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Where to Stay in SF WITH a Car
As part of a cross country driving trip this summer we will be in SF for a few days. I'm looking for suggestions of where to stay with a car that won't incur huge parking rates. We are ok taking the BART from somewhere with easy acces to downtown. Thanks!
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Cow Hollow or Columbus mother inns (sister properties) are the go-to places if one has a car. Nice properties and free covered parking.
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>>Columbus mother inns<<
Motor - not mother. BART is primarily used to get people from the East Bay & SF northern peninsula into San Francisco downtown. It is really not that great for getting tourists to/from the usual tourist spots. DO NOT stay outside of SF (Burlingame, SFO, etc) and use BART to get you into SF, unless you have a REALLY good reason to stay outside of SF. Stu Dudley |
You can park your car on the street parallel to the Great Highway (along the beach). If parking near Judah or Taraval you would be right on a streetcar line. Those two areas also have motels if you do not mind taking the ride into town every day.
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We stayed at the Castle Inn in the Russian Hill neighborhood. There were 4 of us and the suite was VERY affordable. The hotel is older as are the furnishings, but everything worked and was nice and clean. They have free indoor parking under the hotel so we just parked and used the convenient public transportation to get around. There are some bus stops that are not many steps away and best of all, the Powell Cable car was only two blocks away - the cable cars are not cheap but you can save a lot buying longer term passes than single ride, and besides, they are part of the SF experience. If you like to walk and are OK with hills, you can walk to many of the tourist sites in an hour or less.
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Hate autocorrect :)
I don't think you want to stay at any of the motels near the Great Highway. |
<i>I don't think you want to stay at any of the motels near the Great Highway.</i>
Why not? Friends stayed in one between Judah and Lincoln and had no complaints. |
I wouldn't stay at the Great Highway either (recognizing that other people don't mind being so far from the center of town).
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Thanks, everyone! Where/what is the great highway being discussed. Is that where basingstoke stayed, Castle Inn? I'm assuming that the motels mentioned earlier in this thread, Cow Hollow or Columbus Inn, are located where sf307 is referring to as "being so far from the center of town?" Is transportation easily availabe to get us to the center of town, say the Ferry Bldg or SFMOMA (or is that still closed?) We would need to take the bus to get to the de Young Museum anyway, correct?
Happy New Year! |
Happy new year yestravel,
I have no idea where a highway is going to be so if you are interested in the Castle Inn why not just give them a call. Like I said it is older and not fancy, but well kept up and for SF, a bargain. With a cable car pass we were able to get anywhere we wanted in short order and as mentioned walking was also an option. There are small neighborhood restaurants and such around as well but we did not try any. They do not serve much of a breakfast. Just coffee or beverage and when we were there, some supermarket type pastries. |
The Great Highway is a road running along the beach on the Pacific and not near the center of town. I believe that is the area some people were saying was not convenient. This is not where Castle Inn is located, nor Cow Hollow or Columbus Inn, all of which are more central.
I just googled them all, you can see them on a map and clear up any confusion. |
In the summer - the Great Highway (outer Sunset & Outer Richmond) will likely be covered in fog. There isn't much to do in this region except the Zoo, beach, west end of GG Park (De Young/Academy of Science is central/east end), Land's End/Cliff house, and a few other "odd" things (Doggie Diner statue). Very few restaurants in the area - unless you go 5-10 blocks east where there are many Asian restaurants. Then it is a long ride to MOMA & the Ferry Bldg. I agree with Janisj & sf7307 - it is not an area I would place any tourist friends of mine.
Stu Dudley |
basingstoke - yes, we certainly will consider Castle Inn. I've looked at its website and it looks fine. Just need to decide where we'd rather be located. Whenever we are in SF the cable cars are packed with lines waiting to board. Was that not an issue for you? Did you use the Clipper Pass?
Nikki, thanks - putting them on a map is a good idea. I have a general idea where they are, but pinpointing them is good. Stu, good description - I now know where you all were talking about. We don't want to stay out that far for sure. Appreciate all your comments. |
I've stayed at both Cow Hollow Suites and Columbus Motor Inn mainly for the free parking. I think you want a review on both so here you go.
