Where to stay on LOMBARD St. - SF
 

Hi, any suggestions of nice hotels to stay in on Lombard Street where there is no parking fee or cheap parking and a nice hotel, i.e. not a motel please. Any and all suggestions welcome! We need to make reservations this wknd. We will only be in SF Wed & Thurs night end of April. We are going there from Philly. Thanks so much!

Me again. As Stu asked in the other thread, what is your objection to motels (is it just outside entrances that I mentioned)? Because there are no "nicer hotels" on Lombard Street -- they're all motels (although some might have interior corridors). We're just trying to understand your requirements, that is, what do you mean by motel, and by nicer hotel?

Well, motels over here on the east coast have a bad rep kind of. It's more "ghetto" for lack of better terms. Dirty, smelly rooms, things in the rooms that don't work, bad management/customer service. Just not really a place to stay when you're on vacation. By motel, I mean places like Motel 6, places that have short-stay rates where people go to "you know what". ha ha ha... I'm not sure how else to explain. Motels are never used on the east coast for people who are on vacation. It's more for people who just want to hang for a few hours... know what I mean?
I'm not sure how motels are viewed on the west coast though.

As I posted on your other thread, no one here, especially Stu would recommend the kind of place you are referring to. If you are concerned about the advice you are receiving just click on the poster's name and you will see that Stu and dm have a very long history of giving very good advice.

OK, I know exactly what's coming next! :)

You'll be referred to the Columbus Motor Inn, which is a standout favorite of Fodorites.

Soooo, just type in "Columbus Motor Inn San Francisco" in Google and you'll get the map. Have you used "Street View" before? If not, take a look at the Google street view to see how safe this location is. The Inn also has its own website.

:) :) :)

I think I know just the place for you. I have stayed a few times at the Lombard Motor Inn. Parking was free and it is a very nice hotel.

http://www.lombardmotorinn.com/home.html

A "motel" is a motor inn - i.e. it has parking, is meant for folks arriving by car. You seem very confused to me - you want cheap/free parking, yet don't want a motel??

I would go w/ the recommendations from this and the other thread and forget your preconceived ideas of what's "ghetto" and what isn't . . . . .

How is this place?

http://beresford.com/arms/default.htm

(This isn't a motel right? If it is, that's fine... just didn't think it was.)

I have stayed at the Buena Vista on the corner of Lombard and Gough, several times, but not in the last few years.

You might google it and check it out. They had free parking and it was a few blocks from Van Ness. The area is safe, lots of apartments around. Quite a few restaurants within walking distance also. Toward Van Ness, perhaps two or three blocks, on the other side of the street is a little place that has a great breakfast.

My girl friend and I would spend a long weekend in SF every year. We did it for a number of years, but not lately...life getting in the way and such. We usually just parked the car and cabbed it most places unless we were heading out to GG Park or some place like that. It was just easier than taking the car out, paying parking etc.

Anyway, you might want to check it out. It was very clean and the staff was very nice.

the Berefsord Arms is not a motel, is not on/near Lombard Street and does not have cheap parking . . . . . .

Many posters here like the Cow Hollow Motor Inn and Suites - www.cowhollowmotorinn.com

Lee Ann

We stayed at the Lombard Motor Inn several years ago. I'd classify it as more motel than hotel, but definitely not for the reasons you're worried about.

http://www.lombardmotorinn.com/

anyazie: Here's a website to the joie de vivre hotels:

www.jdvhotels.com

Check out the Laurel Inn, Hotel Rex, and Adagio among others.

With four of you, if you split the parking fee that'll be $10 or less a person.

I, for one, would not let the parking fee/no parking fee be the sole determinant of why I selected a particular place to stay.

Good luck on your choice! :)

I guess I just don't "get" it. I'd much rather have a NICE motel for $129 a night with free parking, than a mediocre hotel for $100 plus $29 for parking. I've stayed at Cow Hollow Motor Inn, large and nice very clean rooms and also Cow Hollow Suites (very luxurious), which both share an underground garage with FREE parking. I've paid a lot more and had to pay a fortune for parking for several hotels with rooms half as large and not nearly so nicely cleaned, equipped, or furnished in SF than I wouldn't stay at again.
If I were you I'd pick a nice motel, and squint as you enter so you can pretend the M is an H on their sign.

But you lost me with your statement "Motels are never used on the east coast for people who are on vacation." The east coast of WHAT country are you talking about? If you're talking about paying $300 or more for a nice hotel, then I guess I understand. But if you're looking for "inexpensive" to "moderate" lodgings for about half that, then I just plain don't get where you're coming from.

Whatever you choose ... do NOT choose THE PRESIDIO INN. OMG!!!! It has all the "attributes" of your east coast motels description.

Made a HUGE mistake two year ago and stayed there one night. Didn't sleep a wink and made my husband get up and leave at 5:30 a.m. EEEEEEYUCK!!!

I can however recommend The Chelsea Inn. Have stayed there two or three times. If you have a car in San Francisco you either stay at a "motor inn" or you pay $25 a day and upwards for valet parking.

"Motels are never used on the east coast for people who are on vacation. It's more for people who just want to hang for a few hours... know what I mean?"

I've traveled on the east coast all my life and the above statement is ridiculous.

Neopatrick: "Squint"? SQUINT?!!! LOL!

I can really relate to what anyazie is talking about, having stayed in some pretty bad "motor inns" on the East Coast. It's probably not that way in Florida, Neo, - is Florida part of the East Coast? :) (just kidding!)

For a few dollars more, she can stay in a very nice boutique hotel and pay for parking.

For a few dollars less and bidding on Pricelines, she can stay in a really really nice 4* hotel and pay for parking.

The choices are very broad. The parking situation should not be the sole determining factor, IMHO.

Beresford is in a great location, expect to pay as much for parking as for the room :) OK, I'm exagurating, but this hotel does not have a free nor a cheap parking.

Most of the places mentioned aren't ghetto or motel 6-esque. And Lombard motor inns are I guess more upscale motels -- I learned long ago that the big difference between a hotel and a motel in the U.S. is the room service/restaurant on premises, or lack thereof. Motors Inns are kind of in between, in that there may be coffee and what not in the lobby, or a coffee maker in the room.

Sooo, what you sound like you want is Cow Hollow Suites, which compares with any upscale Manhattan boutique hotel, in my opinion, at half the cost. And free parking, own entry onto Chestnut Street, some with a nice view of the golden gate bridge.

Actually Cow Hollow Suites are full apartments with fully equipped kitchens, very nice furnishings, and even working fireplaces.

By the way, I'm not embarrassed to say I've stayed in some pretty wonderful motels or motor inns along the East Coast. Newport, Bar Harbor, Sag Harbor, Lauderdale by the Sea, Charleston, Mystic, and Annapolis come to mind right off the top of my head.

Sure there are bad motels as well as good ones. But do you honestly think there's no such thing as a bad hotel as well?