Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
between the Castro/Haight zone and the Union Square/Tenderloin/Financial
District one, which makes it well located if you don't plan on spending lots of time
in your room. The trendy dining-and-shopping corridor of Hayes Valley is a short
walk west.
$
A concrete bunker packed with 391 comfortable but careworn rooms,
Cathedral
Hill Hotel
(1101 Van Ness Ave., at Post;
%
415/776-8200; www.cathedralhillhotel.
com; AE, MC, V)
is suspended in a busy no-man's-land between the Civic Center
area, Nob Hill, and the Tenderloin, which means that at night, many patrons may
feel more comfortable getting home in a taxi and not walking. With so many
rooms, standards vary, and the small outdoor pool isn't alluring, but here, it's
about price and not about a resort experience. A standard queen room, with one
bed (a king or a queen), goes for around $89, and if you add $20, you can get two
beds, sleeping four. Pay much more than that and you could have done better
elsewhere, even considering the full buffet breakfast each morning. This hotel
crops up a lot on Priceline.com.
$-$$
The building housing
Hotel Whitcomb
55
(1231 Market St., at Hyde;
%
415/626-8000; www.hotelwhitcomb.com; AE, MC, V)
has a historic pedigree,
having served as the city hall in the rebuilding years following the great earth-
quake, and it still retains some grand architectural flourishes in its lobby. So given
that pedigree, and considering the grand introduction it presents to guests, it's a
surprise to find prices from $79 to $99 for a modern, standard room many times
of year. Perhaps the rates are kept low because there are 460 rooms to fill, and per-
haps people are put off by the location on a patch of Market that's slowly (but per-
haps not quickly enough) crawling out of hard times. Happily, buses and trams
to just about everywhere else in town leave from right out the front door—a perk
that's rarer than you'd think. Whatever the reason, digs meet a high standard for
what you get; the hotel used to be the Ramada Plaza, and retains its corporate-
level business travel amenities, including free in-room Internet. Bathrooms are
only a few years old in general, and the management is attentive to rebuilding the
property into being a strong contender in the affordable-hotel market.
Unsurprisingly, it's growing in popularity among budgeters.
$$-$$$
This super-cool spot has just 44 rooms, and it's still a motel at heart, but
the highly recommended
Phoenix Hotel
555
(601 Eddy St., at Larkin;
%
800/248-9466 or 415/776-1380; www.jdvhotels.com/phoenix)
has been going
strong for more than 20 years and is one of Joie de Vivre Hotels' greatest treas-
ures. The Bambuddha Lounge is popular beyond nightly guests, and the clien-
tele of the hotel itself tends to the young side, so either enjoy a good party or be
a heavy sleeper (walls are on the thin side). Rooms are festively colored but noth-
ing more special than the typical motel—instead, it's the courtyard, with heated
pool and piped-in music, that gets guests excited and returning for later visits.
It's a quick hop from here to the dining scene at Hayes Street. Stay here and you
can park for free, and you may sign up for a free city tour with Joie de Vivre's
proprietary hospitality group, Golden Gate Greeters. For a motel with personal-
ity, social butterflies won't be disappointed. Rates go from $119 to $150 most
times of year.
