Best place to stay in San Francisco

[abayaflowers]

We too are looking for hotels in the SF area. Plan to visit SF for a couple days as well as Six Flags in Vallejo. We're budget oriented and cannot afford the prices I'm seeing to stay in SF. I'm used to finding a 2 1/2 - 3* hotel elsewhere (Disneyland area etc.) for under $100 using codes, hotwire etc. Any ideas even if we have to stay in east bay or to the north? Want something nice, comfortable (Holiday Inn, La Quinta etc) but under $100.

It's really challenging to find something nice for your family to stay under $100 in the SF area.

Even though I live in the South Bay neighboring city of San Jose, I love staying at the Larkspur Landing Hotel in South San Francisco. Easy to get on and off the freeway if you have a rental. Then, there's always the train station. Haven't used it though. It is often used by commuters like my DH from the South Bay to downtown SF.

Have you tried the Courtyard Marriott?

 

[Huff]

To be fair, under $100 isn't really realistic at Disneyland anymore either, especially since the new DCA.

I've not had any trouble finding 3* hotels within 1-5 miles of Disneyland and Knotts for $60-$80 even since cars land etc. A quick check on Hotwire lists numerous 3 to 3 1/2* hotels all in that range for the last week of May. Thats the 1st week that many schools are out and when we will be on vacation.

I rarely pay rack rates when I travel. Always use hotwire, priceline or find other deals floating around. But the bay area is very different. Deals are harder to find. Looking around a bit I've found a few in the $90-$120 range in the east bay, benincia, martin, richmond etc.

 

[bcla]

To be fair, under $100 isn't really realistic at Disneyland anymore either, especially since the new DCA.

If you're looking for a known chain, maybe try checking their website for nearby locations. Also decide if you want to drive to the city or use public transportation, since parking/BART/Muni etc will all have added costs.

I have family in 2 areas of the East Bay, and have stayed in Jack London Square and Emeryville and gone into the city from there, but again, those hotels were not near the $100 range.

I paid $103/night +tax at the Hilton Anaheim on Thanksgiving weekend. It was a prepaid nonrefundable rate, but really good for a full-service business-class hotel typically filled with business travelers on expense accounts. I remember when someone posted the Hilton Friends and Family link, where it was as low as $59/night there with their standard cancellation policy.

Still - that's nothing. We recently stayed in Manhattan. Couldn't get anything decent for less than $220 a night, and we ended up paying more. We just dealt with the reality that it was an expensive place to stay.

The truth is that one can find a perfectly acceptable motel in the Bay Area. In many ways it can be as comfortable and safe, but it really takes a bit of research as to the area. I live near Berkeley, and I wouldn't recommend many of the motels in Richmond, Berkeley, or El Cerrito just based on the sketchiness of the neighborhoods at night. I remember reading about experiences at the Holiday Inn Express in Berkeley, where it was an OK hotel, but where the neighborhood just creeped out guests at night because of all the assorted people simply hanging out in the neighborhood doing nothing. I don't say this lightly as one who tries not to judge on certain characteristics, but these places can feel like the ghetto at night. It can also be really odd, since you can travel a few blocks and the vibe is certainly very different. I wouldn't recommend the Super 8 (former Travelodge) in El Cerrito or a particular motel next to I-80 in the Richmond Annex. Now any of the motels around Appian Way in Pinole I'd consider fine.

Granted, that kind of neighborhood can be anywhere. Just try Market Street or SOMA in San Francisco at night, and you'll often see assorted homeless, drug users or dealers, prostitutes, etc hanging out at night. Even some of the fancy hotels in San Francisco are a few blocks away from the Tenderloin where all the assorted problems of the world can be found and where the typical "hotel" is a squalid single-room occupancy place.