Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
HAYES VALLEY & JAPANTOWN
These quieter neighborhoods require a bus to reach from the tourist-friendly parts
of town. However, because they're located where locals tend to live, they're often
near interesting eating and drinking areas, making evenings fun.
$-$$
The 28-room
Hayes Valley Inn
555
(417 Gough St., at Hayes;
%
800/
930-7999 or 415/431-9131; www.hayesvalleyinn.com; AE, MC, V)
has small quar-
ters, but it's priced well for what you get: $84 to $92 for two people on a double
bed or $76 for a single, including continental breakfast. Like many San Francisco
hotels of this price, it's privately owned and operated, except in this case, the
owner's cocker spaniel may be seen roaming around the property. Each room is dif-
ferent, though they all share a rather dated look. Still, they're comfortable and each
has an in room sink, TV, phone and shares a bath, European-style. Its prime room
is the extra-bright Turret Room, which has a corner view through old-fashioned
rounded-glass windows for $112. The neighborhood has much to recommend it,
too; the trendy shopping and dining drag of Hayes Street is just a few blocks north,
and the Civic Center's museum cluster is just east.
$$$
Sure, at heart, its size and motel-style amenities reveal it as the 1975-built
Best Western it is, but in 2007, the 125-room
Hotel Tomo
555
(1800 Sutter
St., at Buchanan;
%
888/822-8666 or 415/921-4000; www.jdvhotels.com/tomo;
AE, MC, V)
was given a funky pop art re-imagining. The look is now hysterically
bombastic, like something by Murakami, with enormous psychedelic wall paint-
ings, glow-in-the-dark desk blotters, neon paint jobs, and Fatboy beanbag chairs
for lounging in each room. West-facing rooms have the best view, but they're also
situated over a schoolyard, which can make mornings noisy. Another downside is
the general dearth of electrical outlets, which the Japanese themselves would never
tolerate. The $159 rate is a touch higher than it ought to be for a Best
Western-style deal, but overall, the bright colors and offbeat touches, as well as
solid amenities (free Wi-Fi, a safe, and in-room tea and coffee), plus huge beds
and iPod docks, put the joint into the mix and make a stay here a happy affair.
On the second floor, the restaurant Mums jams in the evenings with its all-you-
can-eat shabu-shabu (Japanese family-style hot pot). Japantown is slightly on the
dull side, but a 15-minute bus ride brings you to Union Square, or you can walk
2 blocks west to the many pubs and boutiques of Fillmore Street.
$$$
Although the high-rise it's in was built in the late 1960s and served as a
Westin for years, a fall 2007 renovation gave the 218-room
Hotel Kabuki
55
(1625 Post St., at Laguna;
%
800/533-4567 or 415/922-3200; www.jdvhotels.com/
kabuki; AE, MC, V)
an interesting, groovy Japanese personality suited to its location
in the heart of Japantown. Just about everything it does strives to evoke Japanese
culture by way of a comfortable Western hotel, starting with the free hot-tea service
available at any time in every room and continuing with iPod docks in every room.
The bathrooms are built more like wet rooms, with a bench in the tub area and a
sheet explaining how to use the area to bathe Japanese-style, if you wish. Windows,
which by virtue of the hotel's position on a hill, offer excellent views across the city,
are concealed by sliding screens come bedtime. Even the carpets are designed to look
like authentic tatami mats. Downstairs, there's a trendy cocktail bar and small-dish
restaurant, O Izakaya Lounge. Every day there's a free sake tasting, and on Saturday
