Places to stay in San Francisco?

[fanaudical]

I have a friend and her family (husband and two young sons) visiting from Italy and they would like to visit San Francisco for a couple of days. Can anybody recommend a couple of hotels near Union Square / Fisherman's Wharf and BART? Any other recommendations for areas in the city to stay?

Thanks for the help.

[wildthing]

Since it is full of tourists, it is full of hotels. I stay where I get points. The usual Hilton or Hyatt are close, the Fairmont is quite a hike, unless you take the tram. I've not tried the boutique hotels nor AirBnB.

Tripadvisor.com might have suggestions too.

[Nostril Cheese]

Just did an AirBnB in Burlingame with a bunch of friends for a wedding. WAY better than a hotel. Super easy access to downtown too.

[Joe Bob]

In Berkeley, Hotel Durant. Close to BART and very unique.

[AFC-911]

I stayed at Villa Florence. It's only a couple blocks from Union Square. It's also super easy to get on a Trolley to go to Fisherman's Wharf.







I was just there at the end of May for a couple of days. I don't know if they have bigger rooms for your family though...

[VincentVega]

The Clift Hotel is nice.

[AskewRSR]

I stay at the Stanford Court on Nob hill. Very nice and close to everything. Thanks

[foxpaws]

I stayed at the Argonaut Hotel right at the Wharf last time I was in San Francisco - lots of fun, wonderful old building, but retrofitted to be a hotel recently, and it is in Maritime Park. The Wharf Cable Car turn around is just about a block away - and the hotel has free bike rentals. If you want something really different than 'chain' hotels - this one fits the bill.

[silverc4s]

Sausalito is much nicer. You can look at San Fran without actually having to be in it unless you want to for a couple of hours.

[javadog]

There are hundreds of hotels there, so they may want to narrow the choices down by coming up with an itenerary first. Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf are nowhere near one another.

For example there's a cable car line that starts a couple blocks from Union Square, near Market and Powell. There will be a wait to get on there, but if they try to get on a few stops up the line, the cars will mostly be full, so they'll wait forever. Better to start at the turn around point. Plus, there's access to a BART station there, buses going down Market street to the Ferry Building, etc.

If the wife was in the mood for some history, we'd usually stay at the Sir Francis Drake. If we had the kids, we usually stayed at the W.

Lots of choices.

JR

[rusnak]

Whever they go, recommendation #1 is to park the rental car in a garage, and take cabs everywhere. I mean everywhere. If the hotel has valet parking, use it and just leave the car there.

[recycled sixtie]

Before I joined Pelican my wife and I went to the Mission area of SFO and stayed at either a Holiday inn or Best Western-I don't remember. It was cheap and there was evidence of attempted breakins even in second floor rooms.

We would walk everywhere and especially liked the Wharf area. The bus tour of Muir Park and Sausolito was worth while.

Cheers, Guy

[rusnak]

I went to a real estate conference probably 15 years ago or so, and stayed at a Holiday Inn near Union Square, and walked to the Mariott conference center. It was probably a 10 block or so walk, so it was doable. But I would not ever recommend it to anyone. If going to the Wharf, Alioto's is a good place to eat. My gramps used to like the downstairs at Fisherman's Grotto back in the day. I also liked House of Prime Rib, and Harris Ranch. So many good places to eat there. Calzone's in North Beach is good too.

[dan88911]

Here two worth a look.
The Hotel Nikko and The Handlery Union Square Hotel.
The wife and I have stayed at The Nikko, very nice.

[fanaudical]

Thanks for the insight - I'll pass this along to my friend.

[VincentVega]

The Nikko

I've stayed at the Nikko a few times, nice place. The sushi place on the corner at street level is worth checking out too.

[KevinTodd]

All of the Kimpton properties are usually awesome and there are several in Union Square. You should check them out!

Sir Francis Drake
The Prescott
The Palomar
Hotel Monaco

and yes, The Clift Hotel rocks, and the Redwood Room within is fun as well.

Have a great trip!

[JavaBrewer]

We really like the Hotel Triton on Grant Ave. It's right across the street from the Chinatown Lion's gate and central to many sites (5 min walk to Union square). The hotel is very unique - just like the city itself. The attached Cafe Presse has great food and is fun to people watch from with a glass of wine and light food.