Hotel ideas

We've been doing a little research on places for our out-of-town visitors to stay. To start off, a disclaimer - neither of us have really been tourists in San Francisco, so we don't have any personal experience in this area. We also have not looked at hotels in nearby cities, such as Oakland, Berkeley, or Marin. We tried to find places under $200 a night (a bit of a challenge in the City). We looked into group rates, but it doesn't seem likely we'll get enough of a critical mass to make that feasible. We did inquire about discounts and found that most hotels will give AAA or AARP discounts if you call directly, so please check it out. Also, we'd recommend that you book soon, as some hotels are already booking up for October and the best rates are available early.

As for where to stay in San Francisco, if you haven't been here we might suggest Union Square. It's central, has lots of nearby shopping and entertainment, and has easy public transportation to other touristy places like Fisherman's Wharf. For the young hipsters, perhaps check out the Mission District, where we found a neat looking B&B. Below are a few of our suggestions; feel free to call or email us if you've found something and want a little more information about the location.

For a perfect location, perhaps check out The Powell Hotel. Some friends recommended this place for their wedding visitors, and said it got good reviews. It's right on the trolley turnaround, next to Union Square, and directly across the street from the fancy downtown mall. Prices are extremely good for the area. Caveats - it's an older hotel that's not super fancy and has poor disability accessibility. And it might be a bit noisy - we recommend asking for a room in the back.

Up the hill a little is a slightly fancier (and a bit more expensive) hotel - The Orchard Hotel. It's one (rather steep) block above the shops on Union Square. This hotel gets very good reviews on tripadvisor, and despite its quality is still less expensive than many places nearby. And as added bonuses, it's a very green hotel and is has excellent disability accessibility (aside from the hill).

In the Mission, tripadvisor recommends Inn San Francisco, which is a charming-looking B&B in a beautiful Victorian mansion. The Mission is a hip neighborhood near our house, and the hotel is walking distance from public transit to downtown. However, don't expect this area to be very touristy, and you might want to be careful walking around the nearby streets late at night.

Of course, there are many other great options in and near the city. Good luck and hope to see you in October!