are Hertz,Avis and Alamo, and Budget all close by...We do it everytime we go to SFO and want to go up to wine country or even for a drive down to Big Sur.

Andy is right!! Public transportation is great, including the cable cars. Get a muni pass -- it's a good deal.

Have fun in SF. ((b))

And don't forget that BART now connects to the airport (SFO).

mlm59, are you flying into SFO? If you are, I would agree that you find transportation to the hotel, use public transportation, then rent a car on the way out of town. Parking ast the Hyatt is valet only and $38 a night. We flew into SFO, rented a car to visit Tahoe, Yosemite and Big Sur before spending our last four nights in San Francisco. We rented our car from Budget at SFO and was able to turn it in at the Hyatt, which has a Budget right there in the hotel. We then took a taxi back to the airport.

We will be flying into Oakland. We have free tickets that we earned by flying Southwest. I have also changed my plans and will be concluding the trip in SF. Will be arriving in SF sometime on Friday and flying out of Oakland around noon on Sunday. Is it feasible to drop off luggage at SF hotel, return car to Oakland airport,and then use public transportation to get back to SF and then from SF to airport on Sunday? Maybe Would I just be better off to bite the bullet and pay the parking fee?

mlm59,who do you have your rental car through? Have you checked Budget? Like I stated in my earlier post, you can drop your car off right there at the hotel (the valet takes it). I really found this to be so convenient. Not to mention the best prices I found were with Budget.

one Possible solution for you is... it's the weekend. Meters in the Financial district expire at 6pm.

I don't know what you'd do with your car on Saturday, but you'd be able to park it for free on Sunday at a Meter as well.

Just a thought...

You can take BART from the Oakland airport to the Embarcadero where your hotel is (you have to take a shuttle from the airport to BART). Cabs aren't unreasonable and it beats having to go back and forth to Oakland on a Friday when traffic can be really bad. Be sure to go to the Farmer's market in the Ferry Plaza for breakfast on Saturday. It's right across the street from your hotel.