is there a nice hotel not far from the SFO airport, but not right in the city, that is on the water or has nice surroundings? we will be travelling down from wine country on our last night and were looking for something special but not so far from the airport as we have an early flight.

There are two really nice hotels on Bayshore Blvd: the Marriott and the Bay Landing.

Further south, there are two other hotels on Airport Blvd that are on the water: the Doubletree Airport and the Sherton Gateway.

All four of these hotels have rooms facing the water. My favorite is the Marriott.

All four offer airport shuttle services, so you can return your car the night before and enjoy a less hassled departure the next morning.

The hotels easytravler mentions are on a path along the bay - a very nice walking path. If you do keep your car, cross the freeway and have dinner in Burlingame - lots of choices at every price point, and a nice town (Burlingame Ave. in particular) to spend a few hours.

I enjoy staying at the Burlingame Marriott as mentioned above. It has great views, the nice walking path, is close to a couple of restaurants, a Starbucks in the lobby, and a Hertz car rental return...what more could you want? It also has a shuttle to the airport.

I agree the Marriott is the best location, but it's definitely not something I would call special. Yes, you have a nice view of the planes landing, the calm bay stretching out before you, but it's also just a plain old industrial/commercial area. The restaurant at the Marriott is ok at best - since you'll have a car definitely drive a few miles to somewhere like downtown Burlingame if you're looking for dinner.

In case you do drop your car first, there's also something called the Burlingame Trolley - I'm not sure, but it might be like a shuttle from the hotel area (which is east of the freeway) to Broadway or Burlingame Ave (or both) which are west of the freeway.

There are many hotels in Burlingame along the bay, as dmlove mentioned. We stayed at the Embassy Suites and while it isn't spectacular (it's just an embassy suites), it has a nice view of the water, free breakfast, a pool, etc. There are plenty of restaurants/shopping in Burlingame.

The Burlingame Trolley:

http://www.commute.org/shuttle_burlingame_free.htm

You have solid advice on the hotels. A restaurant on the south side of the bay trail is Kincaid's; a good choice.

There is a Chinese restaurant in Burlingame. I can't recall the name, but this is a very large, long time destination. Your hotel should be able to direct you. Very good.

Perhaps the Chinese restaurant to which stumpworks is referring is Hong Kong Flower restaurant in Millbrae, just up the road from Burlingame on El Camino @ Millbrae ave.

The Burlingame shuttle won't take you there but it's easy to get to by car. I prefer them for lunch over dinner, but I could probably say the same for Chinese food in general.

Must be, because there's no big destination Chinese restaurant in Burlingame itself.

It is possible, since the rental car places at the airport close pretty late (midnight?) - it is possible to do a quick checkin at the hotel and leave all your luggage there (keep the car parked for free out front in the checkin area), then come back down and drive to Burlingame for dinner. After dinner return the car to the airport rental area, take the car rental shuttle to the airport, then take the hotel shuttle from the airport back to the hotel.

I'd suggest trying some other kind of food than Chinese while in Burlingame. There are so many other better choices. Except for the Hong Kong Flower Lounge there aren't any big destination Chinese restaurants in Burlingame, as dmlove has said, and the HK Flower Lounge is expensive.

easytraveler has the right idea...have done that many times...if you do rtn teh rental day of teh outbound flight be sure to allow plenty of time to ride teh light rail to teh airport..rental place is a ways away and I find security takes a little longer at SFO...

On our last few trips we've stayed at the Hampton on Bayshore in Burlingame. I didn't notice any special views but it is nice, clean and the staff has been especially friendly and helpful. They have a decent breakfast, too. It is quite near the Marriott. The price is right and the parking is free. One of the places we used to stay charged an extra $10 for our car to spend the night!

All of the airport hotels are within walking distance of the walking path. There are many choices. Not all have views, and not all are on the water side of the road. Look on Kayak - type in Burlingame, CA. All of the hotels that are on Airport Blvd. and Bayshore Highway are on or across the street from the bay.

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