macbravery

Can you guys help me? I'm just doing the tourist thing this time around. I have been to San Francisco 2 times before, but I can't really remember the layout of the city.

Which is the better option: The Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel or the Courtyard San Francisco Downtown? Which location is better? Is the Renaissance a REALLY NICE Renaissance? Or one of the "ho-hum" Renaissances?

What about parking, is it outrageous? Any hope for street parking? What about an outlying hotel (like Oakland) and taking BART or driving in each day. This will be for 6/10-6/13.

Thanks!

ual1k

How much money do you want to spend?

My personal favorite is the downtown Marriott near the Moscone Convention Center. As a Platinum, I have just about always received at least a junior suite upgrade.

SLO1K

The Parc 55 on Market and 5th is probably the best Renaissance Hotel I have ever stayed at. By no means is it "Ho-Hum". As a platinum, I have always received great room upgrades and their service is great. I have never stayed at the Marriott near the Moscone Convention Center; however, I have done just about all other Marriott brand hotels within a 20 mile radius. I stopped looking around when I first stayed at the Parc 55 and have stayed there ever since.

- SLO1K

keeton

If you stay in the city, parking will be outrageous no matter which property. You can totally forget any realistic chance of street parking. The full service Marriotts in the outlying areas (SFO Marriott or Oakland Marriott) still have pretty stiff fees for parking. Do you really need a car?

The SFO Courtyard properties offer free parking and claim that they have shuttle service to the BART stations, but I have not stayed at any of those and cannot comment on their quality.

Are you a Marriott Gold or Platinum? The Parc 55 is a business class hotel but has a very good Concierge Lounge for the elites. I thought the location was great with convenient access to Union Square and all public transportation (BART, MUNI, Cable Car and F Trolley). The other Renaissance property is the Stanford Court, which has that "old world" charm, but I found it lacking, overall. The SF Marriott is a great hotel, overall and would be a good choice if the Parc didn't work out.

foodguy

I have stayed at the downtown Marriott, SFO Marriott, and the Ren. All are very nice with generous elite upgrades. I would see which one provides the best price.

JIMCHI

To answer your question about the Courtyard, it is out of the way. Located at 2nd & Harrison Streets it's near nothing. While the area is being redeveloped, it still has seedy people. The Parc 55 has a better location but I would avoid walking in the direction of Mason Street and that will get you into the Tenderloin, another seedy area. For sightseeing purposes I would choose either the Parc 55 or the San Francisco Marriott.

AZ_MISMAN

I think you'll find a recommendation for about every property in the SF Bay area. It depends on what you want, how much you want to spend, etc. The common factor that you'll hear is "Parking is expensive; a car is a liability is San Francisco; leave your car at home." Honestly, San Francisco is one of the easiest cities to get around via mass transit. In fact, you can buy muni passes in 1-7 day increments that will get you on all mass transit within the city (excluding BART.) IIRC, the 7-day pass is around $20. You can find them in most hotel gift shops.

My recommendation is the Renaissance Stanford Court. This is a pretty old hotel, but has been remodeled to some extent. Some describe this hotel as "stuffy", but I don't find it that way. I have stayed in this hotel, off and on, for the past seven years. I am always treated quite well, regardless of my appearance (i.e. jeans vs. suit.)

The location is at California and Powell, which is where the three cable-car lines cross. This makes connecting to anywhere in the city very easy. On the downside, if you can't get the cable car (because it is too late, or impatience is setting in,) you have a hard walk up a pretty steep hill in three of the four directions.

This property has a small health club, but no pool. They also offer towncar service within a couple-mile radius during the week. You do, however, have to get back to the hotel on your own.

There is no concierge lounge, but breakfast coupons are provided. There are also no suite upgrades at this hotel.

As for rates, you're going to find the rates in the city to be pretty uniform among the Marriott properties: The full-service properties run in the $180+/night range, depending on the event, or lack thereof. (San Francisco hotels don't tend to change much based on seasons, but convention events can be the killers.) The weekends can be a little cheaper, but not much.

