eggca

Hello,
I have visitors coming to town and despite my best efforts to keep them away from tourist central, they still want to stay at Fisherman's Wharf.

Unfortunately, the Sheraton FW hasn't been giving very good reviews on this board. I see they have completed renovations recently. Does anyone have any recent experiences there? Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks, and happy new year to all.

onfo

I live in Berkeley and am contemplating staying at the Sheraton Wharf using C&P this weekend. The post reno pics look good on SPG, but can anyone offer first hand knowledge?

Thanks.

EDIT: Picture link - http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sherat...propertyID=315

satori

The outdoor pool is the highlight of the hotel. It has been two months since I was there and the place was undergoing construction in the lobby area near the pool entrance. Cash & Points is a good way to go. The tourist ambience in the area is prevalent.

My preference would be to stay at Westin Market Street or St. Francis and catch transportation to Fisherman's Wharf. The hotels downtown are much higher caliber and located in the center of stuff for plenty of options. All depends on what you want. Fisherman's Wharf area has its tourist and seaside charm.

Elited

Hi.

My spouse, 2.5yr old toddler and I are planning our first ever trip to SF at the end of March and I am hoping to use my ~20k Starpoints towards three nights in SF proper. I'm an SPG Gold member.

I've browsed this and the many other SF threads I could find but haven't really found anything directed towards someone staying with small children (or just one in our case).

Speaking with the SPG Call Centre and looking online, I found that C&P at the Palace is available as well as at the Sheraton FW but I've seen variable and some negative comments about these two properties which is scaring me away. There are some 'standard' redemption options available at just about all the properties in the city though so I might be able to cover two of the three nights like that and pay for the third with my somewhat favourable corp rate (seems to be about 10% lower than a normal 'best available' rate - often a fraction less than a AAA rate which I've also checked).

Here's the main factors I'm trying to consider:
* We'd plan to have our toddler sleep on a roll-away but many of the d/t SF hotels seem to have limited rooms where this is possible due to fire regs. Of course, a suite-type room would be best but I think it is out of our budget or not available to start with. Therefore size of the room is important of course.
* We need something quiet for our toddler to sleep at night so I'm thinking I need to avoid the older rooms ('thin walls') as well as older buildings (low rise) which seem more likely to be prone to street noise.
* Ideally, access to a heated indoor pool would be great for our daughter to work off the 'nighttime nutties' if she was otherwise cooped up after dinner every night but most of the SPG properties don't seem to have this
* We will have to factor in parking every day as we are there with our rental car as part of a coastal trip. I know parking can be ~$50/night in some of these places.
* We would plan to spend much of our time in SF going to the Golden Gate park areas, the Presidio park area, aquarium, and possibly a museum or two. Hence I figured staying in the d/t core would be advisable versus something near SFO or elsewhere.

Right now I'm leaning towards booking at the newly-minted Westin Market Street as the reviews seem mainly quite positive and it is newly reno'd and the rates seem about mid-range and there are some redemption options. There also seems to be a chance at a 'Tower' room in the St Francis which I have read decent things about. The Meridien which sounds great doesn't seem to have a redemption room that allows a rollaway, and there are similar issues in some other locations.

Any pointers on maximizing my hard-earned points and properties tips or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Snoopyo

I have stayed at SF Market St and Le Meridien (which used to be a Park Hyatt) and far prefer Le Meridien where I got a studio suite upgrade with view of the Bay. After the great stay, I wished I had visited there while it was still Park Hyatt since I am also Hyatt Diamond and Hyatt includes breakfast and nice amenities.

MikeBOS

I have stayed in all of the SF Starwoods multiple times. The best deal, by far, is when the St. Regis will offer you a superior room at the SPG50 rate (1000 points for up to 5 nights), which is $295/night. If you specifically ask for a quiet room (some of their rooms, especially in the higher categories, have more street noise), I believe this would be your best choice. They have a beautiful indoor pool that almost nobody uses; it will essentially be private for you. And the rooms are, by far, better than any of the alternatives.

