San Francisco Hotels

[CeeJayPonz]

When sailing out of San Francisco, has anyone stayed at the Orchard Hotel in Union Square? Tell me what you thought of it, please. We are sailing out of there in August 2024 and are looking at places to stay somewhat near the terminal. Thanks in advance!

Edited October 17, 2023 by CeeJayPonz

[KeepCalmBearOn]

I have not stayed there in more than a decade because I have other favorites, but it maintains a stellar reputation.

[aislin_raina]

On 10/17/2023 at 12:27 PM, scottca075 said:

I have not stayed there in more than a decade because I have other favorites, but it maintains a stellar reputation.

What are your favorites? We are sailing out of SF next month.

[KeepCalmBearOn]

My favorites are The Palace, Galleria Park Hotel, Hotel Nikko, Taj Campton Place and JW Marriott.

[princeton123211]

14 hours ago, scottca075 said:

The Palace

The Palace is a great redemption on on Marriott Bonvoy if you have points to burn. Stunningly beautiful hotel-- just walk through it or have a drink at the Pied Piper Bar if you don't stay there. 

[VentureMan_2000]

On 10/17/2023 at 8:30 AM, CeeJayPonz said:

When sailing out of San Francisco, has anyone stayed at the Orchard Hotel in Union Square? Tell me what you thought of it, please. We are sailing out of there in August 2024 and are looking at places to stay somewhat near the terminal. Thanks in advance!

I live local.

Union square is not near the cruise port.  It's not like San Francisco is a big city... it's approximately 8 miles by 8 miles.  But I think you would like to be closer to the cruise terminal.  Also, the hotels near the vicinity of the cruise terminal are closer to the touristy fun stuff, such as Pier 39.

 

Having said that:

There are a half dozen hotels -- residing altogether on nearly the same two blocks -- a bit more than a half mile from the cruise terminal at Pier 27.  Easy walk if you want... or a short Uber/Taxi ride.

Google Hotel Rui and you can see all the hotels there.  Seems Hotel Rui is very popular with cruisers.

Happy cruising.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

How many days pre-cruise are you staying in the City?  As pointed out the City is very compact and there's no worry about how close/far from the cruise port you stay as it's all a matter of minutes.  We are Hilton brand loyal and usually go for the Hilton Union Square.  That being said the walking around Union Square isn't what it use to be.  We don't visit for the touristy stuff any longer, just go for a nice dinner and couple days away.  If you're only there one night then any clean decent place will work.  We have walked past the Orchard and it does look nice.   Any longer than that you will want a nice area where you can walk and see stuff.  That would be near the cruise port area.  Sadly a lot of our fav places to eat around Union Square have closed or have limited there hours.  There's not much foot traffic during the week so many have shift to late in the week and weekend with shorter hours.  I have seen some really great rates at the St. Francis lately.        

[Lake Erie Sailor]

On 11/11/2023 at 9:07 PM, VentureMan_2000 said:

I live local.

Union square is not near the cruise port.  It's not like San Francisco is a big city... it's approximately 8 miles by 8 miles.  But I think you would like to be closer to the cruise terminal.  Also, the hotels near the vicinity of the cruise terminal are closer to the touristy fun stuff, such as Pier 39.

 

Having said that:

There are a half dozen hotels -- residing altogether on nearly the same two blocks -- a bit more than a half mile from the cruise terminal at Pier 27.  Easy walk if you want... or a short Uber/Taxi ride.

Google Hotel Rui and you can see all the hotels there.  Seems Hotel Rui is very popular with cruisers.

Happy cruising.

We are also cruising out of San Francisco in August.  We plan to spend a couple of days before the cruise and then have a day after the cruise to sightsee. We were thinking of staying near Fishermans Warf on one end of our cruise and then Chinatown on the other end.  Any suggestions on which area to spend most of our time?

 

Julie 

[VentureMan_2000]

19 minutes ago, Lake Erie Sailor said:

We are also cruising out of San Francisco in August.  We plan to spend a couple of days before the cruise and then have a day after the cruise to sightsee. We were thinking of staying near Fishermans Warf on one end of our cruise and then Chinatown on the other end.  Any suggestions on which area to spend most of our time?

