San Francisco Hotel?

Charlton_Charlie

Anyone have any recommendations for a hotel in San Francisco in mid August? Only staying 2 or 3 nights at the end of a road trip. Wife, myself and 11 year old son. Have been a few times but always stayed in budget motels as was on my own...not sure I'll get away with that with them in tow. No preference on where in the city as I know it's pretty much all walk-able etc, so just somewhere you stayed that you thought was really good (and good value too, of course!).

(whilst I'm at it, if you know any 'must stay at' places between LA and San Fran, I'd love to hear about them...am trying to piece the holiday together and am at a loss...last time i was there I drove it in 8 hours or so...now I have 10 days or so to fill...)

Cheers

ForeverAddickted

I struggled to find a good inexpensive hotel in San Francisco... Ended up staying at the below which I found quite nice.

https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g60713-d112320-Reviews-Andrews_Hotel-San_Francisco_California.html

Is between the main Subway Station which connects you to the Airport and just round the corner from the end of the tram line down to the seafront

cafcfan

Maybe too far north of SF for your needs but I enjoyed staying at the Bodega Bay Lodge on Highway One. A couple of hours drive into town though.

cypriot_addick

I stayed in the holiday inn fishermans walf, cheap and reasonably good rooms. Also a pizza place on the corner that sells beer :-).

Carl Leaburn

Stayed at the Francis Drake which is close to Union Square a couple of years ago. Only a 20 min cable car ride to Fishermans Wharf and very close to the main shopping. Was very pleasant hotel.

Algarveaddick

Same as FA, we struggled to find a cheap hotel that wasn't rough looking - ended up at the Holiday Inn near Fisherman's Wharf, not cheap but we could park the car.

Half way between there and LA is campest hotel in the world, The Madonna Inn at San Luis Obispo, it's a mad place, we loved it. Every room is totally different.

http://www.madonnainn.com/

Lincsaddick

Expensive .. http://www.thebuchananhotel.com/san-francisco-boutique-hotels/

More Reasonable and in spectacular parts of town ...https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotels-g60713-zfn7222626-San_Francisco_California-Hotels.html

as @ForeverAddickted writes .. SF is an expensive place to stay

Swisdom

One of my favourite places in the world - awesome city.

Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf - close to some awesome restaurants and an iHop

If you're in San Francisco you really ought to stay in Fishermans Wharf. It was only an extra $10 to get to a stretched limo to the airport from the hotel so worth checking that out!

PS - Book Alcatraz in advance if you want to do it - it's booked up way in advance

CatAddick

Stayed here for a few nights following a business trip in the valley - a bit different and quite retro

http://www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/california/san-francisco-hotels/phoenix-hotel/

shine166

I stayed in a hotel the 'the monarch' it's right on the tenderloin but you really will struggle to find something cheaper. It's no 10, but it serves a purpose

SE10Addick

SF hotels are much of a muchness. Expensive and small. I use an app called Hotel Tonight which is very good and gets you some great hotels on the cheap. You can only do tonight (and the next day) though.

Stay one night in the Madonna Inn in St Louis Obisbo.

Kitch as hell, pink leather sofas and a waterfall for a urinal.

T

Have you tried Air B&B?

Much cheaper than a hotel and perfect for a few nights here and there of you want multiple stop offs.

Algarveaddick

SE10Addick said:

SF hotels are much of a muchness. Expensive and small. I use an app called Hotel Tonight which is very good and gets you some great hotels on the cheap. You can only do tonight (and the next day) though.

Stay one night in the Madonna Inn in St Louis Obisbo.

Kitch as hell, pink leather sofas and a waterfall for a urinal.

What room did you stay in SE10? We had "Cloud 9"...

killerandflash

http://www.queenanne.com/
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Hotel_Review-g60713-d112360-Reviews-Queen_Anne_Hotel-San_Francisco_California.html

This place is slightly away from the touristy areas (Fisherman's Wharf and Union Square) but has history (it predates the earthquake) and real character and is an easy bus ride away from all the sights. Near the end terminus of one of the cable car lines too

cafcfan

Sorry, I forgot to give an answer to your last question - what to do between LA and SF/

Well, I understand this might not be to everybody's taste, but I quite liked Santa Cruz (about two hours south of SF).

It's a bit like a sunny Southend with a good beach and has a sort of tacky charm to it in my opinion. This is topped off by the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk, which is an old fashioned amusement park overlooked by the Giant Dipper an ancient wooden roller coaster.

Macronate

we stayed here mate:

http://www.argonauthotel.com/

great location and lovely room.

San Fran is a top city.

Pedro45

If you are heading up to Death Valley, go via the Trona Pinnacles. Used as a foreign planet set for the original Star Trek once, it's so weird! Just off the road, not far from China Lake AFB, and well worth an hour of mooching around playing hide and seek! Other more obvious places to visit are Death Valley itself (you can stay at Panamint Springs, which is one valley over...), Kings Canyon NP for hikes, Yosemite NP (but that will be heaving come mid-August!), Las Vegas, maybe Lake Tahoe (which will also be heaving!), or stay on the coast and visit Monterey, Carmel, etc. Depends how many miles you want to put in and what you, your wife and kids want to see/do?