The Palace would be my next choice for you. I don't ever remember any street noise there, and if you book one of the higher categories there should be plenty of room for a roll-away. They also have a pool. The rooms at the Palace are, IMHO, much nicer than at Westin Market St.

Le Meridien would also be good, but the location is not great and there is no pool.

I would put Westin Market St. next, and the St. Francis last. If you choose the St. Francis, I would definitely try for one of the rooms in the newer Tower. Everything at the St. Francis feels kind of run down, though, next to these other choices.

bigguyinpasadena

Upgraded to a very nice suite with great views.
Spotless room-great housekeeping.
Very pleased with this property.

Non-NonRev

If anyone considering these hotels has any sense of history, they might be interested in knowing that:

• Warren G. Harding died in Suite 888 of the Palace Hotel in 1923.
• The Fatty Arbuckle scandal occurred in Suite 1219-20-21 of the St. Francis Hotel in 1921
• Sara Jane Moore fired a gun at Gerald Ford as he exited the St. Francis Hotel's Post Street door in 1975 (Oliver Sipple, standing next to her, saw the gun and grabbed her arm, causing the shot to miss its intended target).

bocastephen

Just had a great stay at the Market St Westin. No upgrade to a suite (all suites taken for Valentines Day - ick, I wouldn't want a suite there for a few days), but was given a King room on the 34th floor overlooking the city.

The rooms are much larger and nicer than the St Francis new tower, and I've canceled my St Francis stay next month in order to book at the Market St again.

Word to the wise re: parking. There is a large multi-story lot right across the street which is significantly cheaper than the hotel valet. If you arrive right around 6pm, there is free street parking on the side street where that garage's entrance is (right across from the hotel), which you can use until 7am the next morning (weekdays) or through the weekend. I parked on the street from 6pm till I returned from dinner, went into the garage, and was out the next day at noon for $20 all in - less than half what the hotel charged.

bigguyinpasadena

Shhhhh!
Don't let everyone know about the Jessie street Garage

Also the fitfh and Mission garage maxes out at $30 for 24 hours.
No in and out at these-but much cheaper than the hotels if you are not goint to be needing your car.

yashan

You can leave your car parked there for more than 24-hours without penalty?

BlissWorld

If you want to give them your business for more than 24 hours, I don't see why not

But, if you are just going to park your car and not use it for a few days, I strongly recommend parking your car at one of the BART stations and BART into the city. You save $30/day.

There are certain parts of the city where it's free to park overnight and on weekends. In fact, right on 3rd and 4th, there are plenty of parking spaces if you go towards SOMA far enough

Downunder girl

I am considering Westin Market St or Sheraton F Wharf for a stay in October. I will have Mini DG (12 yrs old) with me for a 3 night stay (no car, so parking not needed). We would like to have access to a pool. I am a gold - what can I expect in the way of "preferred room upgrades" at these properties (if any)? Do they honour late check out - our flight doesnt leave until around 11pm ex SFO?

The rates are pricing out at both hotels for around $245 all in. Is that normal, or can better rates be obtained at other SPG properties? I prefer to book on the SPG site as I need the stays for status/points. Depending on price, I would consider staying at SFO if there is free shuttle service or easy transport downtown.

Thanks in advance for your FTer wisdom

VPescado

Transport downtown is relatively easy from all Starwoods at SFO. They all have shuttle service to the airport (have the driver drop you at the Int'l terminal), and from the airport you can take BART to downtown (a bit less than a half hour ride IIRC).

Random987

Another what hotel question:

My wife and I are going to be visiting some friends in Napa toward the end of June. We have decided to spend a few days in San Francisco (probably Sun, Mon and Tues). Here are the hotels under consideration:

Option #1- Palace Hotel 179 night or 12,000 points or 4800 points + $90 night
Option #2- Westin St. Francis 219/nt or 10,000 pts or 4000 pts + 60 night
Option #3 W San Francisco 269/nt or 12,000 pts or 4800 + 90
Option #4 - Le Méridien San Francisco, 284, 12,000 or 4800+90

We are both early 30's, foodies, no kids, wife loves shopping, etc. etc.

Any insight? Advice?

Thanks