I liked the set up for Cow Hollow Suites as I needed two rooms and I got basically an apartment. It had a full kitchen, living and dinning room with two bedrooms and two bathrooms. The set up was very nice. The hop on and off bus picks up within yards of the front office. They do not provide breakfast but there was a place maybe two doors down which I liked. To get to Fisherman's Wharf, we had to take a bus. It wasn't costly and took maybe 5-10 mins. One block over were lots of resturants, shops, etc. I liked the location of Columbus Motor Inn. I got two rooms with one bathroom as again, I needed two rooms. So smaller space and I believe it was less costly. The trolly was only a few blocks away. Fisherman's wharf was maybe a 10 min walk away. Resturants you had a few mins walk to get to and no breakfast included. I like both for different reasons. Hope this helps. |
sassy
Yestravel didn't mention anything about access to Fisherman's Wharf - only downtown (MOMA & Ferry Bldg). How was access to downtown? Stu Dudley |
Thanks for your review, sassy. It's helpful. As Stu says I'm more interested in downtown locations as opposed to Fisherman's Wharf. Any comments about getting there.
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A Google map search will show you its 20 mins from Columbus Motor Inn to downtown. It involves taking the Mason Powell trolley and walking a little. Cow Hollow would be further as its closer to the Golden Gate Bridge direction. Out of the two options, I found Columbus Motor Inn easier to get further out to places. i only commented as someone suggested them but they might not work for your intentions.
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sassy -- thanks! I do appreciate your comments. Nothing beats personal experiences at a place esp the logistics with public transportation is particularly helpful. We've never stayed in these locations so hearing what others have to say is helpful.
Is the trolley the cable cars? I remember taking the lite rail, but I assume that's not the trolley. If the trolley is the cable cars, was there a line to wait to board? |
Sorry yes I mean cable car stop is about 2 blocks away and there was a huge line. I went in June. So you would have to factor in the waiting time to the commute. I also recall being by the Ferry Building but can't recall how I got there and I wasn't in a hurry. Someone else might know a better match for what you need but the Columbus Motor Inn could be something worth working with if you can't find something else.
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yestravel, we never found a line at the cable car stop near the Castle Inn. Getting back depended on where you are boarding from - there is more of a line at the turntable at Fisherman's Wharf and the end of the line downtown. We did not find a line at other places. There is also bus service very near the Castle Inn which we used once. We chose that place because of 1. free indoor parking since arriving by air it was more economical to rent a car that roundtrip by airport van for 4 people - we had a very good rate, 2. It had studios that were spacious where we all fit nicely - we took the bedroom, the kids used a sleep sofa and a rollaway, 3. the price was great, 4. good TA reviews, 5. we liked the idea of a neighborhood vibe rather than downtown or touristy area and Russian Hill was convenient to the places we wanted to visit. We used the car once to go across the bridge to Muir Woods for a daytrip.
I do not know the name of the pass we used but since we were able to use the heck out of it, we found it economical. |
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I would never rely on the cable car system for "normal" transportation. It is mainly a tourist attraction. My cousin from Denmark visited us last February, and it took him over 1 hr to get from Fisherman's Wharf to Union Square. Even if you try to get on mid-way on the trip - if the car is fully full - you can't get on. It's a "must" for and up & back trip - but not for getting around in The City, IMO.
According to ViaMichelin, it is a 35 min walk from the Columbus Motor Inn, down Columbus Ave through North Beach/Little Italy, to the Ferry Bldg, and 40 mins to MOMA. At the Columbus Motor Inn, you are between two hills - Russian Hill and Telegraph hill. This means heading directly west to Polk Gulch or shops on Union St will involve a walking detour around Russian Hill. East to the Embarcadero (south of Pier 39) will also involve a detour around Telegraph Hill. Walking north to FW & Pier 39 is easy - but that's "tourist central" and many people (including me) avoid that area. Stu Dudley |
The car is your issue. Without a car you could stay absolutely anywhere.
Are you using your own vehicle or a rental? If a rental, it might make sense to drop it when you get to SF and pick up another when you leave. Then you could stay right on union square or near the ferry bldg. But there have been a few confusing posts that got things off track a bit. Castle Inn, Columbus motor inn, or Cow Holliw would all be good. But forget about cable cars being nearby - they aren't 'transportation' but more an attraction. You probably wouldn't ride one more than once. You will use buses and streetcars . . . And your feet to get around. |
I hate to differ with you jasisj but we found the cable cars just fine for getting around. They were quick, easy, and if one has a pass not overly costly. Plus they are fun. The Powell line is just 2 short blocks from Castle Inn.
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janisj - Yes, we will have our own car as staying in SF is a couple days in a ~2 month cross country trip. We have been to SF often, but never with a car, thus my question as to where to stay with a car.
