Hello. Is it best to rent a car at the airport, or once you get to the hotel?

I am considering Hotel Nikko and the Argent. I know that both charge to park, but is it worth it? I want to be able to come and go as I please....

Thanks!

If it were me, I would probably do my in the city stuff, that doesn't require a car, and then get the car. There are lots of things to see in the city that you would benefit from a car so save those for the latter part of your trip. As far as Union Square, Fisherman's Wharf, and anything in the city center, you won't find parking easily anyway so I wouldn't bother with a car.

I guess it's a matter of price and convinience whether you rent at the airport or once you get into town.

If you rent the car at the airport, then you wont have to worry about transportation into the city. On the other hand, there is a surcharge for renting at many airport locations. It all depends on what you want to do.

If you wont be needing a car for the entire trip, then I would recommend just renting one for the days that you need it - like for side trips out of SF.

We spent 4 days in SF and only rented a car for one day trip to Sonoma, which cost $30.00 thru Hertz. If you rent a car at the airport, it will cost you more than $30.00 just for the parking.

We felt that the public transportation was great in the city. We bought the muni pass which was a real bargain.

There are plenty of reasonable shuttles to/from the airport. Go to the SFO airport web site and select ground transportation and pick which means you want to take.

Thanks for your replies. I think that we will just rent in town for any trips we plan to take out of town, and rely on public transportation the rest of the time....

Does anyone know anything about these hotels? Are they close to everything? Trolly lines, etc...

Thanks!

Budman, can you tell me where to get a muni pass?

April, there is a Muni booyh at Market and Powell right near the cablecar turnaround. You can purchase your passes there.

I would rent the car wherever it is cheapest. If you rent it in town, remember to take into account the transportation to and from the airport.

Here's a web site:

http://www.sfmuni.com/home/home50.htm

Thanks don512 and thanks Budman for the link with maps and all.

If possible, don't go there. San Francisco has gone down the drain in resent years. It's always been over priced but that was OK because it was a great place to visit. I was there in April for four days and was glad to get out of there. Rude waiters and the bums laying every where. If they weren't laying on the side walk in their excrement they were insisting on you giving them money and if you didn't they were very intimadating.
Come to Chicago. We've got it all and at half the price. Best resturants, hotels and places to visit that are truly interesting.

BabyBlue- BOTH hotels are terrific...but the Argent is closer to the SOMA area---

Both are UPSCALE- you cannot go wrong with either...

Thanks to all for your replies on this.

Regarding Jim's comments, I have absolutely no desire to go to Chicago. I am perfectly capable of handling panhandlers, and I am not worried about that.

I have been to many cities and countries where that happens, and I feel that is normal for this to happen in many places (particularly the Carribean).

Also, thanks to Andy- Now I am considering the Palace Hotel, I know that the rooms are small, but I kind-of like the charm of an older hotel.

Any thoughts??

B'blue,
We spent July 5th/6th in SF and I just don't know how we survived after reading all of this?!?!?

We stayed at The Palace years ago when it first reopened.
Loved the older rooms. Much like the ones in the old section of the
St Francis we like. Great bathrooms and furnishings.
We'd stay there again if we weren't getting such good deals at other SF hotels of late.

Chicago/SF-Both great cities. We try to go to both as many times as possible.
Kal

we just returned from a family vacation there last week and decided to use public transportation. we had no trouble getting anywhere in the city as long as you had your muni map with you. we bought a one week pass and it let us on everything in the city. (cable cars,buses,street cars.) the crowds at all of the tourist sights made us glad we didn't have to look for parking everywhere we went. never had to walk more than two blocks to catch a bus. even went to the goldengate bridge on the bus. as for the post on panhandlers, there were quite a few but never bothered us if we said no. have a great time!

If you stay at the Hotel Nikko, there is an Enterprise office right there. Last week, while vacationing in SF, we rented an economy car from them for $25/day and made an overnight trip up the coast and into the Russian River Valley.