San Francisco hotel suggestions

Will be visiting San Francisco next March with my partner. Choosing a hotel has turned out to be a tricky task. Maybe someone here has good suggestions. The previous San Francisco hotel thread is from 2006...

Instead of choosing one of the "grand" ones (Mandarin Oriental, Ritzs, Four Seasons, Grand Hyatt etc) we would like to find a bit smaller and intimate hotel. Perhaps gategory "luxury boutique hotel" would be closest what we are looking for. Any comments for example on Clift, Taj Campton Place, W hotel, Omni or Vitale? Location between Union square and Embarcadero would be ideal. Gay friendliness is not probably an issue in San Francisco...

http://www.themosser.com/
a long time ago my girlfriend and i stayed at the mosser. was a great location and very boutique.
a room with its own bathroom costs more but that was a must for her. we enjoyed it a lot, very intimate and quiet.

As you said Gay friendliness should not be an issue in San Francisco.

I'm moving this thread over to the active and helpful San Francisco forum so that it will get more exposure and hopefully more helpful insights for you.

peteropny - co-mod - GLBT

A hotel that offers rooms with shared bathrooms? Is this a joke? This hotel is not even remotely in the same category as the Clift, the Taj Campton Place, the W hotel, the Omni or the Vitale which the OP was referring to.

The Sir Francis Drake Hotel, a San Francisco landmark has recently been renovated.

wow mac, it is a very old hotel which was turned into a boutique hotel. i think the OP can judge for himself. it is not in the same category, i knew that when writing, but i thought i would throw out a suggestion no one else would from a personal experience i had. it is a great location without the usual crowd which he can get by waling to one of those hotels and going to the bar.

I think the key thing here is that the OP is seeking a smaller, intimate property, which makes me think that he/she puts a premium on personalized service. For that reason, I don't think that hotels with room counts in the several hundreds really offer this kind of experience. So although the Omni is a very pleasant property and has a decent location transportation-wide, it ay be a little big to the desired ambiance. Even worse, the W and the Clift (both over 400 rooms each) are "pseudo-hipster" types of places that may offer interesting bar scenes but not much else besides anonymous modern design and attitude-projecting staff (and they offer nothing that speaks of San Francisco's unique qualities or history - they could easily be in any major city).

IMO the Taj Campton Place might be closest to the target - it has 110 rooms, has a location just off Union Square, very central to shopping and dining, and within short walks of transportation (Muni, BART, etc). Excellent restaurant.

A modern alternative is the Orchard Hotel, opened within the last 5 or 6 years and stressing environment-frendly policies and organic food; like the Taj, it also has just over 100 rooms. The location is not too far from Union Square (although it is further up Nob Hill, so be aware of the steepness of the streets):

http://www.theorchardhotel.com/html/...-francisco.asp

While the Financial District is not where you've asked about the Hotel Griffon might be what you are looking for in terms of ambiance and size. The service there is especially good.

http://www.hotelgriffon.com/

On the border of Nob Hill, Petite Auberge looks it the kind of place that could be awful but it's not. Service is excellent, and it's smaller with lovely furnishings .
http://www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/sanf...petite_auberge

Of the hotels the OP mentioned, I have stayed at the W and I would not describe it as intimate. The lobby is buzzing and very crowded, particularly be people spilling over from the cafe and, during my stay, by buses of people unloading. Rooms are great but it doesn't sound quite right.

If between Embarcadero and Union Square is required, I would recommend the Hotel Vitale. http://www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/sanfrancisco/vitale

The issue with that area of San Francisco is that most of the hotels are the large, dull chains. There are many more interesting boutique style hotels in the more residential areas, often in converted Victorian terraces and some of these might offer the style required, if not the location - but that's for the OP to decide.

Thank you all for your suggestions. Currently I am leaning towards Orchard hotel. Probably not excatly what I am looking for, but they have a pretty decent rate with wifi and breakfast included.

Hotel Vitale and Sir Francis Drake look tempting as well. Checked also the Petite Auberge and while it looks cozy and intimate as I wished for, those flowery wallpapers and furniture might be a bit too "French countryside" for me

I was a bit suprised to see how expensive the hotel in San Francisco area are. Not only the traditional luxurious hotels but so called boutique hotels as well. Maybe some promotions will appear closer to my visit...

This will depend on how bad/good the convention bookings are. I'd recommend that you hold something now (that can be canceled without penalty) and change it later. SF ends up at or quite near capacity at least a few times a year.

Have you thought of using PLine or Hotwire and the info from BetterBidding and BiddingforTravel.com?

Personally - if you're spending too much time in your hotel room in SF - you are wasting your time! Too many places to eat, explore and see.

Thanks for additional info.

I surely won't be spending excess time in my hotel room. I am, however, a kind of a spoiled brat and want to return to comfty surroundings after my day's sightseeing and enjoy the hotel nice facilities while getting ready for the dinner and evening activities.

Also check out TripAdvisor. Take a look at the list of the top/most popular hotels in SF and see if any of the smaller ones get good reviews.