good hotels in san francisco?

we're off to san francisco in feb and just starting to plan accomodation. our budget is up to €120 a night. two hotels that fit the budget are the hilton and the chancellor. if anyone has any other suggestions or experience of the above hotels i'd love to hear about them.

thanks

Holiday Inn Civic Centre is often pretty cheap and is just a short metro ride away from Union Square etc. further down Market Street. Staff are very friendly too even if the decor (at least in the lobby and common areas) is a bit jaded.

I'm pretty sure that there's at least one existing thread about SF and accommodation in case you missed it.

We stayed in the Mark Twain hotel, directly across the street from the Hilton. It was perfect for our stay. Only thing I'd mention is that the street itself isn't great - a lot of iffy looking people hanging around...only a short stroll to Union Square though (10 mins).

The Hilton looked great from the outside I must say...gorgoeus foyer but we never went inside.

Had a good enough time in SF but it didn't (for us) live up to what we expected it to be...highlights were Alcatraz and Castro. Food was a bit hit
& miss also.

If you are planning to go to Yosemite or down to Carmel & Pebble Beach, I'd spend more time here than SF (just my opinion though).

HTH


Firefly

Firefly said:

Only thing I'd mention is that the street itself isn't great - a lot of iffy looking people hanging around...only a short stroll to Union Square though (10 mins).

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Most of central SF is like that.

The Hilton looked great from the outside I must say...gorgoeus foyer but we never went inside.

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It's alright. The pool on the 43rd (?) floor is pretty nice. But otherwise it's just like any other big hotel and just as anonymous/soulless.

If you are planning to go to Yosemite or down to Carmel & Pebble Beach, I'd spend more time here than SF (just my opinion though).

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Muir Woods is a nice trip that isn't too far north out of the city.

I stayed in the Union Square Plaza Hotel. It's on Geary St., just off Union Sq. It's a budget hotel, so it's good value (if not cheap at say $70 a night for a double). Very friendly staff.


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We stayed in the Hotel Diva, a couple of blocks from Union Square, nice clean hotel,great location.

one not to stay in is hotel dakota , terrible.

Stayed in the Hilton and enjoyed it. Ask for a room in the Tower wing which seemed to be a bit nicer than other parts. Great location also.

Avoid La Scala on Lombard Street; terrible.

From personal experience and what I have heard from others about San Francisco was you pay a lot more there for crappier accommodation in comparison to the rest of California. You really have to pay for decent accommodation or be willing to stay further outside the city (not recommended as you want to be near all the sights)

To get good details, book as far in advance as possible.

You could also try south of SF on the BART or CalTrain routes if you don't plan to rent a car. Bear in mind that if you do then on and sometimes off street parking in the city can be a real lottery in terms of availability.

I have to recommend the following site : http://www.hotwire.com

Through this site, I stayed at Hotel Monaco, a really cool 4* boutique hotel just off Union Square for just under $100 a night for 2. Rack rate was $260.

What's the catch? You don't get to choose the hotel.

You specify general location (you can get pretty specific within SF) and no. of stars. You'll get details of all the facilities in the hotel, but not the specific hotel. Then you have to pay for it.....before you know the name of the hotel!!

I was a little nervous, but US relatives use this site a lot and have never been given a dud. 4* really is 4*. The only other complication is that if you cancel, there's no refund. Make sure your travel insurance is up-to-date!

I think the trick is that they sell the surplus stock of hotels which the hotels themselves know based on their own models that they won't sell. However, by not revealing the name until you're committed, they don't undermine their own markets and channels.

Whatever the trick is, you can stay in a much better class of joint in downtown SF for reasonable money. You just need a little nerve.

Hotel Maxwell next door to the Westin on Union Square. Great location and service was excellent. Decor was a bit strange but the hotel was in a perfect location and would highly recommend it.

thanks everyone for your detailed replies. there are a couple of other threads on san francisco but some are dated by now. hotwire sounds brilliant!

thanks again

try as well, same kind of thing.

If using hotwire and priceline, its handy to cross check with www.betterbidding.com, as it will give you an idea of what rates / hotels people have previously booked.
I've found it a handy site, and pretty informative on what hotels have appeared in which zones.

Stay away from the Sir Francis Drake. Terrible kip.

tripadvisor.com is very useful.

I stayed in the Hotel Palomar on Union Square and thought it was great. It is a boutique hotel so got a bit of character.

I recently stayed in the chancellor on union square. great central location, tram stops right outside. next door to sears pancake house, nicest pancakes ive ever had!! very friendly staff. free coffe/tea cookis muffins every morning in the lobby. rooms quite small but had walk in wardrobe so wasnt too bad. all in all id reccomend it if your after somewhere to rest after sightseeing! also would reccomned eating in the cheesecake factory its on the top floor of macys on union square, yum!