SFO Hotels
 

My father-in-law and 13-year-old brother-in-law are going to SF for a weekend in June and need a hotel, preferably for under $200 a night. The Hilton on O'Farrell Street currently is the leading contender at $189. Does anyone have any other suggestions?

What is their preferred neighborhood and also "quality" range? June can get very very crowded, and I'd snag the room, as long as it has a cancellation policy. If they aren't at capacity, it may go down to the under $150 range, as well as the St. Francis (in the same general area). You can end up spending well over $100 for a dump in the City. This rate isn't bad for a peak period.

Check the SF forum for lots of suggestions. Also, check out this small chain of hotels: http://www.jdvhospitality.com/index.php

Like at most of the properties in the Fisherman's Wharf area. Sometimes i just don't believe my eyes when I see the Sheraton Fisherman's Wharf for $229+ and the W, St. Francis, or Palace for $150-180.

If they're flexible, Priceline is always a good option. We've stayed at the Park Hyatt SF for $42 a night.

Do you recall what parameters you used?

You may also want to check out Kimpton Hotels. Another local chain that takes (usually) historic buildings and turns them into upscale, boutique hotels. Lots of personality and usually a good restaurant.

Check out www.betterbidding.com for help. The moderator is very user friendly.

One caveat about Priceline in central San Francisco: Last year, PL took three separate San Francisco zones and combined them into a big single zone, making it much more difficult to "pinpoint" possible or likely hotels.

Therefore, you need to carefully consider the new hotel lists on betterbidding.com and on BFT before placing your bid.

I second the recommendation for betterbidding.com as the site to use if you need pro-active bidding assistance.

Just an FYI - for several weekends in June the Nikko (across the street from the SF Hilton) is listing double-bedded rooms for $159...

It was back before Priceline redefined the SF zones. I bid $38 for Embarcardero / 4-star and was rejected. I kept adding additional zones (those without 4-star Priceline hotels) as free re-bids until being accepted at $42.

Try the site mentioned above, Better Bidding.

Supposedly there is a $40 minimum bid (floor) on 4* bids. I don't know if that is a 100% certainty, though.

Always had good luck bidding up to $55 in SF and gotten Hyatt regency and Marriott. Priceline seems to deliver consistent value from what I can tell for 4* properties in SF.

There's no question of that :) The only thing is to be sure that the bidder is aware of the geographical territory covered by the single zone.