leamington Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Our family of 2 adults and 2 children are visting San Francisco in early July. and would like to get some ideas on which area to stay in.We are looking at a minimum of 3.5*. We have identified a couple of areas in San Francisco, one being Union Square East and the other Fishermans Wharf. However as we are travelling from Australia we are unsure of the areas that are suitable for a family.We would appreciate any suggestions Link to comment
Gallus50 Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 FW is a great area for a family. The prices are a little lower right now and a lot of the fun touristy stuff is right there. USE, USE, Embarcadero and Nob Hill would also be good choices. Lombard/Cow Hollow would be a good secondary choice, but it's not as convenient to BART or the cable cars. Do not recommend Civic Center or SOMA with kids. Rates are pretty good right now, so you should do well. Definitely stick with HOTWIRE and don't risk PRICELINE. Lots of rooms with PL only have one bed. You might also check out deals on Travelzoo.com and the Hotwire Travel Ticker. Good luck. Link to comment
sfntvintx Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 I've got two kids myself and used to live in SF. I agree that Fisherman's Wharf is good area for kids. (Most natives don't like it because it's so touristy, but I love tourists so I never had a problem with it.) I'm actually going in early July and staying "slightly" south of market at the Westin Market Street. There's stuff for kids in SOMA, but there are some sketchy areas further west up Market/Mission Street. I wouldn't stay in USW, because of its proximity to the Tenderloin, but I'm more paranoid than most. I love the Cow Hollow area (I used to live there), because you can walk everywhere and if you have a car, there's free parking at the "hotels" but there are apparently no decent Hotwire or Priceline deals there. (Decent as in a place I would want to stay.) Last year we paid $145 for a two queen room at a decent inn (non-HW/PL), but that's out of our budget this year. The Embarcadero is nice, albeit quieter than Union Square. I actually prefer the Embarcadero to other places simply for the view and the nice Saturday a.m. Farmers Market at the Ferry Building. It's also easily accessible to the Wharf by streetcar. But haven't seen Embarcadero come up on HW lately. Link to comment
sfntvintx Posted June 1, 2009 Report Share Posted June 1, 2009 Correction: I haven't seen Embarcadero come up for 2 adults/2 children lately. (As soon as I sent my other post, two other people posted Embarcadero HW wins. :) ) Link to comment
leamington Posted June 2, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 Thankyou for your helpWe are looking at the following hotels for 4th July '09 - 7th July '094* USE $102 p.nFitness, pool, restaurant, bus.centre, internet, spaThinking this may be the Palace Hotel?3.5* Fishermans Wharf $112 p.nFitness, pool, restaurant, bus.centre, laundry, high speed internetCould this be the Hyatt?3* Fishermans Wharf $95 p.nFitness, pool, restaurant, bus.centre, laundry, internetNot sure if this is the Holiday Inn or the Radisson?We have been to SF before (24 years ago) and we stayed at FW. This time we will have our 2 children with us (10 and 13 ) so we want to make sure that we are going to be in a decent hotel. We will also have a hire car, which is a consideration as I have read that parking at hotels is expensive. Another question I have is, is one area better than the other, seeing that we are going the be in SF on the 4th of July, and expecting that there may be some sort of celebration somewhere within the city? Not sure what to expect being Aussies?And the very last question is have we allowed enough or too much time if we are leaving Anaheim LA on the 2nd of July, intending to spend two nights on the journey to SF? We will be driving along the coast. Our decision regarding this question may change the accommodation dates.We appreciate all the help and possible identification of the above hotels Link to comment
thereuare Posted June 2, 2009 Report Share Posted June 2, 2009 I'll leave it for a local to comment on your itinerary, but here is my best guess for each:4* USE: Palace Hotel3.5* FW: Hyatt Regency3* FW: Holiday InnPlease use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.Let us know what you decide and how it goes or if we can be fo further help. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
