Hi everyone,

I live in San Francisco so have never used an airport hotel at SFO, but I have a 6am flight on a Monday in a few weeks and am not a morning person AT ALL so am contemplating spending the Sunday night at a hotel by the airport. Any recommendations? Which is the easiest/fastest/most convenient hotel to the airport?

FWIW, without traffic it's about 25 minutes or so from my house to the airport. I don't live near a freeway entrance.

>>Which is the easiest/fastest/most convenient hotel to the airport?

El Rancho is an old standby.

El Rancho is where I stay also.

http://www.elranchoinn.com/

We stay at the Hyatt.

I've stayed at several (including the El Rancho multiple times). But it really does depend on the budget - the ER has gotten relatively pricey.

> For what you get. Ah, I remember the days when it was a great park and fly deal.

Last December, we stayed at the Aloft, which we got for a good rate through booking.com. I would definitely recommend the hotel--spacious room, helpful staff, shuttle service ran on time, close to airport--but I would mainly plug booking.com for offering good rates. (We booked just a few days ahead, if that makes a difference, and prepaid.)

Many of the major hotel chains have locations on Century Road just outside the "entrance" to LAX property. All are within a 1/4 to 2 miles of the airport and all have shuttle bus service.

In the past we've stayed at the Hyatt, Marriott and Sheraton - all three were fine.

You can go to Google Maps and type LAX in the Search box - you'll be directed to a map where you can zoom in to see the names and locations of all the different hotels. Choose the one that most fits your budget.

The OP is flying out of (and needs a hotel at) SFO, not LAX.

They're all fine (really, all of them). I'm not really sure how much time you'll save over driving from home.

I suspect, depending on the frequency of their shuttle service, that hotels on the airport side of Bayshore Freeway will be more convenient than those on El Camino in Millbrae. The thing I didn't like about El Rancho was the time it sometimes takes for the shuttle to show up coming in to SFO, standing there waiting in the wind.

I stayed once in the area just south of the airport, in the vicinity of Aloft mentioned above, Westin I think, and it worked better.

I've continued to use El Rancho in part because they have a 2 bedroom suite that works very well to have my granddaughters come to stay with me and use the pool (and a Chinese restaurant walking distance). But presumably convenience is what will matter to you so do check booking.com for chain hotels on the airport side of Bayshore.

I was going to say the same, there would be little to no traffic at around 4am, which I think is when I would leave my house for a 25 minute drive and a 6am flight. If driving is the worry--and I understand, I am NOT a morning person myself--could you hire a taxi or an Uber? That would be cheaper than a hotel, surely.

SF7307, I considered, too, the amount of time it will save or not save when answering the question. It's true about it amounting to little, however if Leely thinks as I do, it isn't so much the actual time saved but the being at the airport already that's the issue. And why I do the same thing myself, always have, to save a measure of anxiety when it's an early flight. It doesn't even have to be this early for me to feel it, I want to circumvent all possible obstacles.

Oh, don't get me wrong, I'd probably also do so if I didn't live within 15 minutes of the airport (I used to live even closer).

I live in the middle of the city, not near any freeway entrance, so it's really all the stop signs and stop lights that slow things down when there's no traffic. And I'm like MmePerdu, just being right there will relieve me of some anxiety. El Rancho has a good AAA rate, so I'll give it a try.

Thanks, everyone!

I guess I just don't understand. El Rancho is at least 15 minutes from the airport, door to door. There are hotels that are closer. So you're saving 10 minutes?

We usually stay at the DoubleTree, which has a good shuttle service, large rooms, and warm chocolate-chip cookies at check-in.