CatAddick

Monterey aquarium is worth a visit if you are doing the coast route and I agree with @cafcfan Santa Cruz is good

Charlton_Charlie

thanks to all, some great hotels there...

@Pedro45 hiking etc definitely out...think we're planning to stay on the coast...but I will do some research on Death Valley etc.. I was thinking of Santa Cruz, as I stayed there for two nights about 20 years ago as a friend was studying there (and it was where Lost Boys was filmed!) so would like to see it again (cheers @cafcfan )...will look at Monterey and Carmel...we won't want to chop and change too much, so have booked 3 nights in Santa Monica and looking for 3 nights in San Fran, then maybe two 3night stops elsewhere en route..(plus at least a day in Santa Cruz, as said..).

Thanks again all, really do appreciate your help.

ElfsborgAddick

Charlton Charlie said:

Anyone have any recommendations for a hotel in San Francisco in mid August? Only staying 2 or 3 nights at the end of a road trip. Wife, myself and 11 year old son. Have been a few times but always stayed in budget motels as was on my own...not sure I'll get away with that with them in tow. No preference on where in the city as I know it's pretty much all walk-able etc, so just somewhere you stayed that you thought was really good (and good value too, of course!).

(whilst I'm at it, if you know any 'must stay at' places between LA and San Fran, I'd love to hear about them...am trying to piece the holiday together and am at a loss...last time i was there I drove it in 8 hours or so...now I have 10 days or so to fill...)

Cheers

Can't help with hotel but Fisherman's Wharf is a good area to stay.

SE10Addick

Algarveaddick said:

SE10Addick said:

SF hotels are much of a muchness. Expensive and small. I use an app called Hotel Tonight which is very good and gets you some great hotels on the cheap. You can only do tonight (and the next day) though.

Stay one night in the Madonna Inn in St Louis Obisbo.

Kitch as hell, pink leather sofas and a waterfall for a urinal.

What room did you stay in SE10? We had "Cloud 9"...

I cant remember what it was called but it was a wild west theme room!

Absolute nutty hotel

SDAddick

Staying in the heart of SF is rough because it's either kind of seedy hotel/hostels, or super posh places.

San Francisco, unlike any other city on the west coast, has really good public transport, so if you can stay anywhere along the "BART" (their public transport) line then you can get to all the touristy bits pretty easily (their buses and trams are also good).

There's Daily City, which is maybe 20-30 minute train journey from the waterfront, and roughly the same to SFO (assuming you're flying out of there, apologies if not). Everything around that area tends to be much cheaper.

Hope this helps, if not let me know if there's something else.

boggzy

Swisdom said:

PS - Book Alcatraz in advance if you want to do it - it's booked up way in advance

Or get down there on the day early doors.

Some queue from 5am. I turned up at 7ish and still got one. First 50 people in the queue get tickets I think. Well worth a visit.

charliewright1

We stayed at a lovely little hotel near Union square called Petite Auberge. Near all the 'action' and a real little gem. You MUST do the Alcatraz trip it is amazing! I would also book well in advance as well otherwise you might be disappointed, we booked a few months before we went.
You will love SF it is an amazing city............

PopIcon

No such thing as an inexpensive hotel in San Francisco. Even the hostels have your pants down.

DRAddick

If your happy to take a little risk, don't pre book. Turn up at the tourist advice place in the centre of town. They get given reduced price rooms every day from the hotels. We got 50% off a $150 a night room in a good hotel bang in the centre.

Bournemouth Addick

sanremohotel.com/

If you're after something a bit different I've stayed here a couple of times although not recently.

Monterey aquarium is amazing and good for whale watching depending on the time of year.

Bangkokaddick

I did a lot of research last year and ended up staying at the Baldwin Hotel on the edge of Chinatown. Just looked it up to find it's now closed! But it's a good location, 5 minutes walk to Union Square, and I'd recommend the area. One thing you might find is that so many San Francisco hotel rooms are very small, not a lot of room for an extra bed for your 11 year old, so you might end up paying a hefty price for a bigger room.

Oakster

Stayed here last year for about 8 nights - not a hotel but an apartment - was fabulous! Great location (close to Haight Ashbury) & really easy to get around on the local transit system. You'll see our review from last summer's stay.

https://www.vrbo.com/652390?unitId=1200179

JohnBoyUK

CC, me and the Mrs have spent the last week deiving from LA to San Francisco. We've just picked up a RV and we're currently in Napa. Heading to Lake Tahoe tomorrow.

Anyhow, on the way up from LA, we stopped at Santa Barbara which is a beautiful little place. Wished we could have stayed for at least anothet night to see everything and then we headed to Monterrey on the way up.

The Pacific Coast Highway is one of the most stunning drives I've ever done. Some of the mountain views are spectacular but you'll be used to that what with your cycling trips.

Hotel-wise, we stayed in the Canary Hotel in SB, the Pacific Hotel in Monterrey and the not cheap Fairmont in SF.

The aquarium at Monterrey is well worth a visit as is the Elephant Seal beach on the PCH.

If you need anything else, restaurant tips etc, PM and I'll fill you in!

ElfsborgAddick

Walk Lombard Street.