Need help visiting San Francisco

[JennaTX]

DH just mentioned to me last night that he wants to go to a training class for his job in San Francisco later this month, from the 19th to the 25th (so I don't have much time to make reservations, etc.).

I have never been before, so I was thinking about joining him for 3 days.

He can get a discounted rate at a Crowne Plaza in Foster, CA (it is near the training facilities) but the discount is only about $8 per night.

And from the hotel's website it looks like it is not near any of the "sights".

So if I go, we would probably want to stay at a hotel in San Francisco, and we would rent a car.

Can anyone give me any hints about nice hotels there, certain areas you don't want to stay, things to do, etc??? I am a little stressed since this trip will be happening so soon.

Any advice would be great, thanks!

 

[damo]

We stayed at the Argonaut at Fisherman's Wharf and loved it. It is a boutique hotel the used to be a cannery. It has original interior brick walls and beams.

 

[toto2]

If you plan on visiting Alctraz , reserve in advance ( on-line) since the boat trip is often booked well in advance. And take the audio tour , it is fascinating.

If you plan on visiting afew of these , get a city pass ( http://citypass.com/city/sanfrancisco.html) and save a lot of money!)

Eat chinese and mexican food to save a lot of money.

Visit chowhound.com for reataurant recomendation
http://www.chowhound.com/main.html


Walk a lot , an cross Golden gate bridge on foot !

 

[disneysteve]

We stayed in August at the Courtyard Marriott on Beach St. in Fisherman's Wharf. It was very nice and a great location. Within walking distance to many sites and transportation and just a short drive to the bridges (Bay and Golden Gate). I would definitely recommend it.

 

[Davids-Coco]

We like staying at hotel monaco when we stay downtown and the archbishop's mansion when we need to be near USF (where DH went to college). Personally, I say can the car (at least once you're in the city). It is a pain in the rear to park and so much easier to hail a cab or walk. Everything is fairly close together if you don't mind doing a bit of walking.

The "dangerous" areas are Hunters Pointe (lots of shootings), south of market street, richmond district, and above Union Square.(according to DH)

Good food is everywhere, but our particular fav is the Stinking Rose (on edge of North Beach). But don't go there if you don't like garlic.

 

[JennaTX]

If you plan on visiting Alctraz , reserve in advance ( on-line) since the boat trip is often booked well in advance. And take the audio tour , it is fascinating.

I planned on trying to this while DH was in training one day, he did the tour on a previous visit, I did not know you could book it online, thanks for the info!

 

[JennaTX]

We like staying at hotel monaco when we stay downtown and the archbishop's mansion when we need to be near USF (where DH went to college). Personally, I say can the car (at least once you're in the city). It is a pain in the rear to park and so much easier to hail a cab or walk. Everything is fairly close together if you don't mind doing a bit of walking.

I wish we did not have to rent a car, but that would be the only way for DH to get to his training. I will check into taxi rates, because most of the hotels charge around $40.00 per day to park a car!

 

[barkley]

just as an fyi-foster city is almost 25 miles down the freeway from san francisco (and depending on traffic/time of day) can take an hour or more to commute to (not counting in city driving inside san francisco).

check into the "bart" (bay area rapid transit) system. it may be better to stay at a centraly located hotel between foster city and sf and utilize bart for travel in the city (there are multiple sf stops and you can hop a cable car or use a taxi to go directly to a particular place).

when family comes to visit us they usualy enjoy going to fisherman's wharf, ghiradelli sqare. pier 39 (all within walking distance of each other), alcatraz or china town. check out the website for the "mosconi center" to see if they have something interesting happening, if you like theatre check out a.c.t.'s site (american conservatory theatre). a cool side trip (and you can do this via bart) is to hop down to berkely-check out telegraph avenue, the campus and some of the top restaurants in the bay area .

hit the san francisco convention and visitor's bureau web site.

 

[GoldenGate]

.

The "dangerous" areas are richmond district, and above Union Square.(according to DH)

He must mean the city of Richmond, in the Bay Area, not the Richmond disctrict in San Francisco

http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/innerrichmond.shtml

http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/outerrichmond.shtml

Above Union Square are stores like Macys etc and neighborhoods such as North Beach, Nob Hill, Russian Hill and Chinatown, hardly "dangerous" areas.

 

[barkley]

He must mean the city of Richmond, in the Bay Area, not the Richmond disctrict in San Francisco

http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/innerrichmond.shtml

http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/sf/neighborhoods/outerrichmond.shtml

Above Union Square are stores like Macys etc and neighborhoods such as North Beach, Nob Hill, Russian Hill and Chinatown, hardly "dangerous" areas.

yup-must-DON'T GET OFF BART IN RICHMOND CITY

union square is a great place-very popular for those who love shopping.

 

[Davids-Coco]

I just typed what he told me... I'm sure he meant Richmond City and it was lost in transition.

There is an area between the USF area and Union that is above Union Square that isn't great... everything is barred up... I just know it is above Union but below USF. That said, Union itself is great fun.

 

[mommaU4]

No real advice just wanted to say have fun. I've only been once and it was quite an experience. The kids loved Lombard Street, Alcatraz Island and Fisherman's Wharf. Oh, and of course riding the cable cars!

One thing that suprised me was how crowded everything was. I had no idea. I would just stare at the view of the city from our hotel room and marvel at how crammed in everything seemed to be. I'm not sure if I could ever live there. Oh, and since we drove we had our car and trying to find street parking was sometimes like mission impossible. Don't forget the hotel parking fee. I think that takes some people by surprise.

Anyways, have a great time. It's definately a must see. At least once.

 

[RUDisney]

We stayed at the Holiday Inn Fisherman's Wharf. It was nice and within walking distance to a ton of things, including North Beach (Great Italian food!)

Remember, if you don't have a car, you can't drive down Lombard Street (the crookedest street.)

Make sure to have someone take your picture in a cell at Alcatraz with your arms extended because you can touch both walls at the same time. Definitely do the audio tour. It's worth the extra couple of dollars. Make sure you stand on the outside of a cable car. Eat dim sum in Chinatown.

When New Orleans had all of its trouble this year, my DH said to me, "well, I guess that moves SF up into our #1 Amercan city now." It is so much fun!

 

[diznygirl]

I also like Hotel Monaco - we were lucky enough to stay there on one of DH's business trips. I did a lot of walking around the city from there. And then returned to chair massages in the lobby and wine tasting.

http://www.monaco-sf.com/index.html

I also suggest you get a map and find out exactly where your DH's training actually is and how far from San Francisco he'd actually have to drive.

 

[diznygirl]

oops!

 

[Patty3]

We were in SanFrancisco this August and the previous August. We stayed at the Mark Hopkins and liked it very much. Both times, we got a gov't rate since DH was on business. Two of my favorite restaurants are in SanFrancisco. They are the Slanted Door and Beetlenut. We also love going to the farmers market on Saturdays at the Ferry Bldg. I am not sure if the market is only in the summer.

 

[JennaTX]

just as an fyi-foster city is almost 25 miles down the freeway from san francisco (and depending on traffic/time of day) can take an hour or more to commute to (not counting in city driving inside san francisco).

So if we were staying in a hotel around Fisherman's Wharf, and he needed to be in Foster City by 8:00 am, it would take him around an hour to get there? Or would he be driving against the traffic, more people coming into San Francisco at that time, then driving out? Or maybe it's like here in Houston, the freeways are just always busy around 8:00 am.