Travel to San Francisco - need advice

[marrelam]

We're going in October, around the 22nd for my brother's wedding.

We have an offer to stay at the Marines Memorial Club & Hotel for $170 a night. We need to stay in the area this is located which is the Union Square area. What do you think of this price?

What about renting a house or condo in this area should we choose to have more family members stay with us? Can you point me in the right direction for this?

[livermoremom]

Hi Marrelam,

I'm a SF native and I live about 20 minutes away now. Marines Memorial is on the outer edge of Union Square, actually closer to the Tenderloin, which can be a rough neighborhood. As long as you did not venture any farther away from Union Square than that, it would be fine. The building itself is dated, but has historical interest. There is a really neat bar with a great view at the top. $170/night is ok for the Union Square area-is that for a King room? I think that it's a bit early to know how far hotel prices will plunge due to the economy, but I know all destination areas are hurting-and it could very well be cheaper come October. There are many other hotels to choose from in the general Union Square area-from Sir Francis Drake to the Sheraton Palace (fabulous!) to the Marriott. Also, at the top of Nob Hill is the Mark Hopkins, a SF landmark, and the Top of the Mark restaurant and bar has unbeatable 360 degree views of the City. I stayed there a couple of years ago when I came in to the City for a party, and I got a great room for $99, so there are specials out there. Nob Hill is about six very steep blocks uphill from Union Square, but it's great because you can hop the very cool Cable Car right at Union Square and be up the hill in two minutes. Really fun.

October is prime tourist time for San Francisco, as that is when we have our "Indian Summer"-the best weather of the year. It is a truly breathtaking time in the City. If I were you, I would keep an eye on the prices, and then search around on Priceline, Travelocity, Expedia, etc. to see if there are any great deals when you are ready to book. As for the condo thing-it depends on how many nights you're staying. If you're staying for a week or more and you're splitting it between a lot of people who wouldn't mind flexible sleeping arrangements, i.e. sofa bed, etc. you may come out slightly ahead, but overall for a couple of people, I think the hotel route would be the best bet. Real estate, and vacation rentals, in SF are outrageous. Hope that helps and feel free to PM me if you have any questions about SF. I am still in love with my home town and it's so much fun! Take care

[marrelam]

Great info! I'm sure I'll take you up on the offer of Pm-ing too!

[marrelam]

How about the Fisherman's Wharf area for a hotel? How far away would I be from Marines Memorial/Union Square?

Anyone else have an opinion out there??

[marrelam]

bump!

The other party we're going with is itching to book this...but we're not going until end of October....they're driving me crazy

[livermoremom]

Hey, it's me again-Fisherman's Wharf could be a really fun place to stay for you guys-it's a major tourist destination, with shopping, restaurants, crab on the wharf, etc. The hotels are usually reasonably priced there, as they are more family oriented type places, like Holiday Inn, etc. It would be a bit quieter as well. Also, you can hop the cable car straight from the Wharf to Union Square. Walking it would be a giant pain-in-the-you-know-what, some of the steepest hills in the country! Or you could take a cab or drive-it's about two miles, ten minutes by car. Not very far at all. HTH, and have a great time! ps-there are some *incredible* travel deals right now-be sure to compare prices on Expedia, Travelocity, etc.

[marrelam]

Found round-trip non-stop flight w/ Continental from Cle to SF for $338. I'm thinking this is a really good price. Any thoughts out there??

[hcwhcw]

How long are you going to be in San Francisco, and how familiar are you with the area? Besides attending your brother's wedding, what do you want or plan to do there?

$338 R/T Cleveland SFO sounds like a good price to me. How did you find that price? What kind of room would you be getting at Marines Memorial for $170 a night, and have you settled yet on a neighborhood?

I just want to add an additional opinion about Fisherman's Wharf. It is touristy, and since you will be there as tourists, you might enjoy that. Pier 39 with the sea lions is fun to go to, and you can have some crab chowder in a sourdough bowl or a bunch of other seafood fast food dishes while you're there.

But it is a bit far from Union Square, as well as from the Muni and the BART (those are the commuter rail/subway systems for San Francisco and the East Bay). Staying in the Fisherman Wharf's area, you would definitely have to take a bus, cab, or cable car to get down to or home from Union Square or to connect to the Muni or BART. If you were planning to visit other parts of the San Francisco/Bay Area besides the downtown areas, it would be more convenient for you to stay in the Union Square area. Or if the rest of the wedding party will be staying in the Union Square area, it might be more convenient to stay there too.

The upside of the Union Square area is proximity to Muni/BART (Powell Square station), shopping areas, and the financial district. The downside, as livermoremom pointed out, it is near the Tenderloin. It is also near the somewhat seedy part of Market Street (unless they cleaned it up since I was last there). But just don't venture too far west of Union Square or too far down that stretch of Market Street from Powell going west to City Hall, at least not too late at night by yourself, since you're not familiar with the area.

I'd like to take a visit to San Francisco. Please post more about your plans, so I can live vicariously through you, for just a while! :-) Have fun planning your trip.

[marrelam]

We know nothing about SF or CA for that matter!

I found the RT airline price through all the travel websites & on Continental's site.

Based on the comments here and other reviews, I'm pretty sure we'll stay in the Union Square area.

I highly doubt we'll stay at the Marine's Memorial based on the price I'm finding there. We've been looking at Hotel Frank formerly known as the Maxwell Hotel. But, I think there's a good chance we'll go the Priceline name-your-own-price route for the hotel. We did this for our trip to Chicago a few months back and we made out really well. But, all options are open right now.

I think we'll definitely go to Fisherman's Wharf and Alcatraz. Pier 39 will be a must for the 3yr. DD!

[hcwhcw]

Oh, you have a 3 yr old DD! :-) Well, since you mentioned that, let me add, if you were planning to visit Golden Gate Park, your daughter would probably really like riding the vintage carousel on the east end of the park, as well as going to the children's playground there which is very nice. Further west, there's Stow Lake with paddle boats, another fun activity. Golden Gate Park also has a good arboretum and Japanese gardens. It's a very nice park.

If I think of other stuff that might be fun for a three-year old kid with two adults in tow, I'll let you know. So, what's on your possible itinerary so far besides brother's wedding, Fisherman's Wharf, Pier 39, and Alcatraz? Depending on how long you'll be there, that may already be plenty!

What kind of price and hotel did you get for Chicago via Priceline? Did you have to bid more than once to get a good price and hotel? I've tried Priceline a few times, but never had any success.