Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
managed by the same people. Just as at the Chelsea, windows are angled into a slight
bay, which somehow makes the rooms feel ritzier than they really are. Rates may
vary from the Chelsea by a few bucks here and there, depending on prior bookings.
Third in the company's set of area motels with free parking is the
Lombard Motor
Inn
(1475 Lombard St., at Van Ness;
%
415/441-6000; www.lombardmotorinn.com;
AE, MC, V),
which costs the same but is least preferable of the trio because it's located
at the noisy intersection of Van Ness Avenue. On the positive side, you can walk to
Fisherman's Wharf in about 10 minutes from it. Lombard Street can be a little har-
ried in this part of town, so for all three of these motels, secure a room at the back
if you notice the usual street noise.
$-$$
Rates are best during the week at the 50-room
Buena Vista Motor Inn
5
(1599 Lombard St., at Gough;
%
800/835-4980; www.buenavistamotorinn.com;
AE, MC, V),
and they spike from around $80 to $110 or $120 on weekend nights.
The look of the rooms is your standard, inoffensive mid-'90s design—it's not that
it's personality-free, but just that it has the personality of a motel. Fortunately, the
building was renovated a few years back. There is a small rooftop sundeck for
guests' use. This is one of the few properties to offer smoking rooms. If you get a
deal, take it, but overall, the above Marina properties are zestier.
$-$$
The way to get the best prices out of the 23-room
Town House Motel
(1650 Lombard St., at Octavia;
%
800/255-1516 or 415/885-5163; www.sftown
housemotel.com; AE, MC, V)
is to book online, where deals are around $75, as
opposed to $90 to $120 by phone, for a king room. The facilities are boxy and
very 1950s, with a similarly utilitarian continental breakfast thrown in. The
building is L-shaped, a fact that doesn't provide the sound baffling from traffic
that's available at the Del Sol or the Chelsea. Parking is free, but other hotels in
the neighborhood have more style for the same price, to say nothing of more
cheerful staff. I mention this one as a good second-choice option.
$$$
Popular with the keyboard-punchers who work at Lucasfilm's digital imag-
ing complex in the nearby Presidio, the three-floor, 57-room
Hotel del Sol
5
(3100 Webster St.;
%
415/921-5520; www.jdvhotels.com; AE, MC, V)
may have
started life as an also-ran motel, but the discerning Joie de Vivre hotel group has
accentuated its California style while losing any lingering grottiness. Rooms,
slightly larger than the city norm, feature contemporary art (sometimes, the works
are for sale), fresh furniture, and bright colors (canary-yellow walls). At the cen-
ter of it all, a heated pool oasis takes the sting off a rare sweltering day. Walls could
stand to be thicker, and you have to remember to close your blinds because win-
dows overlook the hotel's walkways, but in all, partly because its courtyard is com-
pletely enclosed, the del Sol is a good place to avoid the crushing sense of
urbanism that crowds more-central properties, which is why it charges a little
more than the other motels in the neighborhood. And those towering, holiday-lit
palm trees in the courtyard are cheerful. Parking's free, too, which is a boon.
CIVIC CENTER
This part of town has a more banal personality than many others owing mostly to
its heavily governmental presence. However, it's midway on the BART/Muni lines
