San Francisco boutique hotel recommendations

[nate_sf]

Given that I live in SF, I should be able to answer this but wanted opinions from those who travel here and have opinions of the in hotels here. A friend writes me: "A coworker and her husband are going to SF for the first time. Preference for a boutique hotel in the heart of things. Wants to be able to walk places. Ideas?"

 

I wasn't given info about cost, but I'm assuming neither budget nor extravagant given that it wasn't mentioned.

 

As a working guy most of my experience here in town has been with the large corporate hotels. Anyone have experience and recommendations with boutique hotels?

[Epigonos]

Here is a list of 6 all in the Union Square area you can start with:

 

Orchard Hotel

Preston Hotel

Hotel Diva

Palomar Hotel

Stratford Hotel

Monaco Hotel

 

Good Luck

[+ nycman]

I've stayed at the Monaco Hotel.

It's extremely nice and you won't go wrong recommending it.

 

http://www.monaco-sf.com/

[ted]

I will third on the Monaco and also say the Palomar could fill the bill. The Diva is pretty taste specific, and at least some of the rooms-the one I was in anyway- are really tiny. Can you tell from my hotel posts-here and on Steven's thread - that I'm a bit claustrophobic when staying at a hotel. I hate it when you have about 2 foot of space between the bed and the wall and/or furniture- particularly if you plan on having guests over or are sharing the room.

[+ Archer]

Having stayed at the Monaco and Preston, the Monaco was better. Although the staff and service were terrific at the Preston, the rooms were very small with furniture that was far too large for the rooms. There was no room to move around.

[+ sf westcoaster]

Look for a Kimpton Hotel - not only are they dog friendly, but very supportive of the gay community.

[+ overeasy]

I have had really good stays at the Hotel Vitale down near the ferry bldg....a little larger than what i think of as boutique, but great service, feel and location....

[leigh.bess.toad]

I haven't been there but I would definitely recommend you look at the Kimpton Hotels. Of course, obviously they are straight but I know of no restrictions to the use of Kimpton's Red Ribbon Campaign code. The RRC gives a 15% discount on most rooms (not the high end suites necessarily), plus they also make a $10/night donation to a local AIDS charity for whatever city the hotel is in. I've used it several times. It is great that Kimpton is giving the LGBT community an even bigger discount than they give to AAA or AARP members. Now since I belong to all 3 (LGBT, AAA and AARP) if I could just combine them ...

 

Of course the one place I've always wanted to stay since first seeing it was the Argonaut King Suites at the Argonaut Hotel near Fisherman's Wharf. With a view like this, who wouldn't. Now if I only had someone who would be willing to subject themselves to staying there with me.

 

http://www.kimptonhotels.com/hotels/factsheets/argonaut-hotel-fishermans-wharf/images/thu-roompics-arg-08-big.jpg

[Bosguy]

I haven't been there but I would definitely recommend you look at the Kimpton Hotels. Of course, obviously they are straight but I know of no restrictions to the use of Kimpton's Red Ribbon Campaign code. The RRC gives a 15% discount on most rooms (not the high end suites necessarily), plus they also make a $10/night donation to a local AIDS charity for whatever city the hotel is in. I've used it several times. It is great that Kimpton is giving the LGBT community an even bigger discount than they give to AAA or AARP members. Now since I belong to all 3 (LGBT, AAA and AARP) if I could just combine them ...

 

Of course the one place I've always wanted to stay since first seeing it was the Argonaut King Suites at the Argonaut Hotel near Fisherman's Wharf. With a view like this, who wouldn't. Now if I only had someone who would be willing to subject themselves to staying there with me.

 

http://www.kimptonhotels.com/hotels/factsheets/argonaut-hotel-fishermans-wharf/images/thu-roompics-arg-08-big.jpg

I

 

If Nate and/or Tyger would invite us to see the wonders of the west coast, we could share a suite there. Do the suites at this Kimpton property have revolving doors and sound proof walls? What views?

 

Bill K.

[nate_sf]

Thanks everybody for the excellent suggestions. This gives a really good selection of appealing choices. I really appreciate it. Now I can look like I know something about the city I live in!

[Guest Bauer]

Given that I live in SF, I should be able to answer this but wanted opinions from those who travel here and have opinions of the in hotels here. A friend writes me: "A coworker and her husband are going to SF for the first time. Preference for a boutique hotel in the heart of things. Wants to be able to walk places. Ideas?"

The Stanford Court used to be very nice pre-renaissance (it these days being the Renaissance Stanford Court). Hard to know what to suggest.

 

The East Coast New York Times lambasted it a bit, calling it "a standard-issue ... ripped from the Pottery Barn catalog with various elements lifted from the W Hotels chain and middlebrow condominium decorators."

 

No idea what that meant though.