My husband and I plan to visit San Francisco over Christmas, for about 5 days to a week. We will be bringing, and paying for, our 3 "adult" children. So we are looking for some sort of good accomodation for 5 , with reasonable access to all the "must see" tourist spots. Any suggestions, other than hotels?

Are you planning on getting two rooms or looking to put all five of you in one accommodation?

Can you give an approximate price/night you are willing to pay?

The St.Francis or the Fairmont Hotel are lovely and especially during Christmas.
St. Francis Hotel is centrally located in Union Square and you can pick up the cable car right out front..
Great shopping and restaurants all within walking distance and take the cable car to the wharf.
Love the Sir Francis Drake hotel too..
I like to use Expedia but you can also try direct, whichever is cheaper..
Have a wonderful time!

expedia.com

We got an excellent rate at the St. Francis last December through Expedia. Our room overlooked the big Christmas tree in Union Square!

Budget??

We are trying to keep the budget in check, but still have something reasonably nice. As our adult children include one daughter, it kind of means we need 3 sleeping areas, for privacy. I was kind of thinking of a condo or rental home -kind of thought it might be less expensive than 3 rooms in a hotel.
There will be obviously all the other daily costs too, and we are flying in 4 of us cross-country too.

Thankyou for the feedback on the hotels though! Will look into them, and just need to weigh our options and book something.

popcorn: When we ask for a budget it isn't being nosy. One person's budget accomodation is a splurge for others - and visa versa. In general SF hotels are more expensive than many other parts of the country. How much do you want to spend per room or per night total?

Try the Joie de Vivre properties-- http://www.jdvhotels.com/ They have grown since we used them a few years ago, and stayed at the Hotel Rex. They manage boutique-type hotels, which are mid-priced. Maybe they can help with your larger group. We found them very accomodating and loved the Hotel Rex.
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Have you checked www.vrbo.com ?

I agree with TTess, try vrbo.com For a large family group, having a living room, a deck, etc. where everyone could gather would be great. Just inquire to make sure the property is near public transportation, so getting to the must-see's won't be a hassle.

That said, the Hotel Villa Florence has a wine bar in the lobby and couches for hanging out, and is in a great location. You may be able to negotiate a discount with a hotel if you're booking at least three rooms.