Area to stay in San Francisco

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poppy265

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Hi , i am hoping you can help me, im looking to see what area to stay in when i go to San Francisco? any suggestions please would be great. I am looking for a hotel not too expensive. Thanks
 
hi we stayed in union square and i wouldnt stay anywhere else. so handy. our hotel was absolutely brilliant and not expensive. name is the chancellor hotel. look it up on trip advisor. it's number 5 hotel in san fran.
its 2 seconds away from macys!!! and has tram stop 1 second away!
 
We stayed in the Westin San Francisco in Market street and it was a short walk to Union Square. not as handy tho as narky's tho.
 
narky said:
hi we stayed in union square and i wouldnt stay anywhere else. so handy. our hotel was absolutely brilliant and not expensive. name is the chancellor hotel. look it up on trip advisor. it's number 5 hotel in san fran.
its 2 seconds away from macys!!! and has tram stop 1 second away!
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I second narky, we stayed in the Chancellor Hotel on Union square, perfect location. There are other treads on San Fran, have a look- good tips.
 
I was in San Francisco last month and heres the deal.

The Westin Hotel, Sir Francis Drake, Chancellor and my favourite, the Handlery hotel are all located on Union Square.

Union Square is the centre of San Francisco in terms of shopping. Macy's is on the Square, as is Tiffany's, Saks of 5th Avenue etc, basically its a shoppers haven. The Westfield shopping centre is 1 minute away and includes Bloomingdales amonst others.

The cable car runs along Union Square to Fishermans Wharf which is where you can see Pier 39, visit Alcatraz and sail out under the Golden Gate Bridge.

Any of the hotels mentioned above are ideal and literally yards from each other. Check out www.expedia.ie and compare prices.

Also, when you arrive at San Francisco airport, go to the top floor and get the BART (Bay area rapid transport) train into the city centre. It takes about 20 mins, costs $5.75 and leaves you practically on Union Square.
Its cheap, safe and completely hassle free.

San Francisco is much more laid back than New York but in its own way, equally as impressive. Its very laid back and IMO a must for any traveller to have on their CV. Make sure you eat in the Cheesecake factory (its not actually a cheese cake factory!) on the top floor of Macy's and check out the Starlight Room nightclub on the 21st floor of the Sir Francis Drake hotel.
 
The F-line streetcar also runs through Market Street and around the Embarcadero to Fisherman's Wharf past the various ferries. The ferry trip to Sausalito from the historic Ferry Building gives the best view of the bay going past Alcatraz and Angel Island on the way.

Get a MUNI pass so you can hop on and off the streetcars, cable cars and buses as much as you want.

If you visit the Coit Tower which has excellent views of the city be sure to take Greenwich Street on the way down. It's more of a path and feels like you're walking through the gardens of the no doubt very expensive houses perched on the hill side.
 
It is a relatively compact city with good to excellent public transport links. I would agree with the other posters, the area around Union Square is definitely the best location. It is accessible, eclectic, plenty of accommodation on offer and is close to all the shopping, to Chinatown, both cable cars, the F-Car, the ferry building and the wharfs, Nob Hill, etc. I would avoid South of Market (SOMA - it is literally south of Market Street which the F-Car runs along and the BART and Muni run underneath). SOMA likes to advertise itself as up and coming area but it is quite seedy and unpleasant in places (also as it is built on reclaimed land it is the most unstable ground in an earthquake, SOMA was where most of the victims of the 1906 'quake were). I wouldn't go further out than Van Ness avenue as that marks the end of the city centre really. I'd also stay away from staying in the area around Haight and Ashbury, I know it is renowned as hippy central but I just thought it looked run-down and generally unappealing.
 
I have to disagree with the suggestions on Union Square - it certainly has plenty of plush and pricey hotels but it also has the largest concentration of san francisco homeless population given that it is sandwiched between the tenderloin and market street. Most of san francisco's homeless population are harmless friendly folk but many tourists find the sheer number of homeless folk hanging around union square shocking (particularly after dark). Its also true that if you like to dine out or have a drink you will find next to nothing in the union square area (other than a fairly lame Irish Bar called Foleys)

For a real San Francisco experience try the neighborhoods where people actually live like North Beach, Russian Hill or The Marina. These neighborhoods are packed with restaurants, coffee shops and bars which reflect the real san francisco and you are still only a stroll away from the shopping malls or even the beach!!

Best bar: Vesuvio in North Beach (Columbus Ave)
Best Restaurant: Betelnut in The Marina (Union Street)
Best Coffee House: la Boulangerie de Polk in Russian Hill (Polk Street)
Best Short Hike: Fort Mason Park to the Golden Gate.

Enjoy your trip !
 
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