Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
87
The hotel is close to sev eral SoMa attractions, including the SFMOMA and Yerba
Buena Center, and the Montgomery Street Muni/BART station and F-Market streetcar
stops are on the corner. At check-in, kids receive gift bags with cups and caps, as w ell as
a list of kid-friendly sights and activities. Weekend specials can include rates w ell below
the published rack rates.
2 New Montgomery St. (at Market St.), San Francisco, CA 94105.
&
800/325-3589
or 415/512-1111. Fax
415/243-8062. www.sfpalace.com. 552 units , including 34 suit es. $529-$589 double; fr om $775 suit e.
Kids under 17 stay free in parent's room. Rollaways $50; cribs free. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Valet parking $48,
oversized vehicles $53.
Amenities:
3 restaurants (2 w/kids' menus); bar; pool; spa/exercise room; concierge;
courtesy car; business center; room service; massage; babysitting; laundry service; dry cleaning.
In room:
A/C, TV, DVD (on request), dataport, high-speed Internet access, fridge, hair dryer, iron, safe, CD player (in
some rooms).
St. Regis Hotel
For hotels in the upper price echelons, it can be hard to rank
one luxurious alternativ e over the other . While I pr efer the F our Seasons for its mor e
spacious guest rooms and kid-friendly treats, I give the prize for top luxury family hotel
to the S t. R egis for its mar velous pool, a featur e most kids highly priz e. A t the F our
Seasons, you have to head out the back door to the M arriott for use of an uninspiring
pool in an antiseptic, tiled r oom—not quite the same as popping do wn the elevator in
your swimsuit and plush hotel bathrobe to arrive at a soothing light-filled space housing
a glorious, 50-foot-long infinity pool. Kids at the St. Regis are also plenty well pampered.
If you talk to the concierge in adv ance, the hotel will invite the kids to “ check in” and
sign their names on arrival. Kids will find personalized notes for them in the guest room,
as well as a cookie with their own name on it—not to mention kid-sized bathrobes, a toy
from the SFMOMA Museum store, and a children's room service menu.
The ne west addition to S an Francisco's collection of luxur y hotels, the S t. R egis is
decidedly sleek and modern, although the liberal use of rich ex otic woods—such as
arrestingly beautiful slabs of Mozambican hardwood for the guest room doors and exqui-
site Polynesian-inspired ar twork using A ustralian lace wood in each guest r oom—keep
the place feeling warm and w elcoming. The hotel also boasts $3.5 million wor th of ar t
pieces, which could be like a free museum tour for your kids throughout the hotel's com-
mon area. The limestone and marble bathr ooms with deep-soaking tubs and separate
showers featuring dual sho wer heads ar e divine, and many r ooms have lovely views of
Yerba Buena Gardens. For families, a good configuration could be the king r oom with
an interconnecting double-double room. As an extra luxur y, the St. Regis's Remède spa,
sure to become a destination in itself , customizes each treatment to the client in ques tion.
125 3rd St. (at Mission St.), San Francisco, CA 94103.
&
415/284-4000.
Fax 415-284-4100. www.stregis.
com/sanfrancisco. 260 units . $339-$689 double; fr om $650 suit e. K ids under 12 sta y free in par ent's
room. Rollaways and cribs free. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Valet parking $45. Pets welcome.
Amenities:
2 res-
taurants; bar; health club; concierge; courtesy car; business center; 24-hr. room service; massage; babysit-
ting; laundr y ser vice; dr y cleaning .
In r oom:
A/C, TV/DVD, datapor t, CD , high-speed I nternet ac cess,
minibar, hair dryer, iron (on request), safe, CD player, iPod dock.
4
EXPENSIVE
San Francisco Marriott
I first checked out this hotel because it has a pool, and as I
stated at the beginning of this chapter , I intend to list as many hotels with pools as
possible—provided they 're wor th listing. When I walked into the lobb y, I star ted to
wonder. S erving guests in a whopping 1,498 r ooms (!), the lobb y of this confer ence-
oriented hotel is predictably frenetic and crowded at most times of the day. The escalator
ride up from the lobby takes you to the mezzanine lev el, inside an ambitious four-stor y
