San Francisco

piptypibe

Hi there,
Going to California for our summer hols.
Any recommendation for a hotel in San Fran?
Looked up Trivago........all around €300 for just one night! That's clearly normal?!
Just want to stay there one night. Have accommodation booked elsewhere for remainder of hol.
As long as its clean and central we don't mind.
Thanks in advance!

coylemj

Parking a car is a big deal in SF (every street where parking is allowed is usually full) so if you can, try to find a hotel which has parking for guests. It's been an awful long time since I was there but I do remember that parking is a nightmare.

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Batgurl

Airbnb is your friend.

Also try Travelpony.

Minderbinder

Stayed at the Serrano last summer which was a good location, a nice old style hotel and wasn't too expensive. there's a really nice breakfast place just down the street from it too.

Edit: re hotels in usa... i found it pretty annoying that they don't provide a kettle in the rooms. even in the most basic hotels in europe and asia that is provided more often than not.

InTheTrees

Minderbinder wrote: »

Edit: re hotels in usa... i found it pretty annoying that they don't provide a kettle in the rooms. even in the most basic hotels in europe and asia that is provided more often than not.

A kettle?

Wasn't there a coffee machine?

Americans dont drink much tea so I dont see that there's any point in providing Kettles. Its hard enough to even buy an electric kettle in the USA. The few americans i know who drink tea boil the water in the microwave.

Easypeasey

Hi,

I'm jumping on this thread for hotel recommendations for San Fran? Central area with good value price?

Thanks

Fred Swanson

This post has been deleted.

Easypeasey

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Ha smart response! Will obv use that but it is good to have the name of a hotel which might not appear clearly in those searches. I've hotels in plenty of cities I would recommend in these threads when this question arises.

dave2pvd

Minderbinder wrote: »

Edit: re hotels in usa... i found it pretty annoying that they don't provide a kettle in the rooms. even in the most basic hotels in europe and asia that is provided more often than not.

My Mother-in-law, from Madison, GA, traveled to Ireland for the first time at 79 years old. She found it very annoying that she couldn't get sweet tea anywhere. Keep in mind, that's sweet tea iced tea.

No, you won't find kettles in US hotels. Cultural differences

iusedtoknow

piptypibe wrote: »

Hi there,
Going to California for our summer hols.
Any recommendation for a hotel in San Fran?
Looked up Trivago........all around €300 for just one night! That's clearly normal?!
Just want to stay there one night. Have accommodation booked elsewhere for remainder of hol.
As long as its clean and central we don't mind.
Thanks in advance!

300 is actually pretty cheap. June to August is conference time here in the city so hotel space is at a premium. I have workmates year round paying that price.

One recommendation is give is to stay in Oakland or Berkeley and take the BART across the bay. It takes 15 minutes from Oakland and 20 minutes from Berkely. There is a marriott in downtown Oakland that is 150 a night. It's a safe area and you get more value for your money than Downtown SF

coylemj

dave2pvd wrote: »

No, you won't find kettles in US hotels. Cultural differences

And an abundance of personal-injury lawyers.

dave2pvd

coylemj wrote: »

And an abundance of personal-injury lawyers.

Indeed. Although, when it comes to being a litigation nation, Ireland is catching up.

piptypibe

I came across the Chancellor Hotel last night so booked it there and then. It gets good reviews on trip advisor, seems central and was way cheaper than the rest.
Hope there isn't a catch!!!!
Thanks for all your replies!!!!! I'm a coffee drinker myself!!!! :-D

OU812

Don't go near the pickwick . Central but a ****hole.

iusedtoknow

piptypibe wrote: »

I came across the Chancellor Hotel last night so booked it there and then. It gets good reviews on trip advisor, seems central and was way cheaper than the rest.
Hope there isn't a catch!!!!
Thanks for all your replies!!!!! I'm a coffee drinker myself!!!! :-D

Well SF is a coffee city - you'll love it.

Some coffee tips - and now I feel like driving across town to get some

1. Philz- SF chain with really good coffee- a couple of locations in the city - Van Ness and Mission bay

2. Bluebottle - roasters in the Ferry building and hole in the wall in Hayes Valley

you can't go wrong with either of those two

Novella

OU812 wrote: »

Don't go near the pickwick . Central but a ****hole.

I know the OP has already booked a hotel but I just wanted to say for anyone else who might be looking that I stayed at The Pickwick recently and thought it was really good. That hotel is undergoing renovation and I think they're doing a great job. The lobby and bar area downstairs is so nice and while the room I got hadn't yet been updated, it was by no means shabby or run down, just sort of old fashioned. I liked it! It also has parking right beneath the hotel and the location is unbelievable.

I would stay there again for sure and I'm pretty picky about hotels!

OU812

I might have been unlucky, but I stayed there in February & it was like staying in the 80s. The room was very outdated & smelled.

Yes it has parking in the basement (additional charge) and is very central, but the room was bad, the corridor was very worn, the lobby area was ok, staff were a little stand-offish. The A/C didn't work & the (CRT - no flat screen) TV channels were like they were coming in on an aerial (light ghosting)

Having said that, it features in "The Maltese Falcon" and still has a lot of the original features.

Personally I wouldn't stay there again or recommend it to anyone.

Novella

Gosh, it does sound like you had a bad stay! Mine was practically the opposite and I stayed there in March. Funny how a hotel can provide such a different level of service so close in time.

I liked the fact that their parking wasn't offsite though. I stayed in The Diva in San Francisco pretty recently too and they parked your car a few blocks away so if you needed it, you had to request it 30-45 minutes in advance. Not a really big deal but it's more convenient to have access to your car whenever.

Boulevardier

Ive just come back from a stay in the Whitcomb Hotel, Market St.

This hotel has real character and charm (it was temporary city hall for a while after 1906) and was comfortable, quiet and good value.

That part of Market St is a bit down market (literally) but only 3 or 4 streetcar stops from the financial district, and 7 or 8 from Embarcadero.

iusedtoknow

Boulevardier wrote: »

Ive just come back from a stay in the Whitcomb Hotel, Market St.

This hotel has real character and charm (it was temporary city hall for a while after 1906) and was comfortable, quiet and good value.

That part of Market St is a bit down market (literally) but only 3 or 4 streetcar stops from the financial district, and 7 or 8 from Embarcadero.

Yeah that is a "fragrant" area of the city. Nice farmers market at civic center and a 5 minute jaunt into Hayes valley gives you some nice restaurants and shops

It's slowly coming up and is actually safe enough

piptypibe

Well we stayed in The chancellor and it was great. Super location! Just off Union Sq (beside a discount shoe shop!)
Room size comparable with any major city, none of them are ever huge but for the length you are in the room who cares?! It was very clean and comfortable.
All the basics you'd need: fridge, good hair dryer, good shampoo and conditioner, good shower, big flat screen tv and best of all a pillow menu!!!
Also voucher for 2 for 1 drinks in hotel bar (although when we went at 9:50pm she was closing up!!! But still served us!)
All in all I'd highly recommend!

We also went to Philz coffee as recommended! Yes indeed! Great coffee! (Big queue though) Thanks for recommending! As is Peets!

helimachoptor

Op I stayed on the grand hyatt on Stockton a couple of years back. There is a public parking garage next door it was about 10 dollars for the night while the hotel was extortionate.

There are a few other municipal car parks so check them out