Travel
gracie2762
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San Diego & San Francisco - Hotel Recs
in Travel
Hello,
We're planning a trip to San Diego and San Francisco and we're clueless as to what areas we should stay in. We will have a rental car but it would be nice to be able to walk to some things. We don't want to stay somewhere super expensive but don't want to be far from everything. TIA!
Re: San Diego & San Francisco - Hotel Recs
We visited both places on our HM, we flew into San Fran, drove down the coast of CA on the Pacific Coast Hwy, and our final destination was the San Diego area.
Just a word of caution about San Fran: EVERY hotel will charge you a parking fee of $25-$50 a night for your rental car. Not sure if you are getting one before you arrive at the hotel, but without knowing your plans between San Fran & San Diego, I'd recommend not getting the car until you are leaving. San Fran is a very easy city to get around by either walking, mass transit, or cable cars. We flew into San Fran, took a taxi to the hotel, then didn't pick up our car until we were leaving to start our trip down the coast. There is a Hertz rental location about 1-2 blocks from the Parc55.
We stayed 4 nights at the Parc55 hotel, link here: www.parc55hotel.com It is located near the bottom of the hill where the cable cars start, near a mall, and from there we walked to the San Francisco pier (about a mile), which has some really cool stores/shops. From the pier you can take ferries to Alcatraz or Sausalito, which I'd recommend, it's a really cute town, good restaurants and stores, and you go by Alcatraz on the way. It's also walking distance to Union Square, where you can pick up double decker busses for a tour, ride on the Golden Gate bridge, etc.
The Parc55 has a "club level", which I'd highly recommend. There is a members only club for club level guests, and you can get a breakfast buffet in the morning, and appetizers and desserts at night. Restaurants are expensive, and we loved this feature. It costs a little more, but we felt it was worth it.
This hotel was actually one of the lower priced, higher rated on www.tripadvisor.com.
When we stayed in San Diego, we actually stayed in Coronado Bay, across the bay from the city proper. Not sure if you have a reason to stay in the city, but there are some really great hotels in Coronado Bay. We stayed at Loew's Coronado Bay, which was lovely (a bit pricey if you don't have a Loew's frequent stay membership, which is free by the way). We lucked out that the time we checked in, on a Sunday for a 3 night stay, there was an automatic upgrade to a lovely suite overlooking the bay. I'm pretty sure there was no "per car" parking fee, but I can't recall.
You don't say what time of year you are going. San Fran is cold and damp/foggy a lot of the year, I had to buy a jacket in spite of the fact it was September and I had a heavy duty sweater. San Diego is much nicer, fabulous climate year round.
I'd recommend signing up for weekly emails from www.travelzoo.com for discounts, and check everything on www.tripadvisor.com. I have yet to get a different result from trip advisor than what the customers/guests have posted.
If you are driving down the coast, send me a private message below and I'll share the info between the 2 cities that I compiled before our honeymoon, of places we stayed, things to see, etc.
I'm from CA and lived in San Francisco for two years....this poster said basically everything that I would have said. Great advise!! I know a LOT about the Pacific Coast Hwy (PCH), I've driven most of it more times then I could count and I know a lot of unknown places to stop for pictures. The section of the PCH I know the best is from San Francisco to San Luis Obispo (SLO). After that, I never really drove on the PCH except for like twice near the Malibu area. The only other thing that the the above poster didn't mention is, if you have never been to CA, and have never driven it, it is a LONG drive. The PCH makes it longer due to the windy roads up north. Just be prepared, a lot of people are don't realize how big CA really is until they drive it. If you need to stop for a night at a midway point, that would be in the San Luis Obispo area. That includes the city of SLO, Pismo Beach, Avila Beach, Shell Beach, and Arroyo Grande area. I was born and raised there, so any questions about that area just let me know! Otherwise, have fun! There is a lot to see and do, so take lots and lots of pictures!!! You are visiting two very beautiful areas, so you should have a great time!