San Francisco Hotel Tips by Dabs

Travelodge San Francisco By The Bay: Motel by Aquatic Park Travelodge San Francisco By The Bay Review

Rates for Friday and Saturday night shot through the roof because of a couple of conventions and my attempts at bidding on Priceline were unsuccessful. I wanted to be close to Aquatic Park on Saturday night so that my husband could walk over there for his swim race Sunday morning so I booked the extremely overpriced Travelodge by the Bay for Friday-Sunday, $169 per night for Friday, Saturday and $89 for Sunday. Normally this would be a cheaper option but just not on the weekend we were there.

The problem with this motel, and probably most of the motels along Lombard Street, is that there is quite a bit of street noise as Lombard is part of Highway 101 which connects to the Golden Gate Bridge. So ask for a room towards the back if you stay here. The other problem is that the walls and roof aren't well insulated so when we had a freak thunderstorm you could hear the rain pouring down on the roof and regrettably also the loud conversation of the people next door in some language I didn't understand and the motorcycle dudes who took up residence outside on the patio listening to their boom box.

In the end I wish I had sprung for a more expensive hotel in Fisherman's Wharf which would have been almost as close to Aquatic Park and more appealing. I would only recommend this place if your budget is stretched really thin and you are not willing to try Priceline or Hotwire. For a budget hotel the quality of the room was fine, it was just all the extra noise that put me off plus the inconvenient location.

Unique Qualities: Room 216-the room was fine, it was clean, spacious and the bed reasonably comfortable. There was a coffeemaker and a small TV.

Bathroom-shower only, toiletries were soap and shampoo. The water pressure and temperature were good, the towels were adequate. There was a hair dryer on the wall.

There was good bus service in the area, several bus routes stopped along Van Ness or Chestnut within a couple of blocks of the hotel. To get to the BART station for the trip back to SFO we had to take a bus to get to the Civic Center station so it wasn't quite as easy as our hotel in Union Square.

Address: 1450 Lombard Street, Van Ness & Franklin, San Francisco, California, 94123, United States

Comparison: less expensive than average

Price: US$80-120

Theme: Motel

Hilton San Francisco: Large business hotel in Union Square Hilton San Francisco Review

I found a great deal on the Hilton San Francisco for our 1st two nights by checking on the deals at Travelzoo which I booked through Orbitz for $74 per night after using a 15% discount coupon code that I found by googling Orbitz discount codes plus a $50 restaurant.com certificate to boot. This is a huge 1,908 room business oriented hotel, with one tower having 46 floors, many of the rooms have great views, ours did not but I wouldn't expect it paying $74 per night.

Check in was quick since it was already 8pm, checkout even quicker since the room was prepaid and we had no charges, just dropped the key in the box.

People told me that the area around the hotel, especially to the west in the Tenderloin, was a little seedy but we never felt uncomfortable walking around the immediate area or from the BART station. Yes, we did see quite a few pan handlers but none of them were threatening and you will see them all over San Francisco. Lots of restaurants in the immediate area and upscale shopping nearby. I didn't love the location, it seems like we always needed to be in a different part of the city than Union Square so it wasn't particularly convenient for us except for the trip from the airport and the ease of finding public transport including cable cars and the F line.

The Powell Street BART station is an easy 5-10 minute walk from the hotel.

Unique Qualities: Room-we got a king room which turned out to be an handicap accessible room (3-953) on the 9th floor in Tower 3. The room was extremely large, as was the bathroom presumably because it needed to be wheelchair accessible. Bed was very comfortable. The room had a business desk with internet access (fee), coffeemaker, minibar, safe, ironing board, TV with HBO.

Bathroom-water pressure was a little weak, toiletries included La Source Crabtree and Evelyn shampoo, conditioner, lotion and soap (no bath gel), nice big towels, hair dryer.

There is a outdoor pool and jacuzzi on the 16th floor, the water was heated. The health club is an extra charge, who needs to use that when they are climbing the steep hills of San Francisco anyway? Breakfast was not included in our rate.

Address: 333 O'Farrell St, San Francisco, California, 94102, United States

Comparison: about average

Phone: 415-771-1400

Price: US$80-120

Theme: Hotel

Website: http://www1.hilton.com/en_US/hi/hotel/SFOFHHH-Hilton-San-Francisco-Union-Square-California/index.do