San Fran Accom
 

Have booked the Union Square Plaza hotel in San Francisco for our visit from Australia in Oct - has anyone stayed there or know what its like?<BR>Also accom down Highway 1 - Monterey/Carmel/Solvang?<BR>Also looking for accom in Death Valley &amp; Yosemite - looking at Curry Village in Yosemite - any recommendations?<BR>Thanks for any info!

eurock,<BR><BR>Can you change your reservation in SF. Union Square is a somewhat bad area to be in, most notably at night.<BR><BR>In Monterey and Carmel areas, you can find some reasonable accomodations in Pacific Grove. <BR>http://www.pacificgrove.org/<BR><BR>In Yosemite I would also recommend the Yosemite Lodge, which is nicer than Curry Village. Book accomodations in Yosemite early.<BR>www.yosemitepark.com<BR><BR>Have a nice trip.

Did a search on this hotel, it's on Geary between Mason and Taylor, this side of Union square is perfectly safe, lots of foot traffic, buses, restaurants. Nothing wrong with staying there.

As a native San Franciscan, my advice to you would be to reconsider staying at the Union Square Plaza Hotel. It really is not a very desirable location.

Will you have a car? Parking is expensive.IMHO, I think you would enjoy the Wharf area.Whether u hav a car or not it will be easier.And more fun.Yes, a bit on the touristy side but so what.

Thanks guys for all your help! Think I'm a bit confused on the San Fran hotel though??!!!<BR>We will have a car &amp; I can change any reservation I have made.<BR>I've booked a heated tent at Curry Village in Yosemite - for the 3 of us it was USD73.70 per night which is AUD126.00!! including all your taxes - Yosemite Lodge was USD125.00 which is getting a bit high in cost in AUD!! Don't you love what the exchange rate does?? Bit hard to justify paying that much!<BR>Thanks for your input!

I almost always choose Union Square when visiting San Francisco. There's just so much to see and do in the area. I know some constantly complain about it on these forums but it's a pretty typical urban downtown.

I guess I don't get your point about the exchange rate. I've been to Austalia. Paying $126 Australian is a cheap rate for any hotel. It is hard to find anything decent there for less than 200 minimum, and we were paying as much as 500 for nice places. Your mistake is thinking that it should cost you the same number of Australian dollars as US dollars -- of course they aren't equal, but if I'm not mistaken your dollar is stronger against ours than it was a year ago.<BR><BR>And I'd suggest you ignore all posts about the &quot;dangers&quot; of Union Square. I think you'll laugh about those warnings after you come visit.

Eurock<BR><BR>My best advice for you is to not stay in the Union Square area or in the downtown area in general. Most of us who live in SF usually avoid these areas if possible given the recently problems with the lack of cleanliness. I would look into other areas of SF (Nob Hill or Wharf area instead)<BR><BR>PLUG (Public Lassitude and Ugly Goings-on) crimes continue from the<BR>Embarcadero to Union Square to the San Francisco Shopping Centre all the way up to our symbol of bureaucratic indifference, Civic Center. And the decrepit downtown is not alone. Many other city streets are in need of attention.<BR><BR>What we are facing now is much more<BR>than the typical issue of panhandling. Some of the most attractive spaces in our downtown are rampant with drug dealers, addicts and general scofflaws.<BR><BR>Our streets are public toilets, and vandals scrawl on our buildings like restroom walls. To act as if this were acceptable behavior is an outrage.

Hello eurock,<BR><BR>I am also Australian and travelled to the USA last Oct/Nov and visited San Francisco for 2 and a half days (I wish it had been 5), and stayed at the Star Motel for $75 a night. I travelling alone and like yourself was looking for cheaper accommodation. The motel is on Lombard St and it was a little noisy but did not affect my sleep; you can also request a room at the rear of the motel which would be quieter. It was about 5 bucks for a cab to the Wharf area and there is a bus stop near by. Another motel you may like to check out is the Nob Hill Inn.<BR>By all means there are alot of choices and more upmarket than I have mentioned; just thought I'd mention these two as possibilties considering you have a car. The Columbus motor inn is closer to the wharf area but was out of my price range(quoted $125 at the time).All 3 inns are on the net. Hope this is of assistance.

www.columbusmotorinn.com is a good choice in San Fran because it includes parking, which can run $30 per day. Check the website a couple months before your trip for specials. For all hotels, don't book any non-cancellable reservations this far in advance. Prices go down. <BR><BR>Heading down the coast, book Carmel and Santa Barbara or any coastal areas for weeknights for much better rates than on weekend nights. www.carmelmissioninn.com usually posts great weekday special rates a month or so in advance. <BR><BR>Skip Solvang, it's just a nice stop for coffee and a danish pastry. Been there done that. <BR><BR>Suggest flying INTO San Fran and OUT OF Los Angeles or Las Vegas. This usually qualifies for a round trip fare and is better than backtracking to San Fran for the return flight. Lately there have been decent rates on the one-way auto rentals.