I hope this information is helpful on my property of choice. Feel free to ask more questions if you have any.

Also, if you do a search on Stanford Court (or any of the other properties that interest you,) you'll get some pretty good information. I found 56 references to threads with Stanford Court, and 36 about the Parc 55.

BruceWG

There are two properties at Oyster Point, a CY and Residence Inn. You'll find much better rates (generally), the RI comes with a full kitchen. Both are on the bay with a great walking trail.

Parking is free and there is a free shuttle to CalTrain for a ten minute, $2 ride to the city, or to the Bart Station at SFO.

Unless you "had" to be in the heart of the city, or unless you got a great rate and were willing to pony up big bucks for parking I'd seriously consider this option.

I have stayed at the Parc55 and Marriott by the way and they are very good hotels - no knock on them, but once we tried the RI at Oyster Point we've enjoyed that very much.

Anyway you do it you can't loose - after all you'll be at one of the great cities of the world

Bruce

BruceWG

Hello,

Just wondering if anyone has any ideas to offer for lower-cost parking than onsite...looking at a Friday night stay (and ball game) at one of the SF properties...any of these would work...

SF Marriott Downtown
SF Renaissance Parc 55 Hotel
SF Stanford Court
SF Fishermans Warf
SF Airport Marriott
San Mateo Marriott

Seems everyone of these only offers onsite parking which ranges from painful to "you've got to be kidding!" in cost

Thanks in advance,

Bruce

rahmanbar

As far as the Downtown Marriott a few years ago, we were there on vacation (so I couldn't expense) and parking in the hotel was something on the order of $30. per.

I can't remember the rate, but the savings was significant enough to more than merit parking diagonally across Mission St. (from the Marriott's drive-in entrancel) in the Municipal Garage (park and lock).

As far as the Ren Parc 55, the municipal garage under Union Square should beat the hotel. However, we're talking about a good 2-3 blocks away.

As to the others, sorry - can't help you.

camachinist

I believe this is the garage the prior poster was alluding to. Have used it occasionally when in the city, once while at the Marriott Moscone (downtown). Short walk, cheap rates. 20 bucks/day IIRC.

We were just in the city two days ago, for a day shopping/sightseeing trip. Left the car at the Dublin BART station (free) and took the train in. Dumped us right on Market near the Embarcadero. IIRC you can park at some/most of the BART lots for 24 hours for free. A nice alternative if you don't need the car in the city. Also, Amtrak has a stop on Market right near the Marriott Moscone; another down on Embarcadero nearby.

Enjoy the game!


Pat

azepine00

There is plenty of street parking near SFO Marriott.

BruceWG

That's a good thought - thanks!

camachinist

One caveat about parking at BART stations...at least the Dublin one: Be wary of doing it on a weekday. I cruised the entire facility for about 15 minutes before finally parking way out on the entrance road out near Dublin Ave. It was a good 10 minute walk to the station. The ride into the city (remember this was a weekday after commute) was about 30 minutes tops. Only lost cell signal twice (one tunnel and the trans-bay tube).

Remember, BART can dump you at a number of stations. I'd have to get my bearings before recommending one close to SBC Park. I've only been there once (not for a game). IIRC, the bus ride was only 10 minutes or so from the Marriott. Met Willie Mays All my other baseball trips were to the Stick, back when Willie was in his prime.

San Francisco is so easy to walk or take public transit. There really isn't any reason to have a car in the city, unless you're hauling stuff. In any event, the garage I linked is easy to get to off the Bay Bridge and is cheap by most standards.

Pat

srk123

Had an award stay at the SF Downtown Courtyard last year. It is south of Market only about 1/2-mile from PacBell Park, so I was able to easily walk there and even buy a ticket on the sidewalk on the way. They charged $30 for parking, but off-site parking is available in untended lots (buy a ticket and put in on your dashboard) for $10 to $15 a day, but no security for the car. I would go there again--not as nice as a full service Marriott or Rennaissance, but good enough and fairly new.