 

Julie 

San Francisco is really a pretty small place... about 8 miles by 8 miles, pretty easy to get around.

I'd stay in the Fisherman's Wharf area both before and after your cruise.  You can take the Cable Cars to China Town, and from China Town, it's an easy walk -- all downhill -- back to Fisherman's Warf.

First...  I would book the Tour of Alcatraz.  It fills up, so you have to book well in advance.  It's a must-see bucket list item.

I've attached a SF walking tour, 2 files, I put together 5 years ago.  Easily done in a day or less.  Walking to China Town would be all up hill, so definitely take a cable car to it.

I strongly suggest visiting the Cable Car Museum -- it closes at 4pm.  It's not just a museum... it's actually the Powerhouse that runs each of the cables, so you get to actually see the cables as they are moving.

China Town:  visit the fortune cookie factory.  Tiny little place, but a fun visit.  Kam Loc  is my favorite restaurant in China Town.  It's located down in a basement area from the street.  It's where the locals eat so you know the food is authentic and inexpensive.  It's not a glamorous place but can be lively as it's very family oriented -- sometimes an argument breaks out between the family.  

Note:  There is a theory that you do not want to go to a Chinese restaurant rated any higher than a 3.5 on yelp.  The low 3.5 rating is usually due to patrons expecting, and not receiving, excellent service.  It's not because of the food.  Non-tourist Chinese restaurants do not bend over backwards for you... you have to assert yourself if you need something.  Kam Loc fits this category.  Great food and prices... okay service.

Ghirardelli Square is fun to visit... right there near the hotels at Fisherman's Wharf.  And if you want a nice dinner out with a view of Bay, I suggest McCormick's right near by.  

Cruise San Francisco Tour.docx San Francisco Walking Tour.pdf

[Philob]

34 minutes ago, Lake Erie Sailor said:

We were thinking of staying near Fishermans Warf on one end of our cruise and then Chinatown on the other end.  Any suggestions on which area to spend most of our time?  

Hilton SF Financial District is right across the street from Chinatown. There's a bridgeway (east meets west) between the hotel and Portsmouth Square (Chinatown's living room) across the street. Couple of blocks north is North Beach (Little Italy), east & south is Wall Street of the West. Bunch of smaller boutique hotels in that corner of the city.

[Philob]

2 minutes ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

China Town:  visit the fortune cookie factory.  Tiny little place, but a fun visit.  Kam Loc  is my favorite restaurant in China Town.  It's located down in a basement area from the street.  It's where the locals eat so you know the food is authentic and inexpensive.  It's not a glamorous place but can be lively as it's very family oriented -- sometimes an argument breaks out between the family.  

Note:  There is a theory that you do not want to go to a Chinese restaurant rated any higher than a 3.5 on yelp.  The low 3.5 rating is usually due to patrons expecting, and not receiving, excellent service.  It's not because of the food.  Non-tourist Chinese restaurants do not bend over backwards for you... you have to assert yourself if you need something.  Kam Loc fits this category.  Great food and prices... okay service.

Sam Woo Restaurant formally on Washington Street was voted to have the rudest waiter, Edsel Fong. The 3 story restaurant was literally built between the surrounding buildings as there are no side or back walls, only the front.  Kitchen is on the ground floor and you need to walk through it to get to dining rooms upstairs.

 

Edsel will toss you the notepad and yell at you to write down your order "be concise and precise" he would say. When your food comes, he'll either plop it on your table or yell at you to get it yourself from the dumbwaiter while he's reading his Chinese newspaper. Your utensils is self service. If you complain that your sweet & sour taste like ketchup, he'll tell you it probably is. If you think your pot stickers are burnt he'll tell you, "you ordered it, you eat it".

 

Best time to go was after last call in North Beach and staggering in to "freshen up" before going home.

 

Sadly Edsel left us many years ago, but the restaurant in its newer version is still here on Clay St. across from Portsmouth Square.  Food is still good, but no longer has that extra "flavor".

[Lake Erie Sailor]

19 minutes ago, VentureMan_2000 said:

San Francisco is really a pretty small place... about 8 miles by 8 miles, pretty easy to get around.

I'd stay in the Fisherman's Wharf area both before and after your cruise.  You can take the Cable Cars to China Town, and from China Town, it's an easy walk -- all downhill -- back to Fisherman's Warf.