Union Square is fine, but you may want to change hotels. Check www.biddingfortravel.com. for San Francisco and your other destiniation points. For example, I just got the Grand Hyatt San Francisco for $61 (U.S.)a night. <BR><BR>

That's a great price, Enjoylife. I just checked the Hyatt's website and the rate posted there is $169/night.<BR><BR>Happy Trails,<BR>Paul

We were in San Fransisco in January. Do NOT believe everything that you read on this message board. We visited San Fransisco 13 years ago, and stayed at the Chancellor Hotel, located at Union Square. This time we obtained a hotel through priceline.com for $60 a night @ the Park Hyatt in the business district. We walked several evenings through Union Square and did not feel the least bit intimidated. We are from a small town in Florida. I honestly believe that there is a lot of exaggerating going on!

WOW.......... such great responses!!! Thanks you guys - you have given me lots to look at!<BR>I think Patrick you missed my point about the accom in Yosemite - that was $126.00 for a heated tent with no facilities!!! - I don't know where you stayed in Australia to pay that much - I'm front office manager for a resort in Alice Springs - our most expensive room is AUD110.00!!! A suite at the Hyatt in Adelaide is AUD500.00 a night!!<BR>Our company has 6 properties in the Northern Territory &amp; the most expensive is $110.00 per night - maybe I can give you a few tips next time!!! <BR>Thanks Tracker for your insight &amp; joesorce on the Columbus Motor Inn/Carmel Mission &amp; your tip on parking - I will check it all out!

Check out the price of a cabin in Camp curry. It might be less than the lodge..I'm sure it is. Those tents are pretty rustic.Definitely stop along Highway 1 in Monterey/Carmel. If budget is a concern check into US chain motels like Best Western. Monterey is beautiful and there is a great aquarium there. I agree about skipping Solvang unless you have a thing for split pea soup which is one of the things that made Solvang famous.(Andersen's Split Pea Soup) Do check out the Embarcadero and the Marina as possible places to stay and try going on the various low pricing websites as others have suggested to book.

Eurock,<BR><BR>Not sure on your intentions but if you are thinking about using the likes of priceline make sure you check out early with them if the service is available to Australian customers(most people actually bid prices close to their travel dates). I know last year it wasn't available to Aussie's.<BR>Enjoy your planning and trip.

If you can the suggestion of not staying in Union Square is not a bad one. There are many other areas of town that are a lot cleaner and safer.

Alohaaa,<BR>If you want to consider staying outside of the UnSq area, I just booked the Tuscan Inn in the Fish/Wharf area on Hotwire.com for $88/night for the weekend of 3-22. It was the &quot;B&quot; designated &quot;Boutique&quot; hotel for that area.<BR><BR>I also noted a 3.5* &quot;B&quot; Boutique hotel in the Embarcadero area for under $80 for the same March time period. It has been the Harbor Court Inn in the past. Nice hotel. Good, quiet location.<BR>Kal

Eurock, I second Tracker's recommendation for the Star Motel on Lombard Street. It is in a fabulous area, only a few blocks from the beautiful S.F. Bay. <BR><BR>Lombard Street is our 'motel row' area, with restaurants in all price ranges.<BR><BR>The Marina District of SF is one of our safest and most picturesque neighborhoods.<BR><BR>When we have out of town company who want a nice room at a reasonable price, we always book them at the Star. Not fancy, but very clean,n decent sized rooms, and friendly service. One major advantage of a motel, including the Star, they have free parking, usually very close to your room. If you don't want to drive, just leave the car and take public transportation. It is not far from Fisherman's Wharf and the Golden Gate Bridge. Stay away from downtown, no real advantage to staying there.<BR><BR>Enjoy your stay in our City.