Stu - thanks for checking the walking distances for me. Those distances are very walkable for us. I will need to look at prices for the 3 mentioned hotels and figure out which one will work the best for us. I appreciate everyone's helpful comments. |
The problem with the cable cars as transportation is they don't go very many places.(Many years ago, I commuted downtown on the cable car, but it was just a straight 5 block walk from my apartment to the end of the California Street line, and then I just went straight down to my office, also on California).
Bus and muni train routes are far more extensive. |
basingstoke: IME only the California line is usable as 'transportation' and it has limited coverage. I take it once in a while -- I often stay neat tje Ferry bldg so it is convenient.
The Powell Street lines are simply too crowded and the waits at the turntables can be enormous. Jumping on in mid route is often impossible. |
That is the value of these forums. People report their experiences and these often differ giving a wider perspective than that of a single person.
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I 2nd basingstoke's comments. I always appreciate the different experiences and perspectives.
And BTW, we did get a clipper pass for one of our trips and just reload it each visit to SF. |
It's actually called a Clipper Card - not Pass (in case anyone is trying to Google it)
https://www.clippercard.com Stu Dudley |
No garage, but street parking is relatively easy here:
http://www.hoteldrisco.com/ Pretty neighborhood. You will probably have to move your car for street sweeping days, though. And generally if you street park you need to move the care every 72 hours. Also the Laurel Inn has paid parking, but if you stay 2+ nights they usually have a deal with free parking. http://www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/cali...ls/laurel-inn/ |
Another option to consider: Beck's Motor Lodge, on Market Street near the Castro. http://becksmotorlodge.com/ I've never stayed there, since I live in SF, but every time I pass it on the street it looks so cute, clean, and spiffy. Seems attractive in photos I've seen and gets excellent reviews on various sites. The parking is free, and the rates are very reasonable for the city. Great location for its proximity to the Mission, Noe Valley, the Castro, and convenient access to the Muni metro to downtown, buses, and the F train.
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Funny, we walked by Beck's just the other day, and commented that it has been there at least as long as we've lived in San Francisco. Although I agree it would be a good choice of location, I don't know that I'd refer to it as either cute or spiffy - to us it looked like a standard issue urban motel! But as aprillilacs said, it is easy access to all the places she listed (and if you're up for a straight-uphill walk, to Twin Peaks too!
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Beware Canadians bearing Mexican restaurant recommendations - but near Cow Hollow Motor Inn is Mamacita (the location used to be called Cafe Marimba). Excellent!
http://www.mamacitasf.com/ (yikes I owe you other info - will send) |
So many choices. Thanks!
It would be fun to stay in Castro, but Becks is ~$200 a night. SF - Becks actually looks nice inside. I gather they have been doing remodeling per their web site. So far Colombus Motor Inn while just a regular ole motel is the winner with the best rate at $139. I also like its location ok. Castle Inn is $179. Given how long this trip will be, price is a major consideration. Ok, Elizabeth, I will make note of any Canadian recommended Mexican restaurants. |
Mamacita's is great - but it gets my award for the loudest/noisiest restaurant in San Francisco. If you go - don't expect to have any conversation with the person you are dining with. We go to their "other" restaurant in the Cole Valley - Padrecito instead.
Stu Dudley |
Stu -- Well, given we'll be spending ~2 months in a car we can probably manage to skip talking at 1 dinner! :) I'll be looking for other restaurant recommendations.
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Take earplugs with you if you go. Recall the rock concerts you went to when you were in your early 20s. Ringing in the ears (I'm getting old).
My current favorite restaurant in SF is Nico on Calif. St in Presidio Heights. French. Easy parking. Nice upscale shopping street. Reserve at least a month ahead. Stu Dudley |
More on Nico from our local restaurant critic
http://www.sfgate.com/restaurants/ar...-a-5977934.php It was recently awarded a Michelin 1 star rating - and it is less than 3 years old. As a frequent contributor to the Europe forum, you probably know that my wife & I spend 2 months in France every year, and that means about 30-40 "nice" French dinners a year. And we're major foodies. Nico is as nice as any Michelin 1 star in France. Not pretentious at all - more of a "neighborhood" restaurant. We're dining there Feb 13. Another recommendation - Kokkari in the Jackson Square area. You can walk to it. Greek. Reserve as far in advance as you can - both Nico & Kokkari "book up" as soon as the first "opportunity" to book arises. A few times, I've booked through Opentable at 12:05 am - which is 5 mins into the "first opportunity" day. Stu Dudley |
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