First...  I would book the Tour of Alcatraz.  It fills up, so you have to book well in advance.  It's a must-see bucket list item.

I've attached a SF walking tour, 2 files, I put together 5 years ago.  Easily done in a day or less.  Walking to China Town would be all up hill, so definitely take a cable car to it.

I strongly suggest visiting the Cable Car Museum -- it closes at 4pm.  It's not just a museum... it's actually the Powerhouse that runs each of the cables, so you get to actually see the cables as they are moving.

China Town:  visit the fortune cookie factory.  Tiny little place, but a fun visit.  Kam Loc  is my favorite restaurant in China Town.  It's located down in a basement area from the street.  It's where the locals eat so you know the food is authentic and inexpensive.  It's not a glamorous place but can be lively as it's very family oriented -- sometimes an argument breaks out between the family.  

Note:  There is a theory that you do not want to go to a Chinese restaurant rated any higher than a 3.5 on yelp.  The low 3.5 rating is usually due to patrons expecting, and not receiving, excellent service.  It's not because of the food.  Non-tourist Chinese restaurants do not bend over backwards for you... you have to assert yourself if you need something.  Kam Loc fits this category.  Great food and prices... okay service.

Ghirardelli Square is fun to visit... right there near the hotels at Fisherman's Wharf.  And if you want a nice dinner out with a view of Bay, I suggest McCormick's right near by.  

Cruise San Francisco Tour.docx 767 kB · 0 downloads San Francisco Walking Tour.pdf 101.43 kB · 0 downloads

Thanks.  This is really helpful. Looks like with public transit we can get to most of the places we want to see and do not need to be within walking distance. 

 

Julie 

[KeepCalmBearOn]

4 hours ago, Lake Erie Sailor said:

We are also cruising out of San Francisco in August.  We plan to spend a couple of days before the cruise and then have a day after the cruise to sightsee. We were thinking of staying near Fishermans Warf on one end of our cruise and then Chinatown on the other end.  Any suggestions on which area to spend most of our time?

 

I'd stay in Union Square or the Embarcadero, not Fisherman's Wharf or "near" Chinatown. Fisherman's Wharf is a schlocky fiction of an SF that never was. It is mostly mediocre chain restaurants, uninteresting tourist shops and annoying mimes.

[marden1970]

On 1/11/2024 at 2:32 PM, scottca075 said:

 

I'd stay in Union Square or the Embarcadero, not Fisherman's Wharf or "near" Chinatown. Fisherman's Wharf is a schlocky fiction of an SF that never was. It is mostly mediocre chain restaurants, uninteresting tourist shops and annoying mimes.

I like the Fisherman's Wharf area but then again I am a tourist.  There are quite a few chain hotels in the area and it's easy to get wherever you want to go.  A short cab/uber ride in the morning to Pier 27. Personally, I would not stay in the Union Square area, I just didn't like the vibe and really didn't feel as safe there.

[ATSEAMYLIFE]

If your are spending that much time in the City then check out these walking tours with https://wildsftours.com/  We visited SF frequently and just did our own thing for mostly long weekend 2-3 times a year when hotel rates bottomed.  Once we had out of state friends doing a road trip up the coast and we met them in SF.  I wanted to find something unique for them and ran across "Wild SF Walking Tours."  It was awesome.  We did the China Town walking tour and at the end hung around and took the tour guide out for lunch at his fav China Town restaurant.  It was outstanding.  It appears they have scaled back their tours considerably, but this would still be a great option.  Also maybe try https://avitalexperiences.com/san-francisco/       

[torringtonwyo]

for our precruise in march we are staying at the suites at fishermanwharf is uber the best way to get to hotel from airport for 4 of us and luggage 

[Philob]

14 hours ago, torringtonwyo said:

for our precruise in march we are staying at the suites at fishermanwharf is uber the best way to get to hotel from airport for 4 of us and luggage 

Yes.

[VentureMan_2000]

On 1/17/2024 at 3:55 PM, torringtonwyo said:

 is uber the best way to get to hotel from airport for 4 of us and luggage 

Yes.  UberXL.  Can be a tight fit for 4 depending on size and number of luggage, and the size of the SUV that picks you up.