Colfax Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 And the very last question is have we allowed enough or too much time if we are leaving Anaheim LA on the 2nd of July, intending to spend two nights on the journey to SF? We will be driving along the coast. Our decision regarding this question may change the accommodation dates.The coastal route is about 460 miles or so, Anaheim to SF. 230 miles a day doesn't sound like a lot but there are long stretches of winding narrow roads when you won't be travelling at freeway speeds, especially over July 4 weekend. And probably you'll pass a lot of vistas where you'll want to stop and look.Two days is doable though. Just depends how much time you want to spend where.San Luis Obispo is about halfway and it's a good area to spend a night along the way. If you don't want to drive all the way into downtown SF the second day (maybe arriving at night), you could stay on the south end of the Bay area your second night---maybe Santa Cruz or Los Gatos---then drive into SF the next morning, fresh.You've got lots of options. Link to comment
leamington Posted June 3, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 Many thanks to all who have given us assistance. This has been our first use of HOTWIRE, and will be making a booking within the next few days, through this site.The feedback has been greatly appreciated. Link to comment
Gallus50 Posted June 3, 2009 Report Share Posted June 3, 2009 BTW - The car may significantly increase your costs in SF. Parking can be very $$$. (Never valet park with the hotel.) Check out Travelzoo or Hotwire Travel Ticker for deals that include parking. If you can't find one, check out the SF parking threads in this forum to find decent garages. You might get lucky and find street parking, but that can be a bear. Marina/Cow Hollow hotels often have free parking, but the location is less central than some and there are no 3 or 4*. Good luck. Link to comment
sfntvintx Posted June 4, 2009 Report Share Posted June 4, 2009 Your trip sounds like ours (except for that whole driving up from So Cal thing). We'll be in SF those same dates, and yes, there will most likely be fireworks at Fisherman's Wharf. As far as parking, ugh. We'll have a car also, and I'm researching garages because valet at our hotel is at least $50 a day. Fisherman's Wharf parking is less, although not by much. If you were to stay in a decent place in Cow Hollow/Lombard, they'd have free parking, but you'd be paying about $150 anyway (at least at the ones I checked out for my family of four.) As far as driving up from LA, two days will be plenty, but just a warning. If you're taking the coastal route north of San Luis Obispo on Highway 1, be prepared for a Looooooonnngg, windy road. It's truly exhausting. (I mean, it's beautiful, but it takes a *very* long time and gets a little scary.) If you're in a hurry, you may just want to take the coast as far as San Luis Obispo, then go inland on 101 a ways. You could always head back down to the coast to Monterey or Santa Cruz when you're closer to San Jose. Seriously, I wasn't prepared myself for that drive on Highway 1. If you are going to do it, make sure it's not at night. Very scary and not a lot of places to stop. Enjoy your trip, and good luck with the hotel situation! Link to comment
Colfax Posted June 5, 2009 Report Share Posted June 5, 2009 As far as parking, ugh. We'll have a car also, and I'm researching garages because valet at our hotel is at least $50 a day. Fisherman's Wharf parking is less, although not by much.If you won't need your car while you're in SF you can park for much less out of the city at a remote BART lot. Long term BART parking at East Bay stations is currently $5/day and Peninsula stations $6/day. (I've heard rates will go up soon; don't know the details.) Remote BART parking works out better with Union Square hotels than Fisherman's Wharf hotels because BART doesn't go to FW. Still, even if you have to pay $8 or $10 for a cab from BART to your hotel the savings over parking in the city are significant, especially for a multiday stay.BART parkingScroll down to the Long Term Parking section for details. Link to comment
leamington Posted June 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted June 6, 2009 We have booked 3.5* at Fishermans Wharf for 4th to 7th July and it was the Hyatt at USD $122 pn. Amenties shown as follows- Fitness- Pool- Restuarant- Business- Laundry- Internet This was showing earlier on at USD $112 pn, but because we took a little time to book, we missed the lower priceHowever we are happy with this choiceMany thanks for your assistance here Link to comment
thereuare Posted June 6, 2009 Report Share Posted June 6, 2009 Congratulations on your success!Glad to see you received the hotel you were hoping for and that you're happy with the results... we're happy to have helped.Please use these PRICELINE and HOTWIRE links to begin your travel purchases.Enjoy your stay. Please use this HOTWIRE and these PRICELINE LINKS: HOTELS, CAR RENTALS, and AIRFARE to begin your travel purchases Link to comment
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