OT: Visiting SF, hotel advise?

[TOURKID]

Ive won free tickets/airfare to outside lands, the festival in golden gate park.

I need to get a hotel for the 3 days or so, and looking, SF seems to be INSANE when it comes to hotel pricing.

Oakland about ten miles away (is that right?) has hotels almost half price (like compareing holiday inns)

Is my research bad? Please help me find a decent hotel (150.00 or less a night) thats kinda close to golden gate park? Oakland or fishermans warf would be even better, but im not finding anything reasonable and non ghetto lol

thanks!!!

Maggie

[chem-e]

If you're planning to get a hotel outside the SF and if you're not going to rent a car, make sure you get a hotel that's walking distance to BART if you want to use public transportation (unless your hotel offers free shuttle service).

I can do public transportation around the city, but taking it into the city and then around the city is a bit of a pain. Mainly because it'll take you well over an hour to get to the park. Come to think of it, renting a car and driving it into the city will take you an hour as well. haha And then there's parking.

I don't know what the rates are, but try looking for a hotel on the north end of the city. It's not ghetto and it's relatively easy to get to GGP via public transportation.

[scuzy]

i would suggest staying at South San francisco near the airport. they have decent hotel prices.

[imBastos]

you won tickets!!!! SWEET!!! im thinking about copping a pair, but only for fridays show... but im second guessing it since im supposed to be saving up for a hawaii trip in october...

anyways...

i agree with all of the above. try looking for something around south san francisco/daly city if you're gonna be in a car. the BART stops running at around 1am which is earlier than the end of the shows. (i think) the north end of SF also has inexpensive motels. (not sure if they're below ur rate)

[TOURKID]

imbastos, yeah relix contest, i was shocked lol

I go to a festival every weekend, im a vendor, but dident have this planned!

will check out the south of the city, thanks guys!

[chem-e]

I work in South San Francisco and although it's cheaper here, there's nothing else to do out here and you'll need some kind of transportation to get into the city such as Bart or Caltrain. If you end up needing to rent a car, it might end up costing the same, so that's something to think about. Having a car is flexible and you can drive all over the city, but you have to consider parking and traffic.

Personally, if it was me, I'd rather have a car and stay outside SF. I live in SF and drive to work along with anywhere else I have to go, so I'm used to the roads and looking for parking. Plus it gives me flexibility.

[TOURKID]

where would outside sf be? is oakland shady? I can rent a car but the festival says its basicly going to be a wreck (45000, 60000 people going to golden gate park)

so you guys are 50/50 on south and north sf? lol north sf's hotels are about 250.00 for a regular ol holiday inn... the same hotel here in ohio is about 60.00 .

[chem-e]

I live a couple blocks from GGP and parking is going to be a pain. Whenever there is a concert or event, there isn't parking for a several block radius. Good thing I have a garage and driveway.

If the Holiday Inn is charging $250 a night, I'm guessing it's the one at Pier 39. Have you looked at some of the motels on Lombard? Maybe try Expedia or Orbitz to see if there are any specials. I don't know when the festival starts, but it's probably driving the prices through the roof.

I would stay away from Oakland, but that's just me. There's nothing wrong with it, but as others recommended, South San Francisco would be a better choice. Between Oakland and SF, there's the bay bridge and traffic on there can be ugly. Even though it's only 10 miles out, it could mean a drive greater than 1 hr. And that's each way.

[sfsuphysics]

Originally posted by TOURKID
where would outside sf be? is oakland shady? I can rent a car but the festival says its basicly going to be a wreck (45000, 60000 people going to golden gate park)

so you guys are 50/50 on south and north sf? lol north sf's hotels are about 250.00 for a regular ol holiday inn... the same hotel here in ohio is about 60.00 .

Ok here's the issue, check out a map first (google maps) its not that oakland is "shady" but it's on the other side of the bay you don't want to deal with that traffic. If you'll have a rental car, then absolutely look south. Daly City, South San Francisco, San Bruno, Millbrae, etc with a car its a no brainer to save quite a few bucks. As mentioned those places will probably have nothing "cool" to do within walking distance, but hey you can drive someplace cool.

Now Golden Gate Park does not have very good public transit access other than an intercity bus system. And parking there could be an issue as well (although if you do some research you might be able to park quite a few blocks away and hoof it in, but that's sometimes a bit harsh).

[TOURKID]

*sigh* im looking at 8th ave, super expensive but only 3 mile walk. I made a ton of calls today, out of the way seems bad lol

[TOURKID]

ok looks like marriot sanfran. a few miles away. really expensive. O well. totally worth it since the rest is free i suppose

thanks for the help!! transportation sounds a bit nightmareish

so votes please... china town or fishermans warf?? i dont eat seafood!!!!

[sfsuphysics]

Heheh, looks like your free trip isn't so free after all Reminds me of the time I won a "free" cruise to the Bahamas.

My vote is fisherman's wharf, much more "touristy" things there, Chinatown is nice in it's own way, however seeing store after store selling the same cheap crap does get old. Besides you can always take the cable car and visit chinatown that way.

[jkreefer]

ditto , peir 39 and fishermans wharf!

[TOURKID]

Whats at pier 39?

[jkreefer]

Its just East(?) of fishermans wharf. It has alot of cool touristy things to see. Plus if you have time, deffinitly take a ferry out to the Alcatraz prison. A really cool thing to see, and the ferry leaves from right around there.

[RARE]

Stay at the Marriott fishermans wharf or marriott courtyard fishermans wharf.Hotel can be expensive but is all about location.trust me if you want to see sf this will be an excellent homebase I used to work at the marriott and yet it was not the flashiest we wold have so much customer loyalty due to our location and excellent customer service you walking distance to the wharf ,walking distance to north beach,walking distance to chinatown and short bus ride to downtown.

[sfsuphysics]

Originally posted by jkreefer
Its just East(?) of fishermans wharf. It has alot of cool touristy things to see. Plus if you have time, deffinitly take a ferry out to the Alcatraz prison. A really cool thing to see, and the ferry leaves from right around there.

Yeah but you NEED reservations often many days or weeks in advance.

[TOURKID]

Alcatraz... I can go IN the prison right?

[jkreefer]

Originally posted by TOURKID
Alcatraz... I can go IN the prison right?

Yup, it takes you all through out the prison and you can take a guided tour, or a headphone guided tour, but Mike is right, if you plan on doing it, get tickets before you go.