Any recommendations for hotels in San Francisco?

Good evening!

I'm spending 5 or so days in San Francisco next year and I wonder if anyone has any recommendations for good hotels?

My only real criteria is that it's fairly central for the tourist areas, 3*+ and if possible part of Hilton/SPG schemes.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

I stayed at The Palace on my last trip http://www.sfpalace.com/?PS=PS_aa_WWC_W ... 110_NAD_FM. I got a great rate via SPGs pricematch.
Location was excellent, rooms more than acceptable and the service unobtrusive but efficient. Parking was the usual randsom though.
DL

[honey lamb]

Have you checked the Hilton at Union Square? They sometimes have good deals there

[preiffer]

W.

That's my input. That's my normal hotel. W.

Not a Hilton / SPG but I recommend the Adagio - part of the Joie De Vivre suite of hotels - just a couple of blocks from Union Square so nice and central. The have a few hotels in San Francisco. Check out their special deals too.

Join their loyalty scheme for free wife and 1/2 bottle of wine in your room on arrival.

Thank you for the suggestions.

Honey Lamb - the Hilton looks lovely, have you stayed here yourself? Location looks really good!

Preiffer - W looks great too! Just need to wait for one of the great SPG promo codes!

Join their loyalty scheme for free wife and 1/2 bottle of wine in your room on arrival.

Thanks Tonty.

A free wife? That's a very generous loyalty scheme! Do you pick your own or get what you're given?! LOL

[Darren Wheeler]

W.

That's my input. That's my normal hotel. W.

Agreed, although I have fallen for the Nikko but getting a triple upgrade does have a way of building a bit of loyalty.

Join their loyalty scheme for free wife and 1/2 bottle of wine in your room on arrival.

Thanks Tonty.

A free wife? That's a very generous loyalty scheme! Do you pick your own or get what you're given?! LOL

whoops ! do of course mean wifi ! damm fat fingers and lack of spell check.

I'm sure you could find a 'wife' wandering around the Tenderloin area ): ):

[honey lamb]

Thank you for the suggestions.

Honey Lamb - the Hilton looks lovely, have you stayed here yourself? Location looks really good!

Preiffer - W looks great too! Just need to wait for one of the great SPG promo codes!

Actually, no but I stayed at he Grand Hyatt around the corner and friends stayed there

Darren - The Nikko looks fantastic (the atrium pool would be a great way to relax after a busy day in the city). However, a little out of my price range unfortunately

[Darren Wheeler]

Darren - The Nikko looks fantastic (the atrium pool would be a great way to relax after a busy day in the city). However, a little out of my price range unfortunately

Then don't look at the W...

It's the usual advice. Shop around and look for the offers like "book 3 nights, get 1 free"

Hmm W SF, absolute pit in my opinion (had a very unfortunate experience there once) - also the bar is full of hookers. I won't specualate on Mr P's preference B) .

I stay at the Clift, but then I know the concierge so get looked after.

The Hilton is very well located, but large and a little characterless. The Palace is good, recently went to a conference there. My favourite is the Hotel Vitale but that may be to pricey.

None, unfortunately, offer a free wife (or even husband). Next time I travel, I'm going with Tonty .

Cal346

Not Hilton/SPG but I've stayed at three of the Kimpton Hotels in SF. It's a reliable chain and offers free wifi plus (usually) free refreshments of various kinds.

The Palomar was very good. The restaurant was very pricey. (This was ~5 years ago.)
The Triton was cheap and fun but some way below their normal standard.
The Monaco (was there last week) was good, with striking decor. My room was small.

I've also stayed at the Omni, which was absolutely fine, but a bit boring, and I won't comment on the decor.

I've had some really good deals through expedia for SF in the past. Always worth a look.

Hope this helps.

Thanks to everyone for their advice, I'm going to shop around the various hotel sites to see what deals I can get!

Cal

We stayed at Hilton Fisherman's Wharf in April, and it was very nice.

Stayed at the Hilton Union Square. Buffet breakfast very good, excellent base for tourist areas. Hilton points come in very handy. Would stay again.

Anna

Hi. I stayed at the TAJ hotel, opposite the Hilton. Great hotel with character & perfect location.
Personally I would always stay in the Union Square area - rather than Fisherman's Wharf.
What time of year are you going Cal?

You might wish to take a look at The Mosser (54 4th St) and the Carlton (a little further away at 1075 Sutter St). I agree that it is better to stay around the Union Square area than in Fishermans Wharf.

NV

I've stayed at the Hilton Union Square a few times on business as the location made it a great base.

And another Kimpton - The Argonaut. Just had a quick look on Trip Advisor, and it is 7th out of 242 hotels in SanFran.

Turn left out of the hotel and you have the cable car tun around and Ghiradelli Square. Turn right and within a few hundred yards you are on your way to Fisherman's Wharf, pier 39 and the departure point for the bay cruises and the electric trolley car tours. You wouldn't guess though that you were so close to the wharf, some of which is a bit tacky.

Bus stop just up the hill to get you back to Union Square area, etc.

The hotel has a wine tasting (happy hour) every evening from around 5 with some very decent wines, and the fire is usually burning even in the summer months. Lots of restaurants outside and in Ghiradelli Square too.

Enjoy SFO

What time of year are you going Cal?

Hi Hev, heading out in May next year!

Wow some fantastic advice here, thank you so much to everyone who has shared. I have a big list of hotels to work through now, written them all down to peruse (and use Trip Advisor).

Going to narrow down my favourites then track pricing. If I can get some points for SPG or HH then great, however, I'm liking the look of some of the non-reward hotels too! (Sometimes it's too easy to get drawn into points rather than what the actual hotel offers, plus I get my AMEX FC miles anyway!)

Thanks again!

Cal

The Hilton is very well located, but large and a little characterless.

We'd agree with that. After a few of the more characterful hotels / b&bs we'd used on that trip it felt a bit "flat". However, we'd also agree with Anna that the

Buffet breakfast very good

No Exec Lounge though...

Paul

I have stayed at all the SPG properties in SF area (I always stay SPG) and, even though I only discovered it last year, The Palace is my favourite. The main dinning room/breakfast room is an amazing contruction although the breakfast is rediculously over priced (worth for one time to try it). Better to pop just outside to Starbucks.
Palace is about 100 years old so has the charm of those older buildings but with 'mod cons' added so it doesn't feel like an old clapped out hotel - therefore nice high ceilings in the rooms. The Bar serves great food.

The Westin is across the street and is very sleek and modern. Comfy but a bit bland.

St Francis on Union Sq is a great location but, even though the new tower is modern and sleek, the place somehow has an old peoples home feel and smell to it. If you get stuck in the old wing then try and pretend you are experiencing what a hotel was like 80 years ago. Actually you will not need to pretend.

W is over prced and pretentious (like all the W). Why hide all the light switches and things like that ? It might look cool on the plans but is a pain in the backside. These hotels try way too hard to be clever.

Sheraton Fishermans is OK if you want to experience a creepy motel from another era. It has been refurbed and is much better but the corridors are eerie, even after refurb it is dated and the lifts are probably the original model from when Mr Otis started making them. You are also surrounded by over excited tourists and over priced 'dining options'