Lee

Can anyone recommend a hotel with large bedrooms or suite arrangement for my husband, myself and our two boys (both under 10) We will be staying 4 nights from 8th April and do not plan to hire a car. One day we hope to take the train trip out to Yosemite so being fairly centrally located for the station and cable car etc would be useful. I believe the Embassy Suite Hotel is near the airport. Does anyone have another suggestion? Price guide? Maybe up to $120 but preferably less! I'll try Priceline when I decide which hotel. Thanks and Happy New Year.

JJ

Priceline won't work for you. You can't choose the hotel on Priceline and rooms are only guaranteed to sleep 2.

Lee

Thanks JJ. Please excuse my ignorance! Any recommendations anyone?

char

As a person who LIVES in
San Francisco, I can tell you what areas you are going to want to look for a hotel/motel. You will be highly disappointed if you stay at any airport hotel/motel and want to see the city without a car. The airport really is not located within city limits--it is also in an industrialized area. You are going to want to stay in either Fisherman's Wharf area or the Marina (a little off the beaten-tourist path-but in a lovely part of the city). Both areas mentioned offer great public transportation. I am slightly partial to the Marina area if you are looking for more reasonably priced accomodations in an area that is very safe, very pretty and has a local flavor. There are several very pretty old motor lodges in the Marina. You would be walking distance from some top attractions in the city, too. The Fodors guide to hotels tend to be truthful. Stay away from the downtown area--some of the hotels/motels can bump up against some slightly seedy neighborhoods.

cha

P.S.-I really don't want to bad mouth any of the hotels/motels. There are some very nice downtown hotels. There are some economy lodges in the downtown area I would rather not stay in if I were travelling with kids, though. Try the Marina District...I would recommend it for any of my family members travelling with children. The motor lodges are a hop, skip and a jump from some of the prettiest views in the city. The neighborhood is also quite upscale. The Exploratorium, the Palace of the Fine Arts, Ft. Mason, Crissy Field, The Marina Green are also located in that district. Fisherman's Wharf is easy to get to, too. There are bus lines that run through the district that take you to other parts of the city.

Jim Rosenberg

Lee, you might want to take a look at www.quikbook.com to see what they're offering for rates. I picked up a nice deal at the Holiday Inn Fisherman's Wharf on their 21-day advance deal on the six continents website (Holiday Inn). Trying to get it done in a decent location for $120 or less is not a slam-dunk, IMHO. (I agree with the advice that you definitely do NOT want to be out near the airport. It's just not going to make for a very good trip and it is worth more to stay in a more favorable location).

One place with a great location that I "eyeballed" for potential future reference which is right next to the Radisson Fisherman's Wharf:

http://www.hotelswest.com/sfo/index.html

It would be worth checking the rates; the place seemed like it would be okay to me.

Here's another discount hotel booking service I've used and been satisfied with:

http://www.180096hotel.com/index.html

Note that you may qualify for a $25 rebate if you use Mastercard (something I've had work for me).

No single source ever seems to win out every time, so research them all.

Happy Contrails!

gail

Another vote for NOT at the airport - too far and annoying to travel into city with kids. That leaves you with the problem that few hotels outside airport offer you large rooms - we searched 2 years ago. There have been a few suggestions on this site for the few suite-type arrangements within city. We stayed at Tuscan Inn Fisherman's Wharf - it was summer and cost was more than you want to spend, but got a small suite of 2 rooms (both very small - one had queen bed, one had sofa bed.)

We have used Priceline for various cities and found it cheaper to get 2 rooms, since you can't get a suite/large rooms except by luck on Priceline. You might be able to get adjoining or connecting rooms at check-in or by calling hotel, but be prepared that you may have to split up with one adult to each room if you can't since your kids are young.

CAgal

Lee, to my knowledge there's no train that goes from SF to Yosemite. You say that you want to be "centrally located for the station," but what station do you mean? If you can give a few more details about this, maybe someone can help.

Marcie

If you book through Priceline or Hotwire at a 4 star or above, you will more than likely be able to be assigned a room large enough for you and the two kids (two doubles) if you phone in advance of arrival. It's always worked for us.

J Correa

I believe that you can get to Yosemite from the Bay Area on Amtrak. I've never gone by train before, but I think you can pick up Amtrak in Oakland or Emeryville, take the train to Modesto or one of the towns out in the central valley, and then an Amtrak bus to Yosemite Valley. Coming from SF, you may be able to take BART from downtown SF to the Amtrak station.

beeper

I live across the bay from San Francisco. Try the Holiday Inn Fisherman's Wharf. There are a bunch of Holiday Inns in the Bay Area, but at this one many places are within walking distance and the rest are easily accessible with public transportation. If you go to the Holiday Inn website (www.sixcontinentshotels.com) they list rooms for 119.50 a night for your dates right now (I just checked before posting this). The main advantage to this hotel besides location is that Holiday Inn is very family-friendly; we stayed at a Holiday Inn in London after an exhaustive search for accomodations for a family of five, which is much more difficult to arrange than a family of four. It's a big corporation, somewhat "plastic" but to my mind offers good value for the money. With kids you want space, kid-proof furnishings, a place to get a quick bite to eat, and easy access to sites. The Holiday Inn has all those. There are other places to consider, such as the Marriott and the Four Seasons near Yerba Buena Gardens (lots to do with kids there--make sure you check out the Zeum, Metreon, musuems, park, carousel, etc.) but those hotels may be over your budget.

Whatever you do, do not stay near the airport. You will be sorely disappointed.

BTW taking the train to Yosemite as a day trip is pretty iffy. By car Yosemite is a solid four-hour drive away, almost 200 miles from San Francisco. People always underestimate distances when they come to visit California. It's a big place. The Amtrak train stops in Merced, where you have to catch a bus for the last ride in. The train station is in Oakland, across the bay from San Francisco, so you have to take BART, walk a several blocks, catch the train in Oakland around 7:30 am to get you to Yosemite around 1:30pm. Then you have to get back on the bus around 4:30 or 5:30 at the latest to get back to Oakland around 10:00, after which you still have to get back to SF. And unfortunately, Amtrak is famous for its unreliable arrival times. By all means take Amtrak to Yosemite, but do yourself a favor and stay overnight. It's worth it. Three hours in Yosemite won't begin to touch what you want to do and see, and all that time on BART and Amtrak and buses is a big price to pay. Also, the round-trip train fare for the four of you will be around 220.00, not including BART fares. You can rent a car for a 39.00 a day. It might be worth driving if you have that option.