Hotwire Hotel: Help! Need ID 3* Civic Center South & Nob Hill

[dijay]

require 2 rooms for May 18-21

rates seem to be on the up for this period, please help to ID the following

3* Civic Center South - Hayes Valley area Hotel

Amenities:

Fitness Center

Pool(s)

Restaurant(s)

Business Center

Laundry Facilities

High-speed Internet Access

and

3* Nob Hill area Hotel

Amenities:

Smoke Free Rooms

Complimentary Breakfast

Restaurant(s)

High-speed Internet Access

thanks!

[Colfax]

For the 3* Civic Center South my best guess is Holiday Inn Civic Center, with addition of Highspeed icon since last report.

For the 3* Nob Hill I think Executive Hotel Vintage Court.

Between the two Vintage Court's the better location. But Nob Hill is $83 vs. $56 for Civic Center South.

What are you looking for in this hotel stay? Do you prefer staying in some part of Downtown? If one bed's enough you might win a 3* near Union Square for $50-60 bidding on PRICELINE. Someone can offer a strategy if you're interested.

[dijay]

ok i see!

i would need 2 beds for 1 of the room

and major concern for this trip is that we have a car with us, thus trying to avoid union sq area as parking cost a BOMB there from what I know, hmm what can u advise? appreaciate it!

[Colfax]

If you need two beds in any of your rooms you shouldn't use PRICELINE, as you're only guaranteed one bed per room. On HOTWIRE you can guarantee two beds IF you search on 3 adults/0 children.

The hotels with free parking downtown are motel style properties, where you park outside your door, or in a ramp under the hotel.

If a motel works for you I can mention a couple with better reputations. Booking them conventionally you can reserve your specifics---one room with one bed and one room with two beds. On HOTWIRE you have to purchase all your rooms the same.

Or would you rather pay to park, even though you hate to, and stay Downtown or Fisherman's Wharf? You can usually find cheaper parking than the hotel's rate within a couple blocks but still maybe $20's.

Please use these HOTWIRE and PRICELINE links for your puchases.

[dijay]

sure, can you recommend some of the better such motels you mentioned?

Parking arnd $20 is fine, cos im looking arnd and it seems like averaging high 30s and even 40, thats just a killer for us.

I found a place @ japantown but price seems to have gone up, they are perfect cos near to downtown, parking @ $16 and place looks good, so unfortunate for the price spike!

[Colfax]

I'll look at options later today, dijay, and get back to you.

Just curious, which was the hotel in Japantown that you thought was perfect until the price went up?

[Colfax]

I can't do rate research now, dijay, but to get you started look at the websites and rates for some of these, which are all motel style properties in safer areas with parking included:

Coventry Motor Inn

Chelsea Motor Inn

Columbus Inn

Hotel Del Sol (A Kimpton hotel)

I think you can find most of these hotels on Orbitz or Expedia too.

Sometimes these hotels cost $80-120ish, with parking included. It could be that an $80 Priceline room with $20-30 parking ends up costing the same. In that case it's a matter of which style of hotel you prefer, not which is cheaper.

Anyhow take a look at those and see what you think. If they're still over budget we can talk about alternatives.

[dijay]

colfax,

i checked them out &

columbus is at 155/night, pretty crazy!

coventry is 98 but they r out of 2 beds for 1 of the days of my intended stay

chelsea is 98 as well with availability, but price seem steep for inn quality?

del sol is sold out as well

totally bummed & the jp town hotel i was referring to hotel tomo by jvd, it was 84 before & now its up all the way to 110 if i recall correctly

[Colfax]

chelsea is 98 as well with availability, but price seem steep for inn quality?

In most cities $98 would be a lot for something like the Chelsea but in SF that's what the better motels cost. You can go $60's or $70's but the quality and/or neighborhood will probably be a step down.

You mentioned you need two rooms. Will there also be two cars?

For your dates and under $100, parking included, here are a few options:

1) Holiday Inn Civic Center that you found on HOTWIRE @ $58/room. Parking about $30, iirc. $58 is searching on 2 adults/0 children, which guarantees one bed. Searching on 3 adults/0 children, which guarantees 2 beds, the same hotel shows up, but the price jumps to $83. You could buy one room of each type, average $71/night, plus parking.

2) The Opal. 1 queen $70, 2 doubles $95.66. $86 average plus $25 parking. That's a little over $100 but Opal includes free breakfast to offset.

3) Best Western Civic Center, $71.10 for 1 king or 2 doubles, 7-day advance purchase. Parking and breakfast included. Hotel looks scary on the outside but the rooms are surprisingly good. It's a "B" location at 9th and Harrison, but good value for the money, not a crackhouse. Nothing in the immediate vicinity to see or do. It's just a quiet place to go back to and sleep.

Most tourists prefer staying in Union Square or Fisherman's Wharf over any of the above choices, but for your dates I don't see anything in those areas under $100 with parking. If you'd like to raise your limit let us know.

The other "Plan B" is to stay by the Airport or in Berkeley and drive or take BART into town every day. You get a much nicer hotel for the money in the outlying areas, and usually with free or cheap parking. If you want to go that route I'll make some suggestions.

Your thoughts?

[dijay]

colfax,

really appreciate all the research & info u have done for me!

we managed to find a 2nd degree 'friend' thats actually working at ich group so we got a real good, HUGE discounted rate for the holiday inn at fishermans wharf

parking is pretty steep (1 car for us) but the the cheap rooms make up for that so we came to conclusion that this was the best option

thanks again!

[Colfax]

Glad you found something that works for you, dijay.

Thanks for closing the thread. Enjoy your stay.