We (2 adults,2 kids) will be spending 3 mid-week nights in San Francisco in July. I have been investigating motels mostly on Lombard St. I have narrowed it down to one of the following: Lombard Motor Inn, Marina Motel, Pacific Hts Inn, Chelsea Motor Inn,Buena Vista Motor Inn, Columbus Motor Inn. The reason for the choices are that they are relatively inexpensive and they offer free parking as well as access to public transportation. If anyone has stayed at any of these or has any other suggestions, I would appreciate your opinions as well as the pros and cons of the locations. Thanks in advance!

My sister stayed at the Chelsea Motor Inn last summer and was very happy with it.

Remember that Lombard Street is a very busy thoroughfare...six lanes of traffic across. During rush hour, there are many, many vehicles traveling on and coming off the Golden Gate Bridge.

I would recommend staying at a motel that's just off Lombard...that way, you'll have a little more quiet.

We stayed at the Lombard Motor Inn last August and liked it just fine. There was noise, but nothing unbearable. It is a city after all.

As K says, it's a bit noisy and the gas fumes can get to you in the summer and it's not pretty in the charming way of other areas of the city, but Lombard street is functional with many decent motels and is a safe place to be. The Chelsea and Lombard Motor Inn are the same company, the Buena Vista seems OK, but my suggestion would be to take a close look at the Pacific Heights Inn which is just west of Van Ness near Union St, a street with wonderful little boutiques and restaurants. If you stay there you can probably walk (depending on the kid's ages) to Ghirardelli, the Cannery and Pier 39. And, if you do stay there, go to Bepple's Pies on Union Street for a pie ala mode at "tea time"--it's a SF institution and the kids would love it. Recognize that you probably won't have air conditioning, and while you shouldn't need it for the cooling, if noise is a problem it's made worse by open windows--another reason to want to be on Union (which is busy enough) rather than Lombard or Van Ness. I just hope that while these places offer parking, you plan to park your car and use public transportation while in SF. If not and you plan to drive in the city, you'll surely be frustrated. Enjoy.

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