“Outstanding Hotel”
This was our first trip to San Francisco and we decided to go there to celebrate our 40th Wedding Anniversary. After checking the reviews on many of the hotels, we decided to take a chance on this one. As it turns out, we made a wonderful choice! Everything was fantastic, from the check-in, spacious room, unbelieveably Comfortable bed, cleanliness, beautiful view of the bay, convenience to restaurants, cable cars, and all attractions, and also a very courteous and helpful staff. They even surprised us with a bottle of champagne from Napa Valley and a handwritten card congratulating us on our 40th Anniversary! We would definitely stay there again! And we were so impressed with our stay (our first time in a Marriott) that when we travel again we will look for a Marriott .
Area recommendations
This hotel was in Union Square, which we discovered is central to everything. Chinatown is within walking distance, the cable cars stop across the street from the hotel, a Walgreens is across the street for personal items, Lori's Diner is across the street and is open 24 hours a day and has delicious homemade food (love their blueberry muffins) , taxi's available, lots of restaurants and shopping within one to two blocks of the hotel, and a wonderful park where you can hop on/off the many city sightseeing buses.
Getting around
The first day there we walked until we came upon a hop on/off city sightseeing audio tour bus. We enjoyed this, and sat up top in the open air section of the bus and glad we did because this bus takes you over the Golden Gate Bridge and What a View from the open top of the bus!! Got great pictures. This tour also gave us an idea of places we would want to go back and see. We also enjoyed the cable cars, so much fun. Try to get on the outside and hang on! Went to Fishermans Wharf on these, got off to see the crookedest street, too. We rented a car for just one day, but glad we did. We went to Muir Woods, Point Reyes, and Napa and Sonoma Valley and was a relaxing and beautiful drive.
Must see
I would recommend you take the Alcatraz tour, the one that takes you to the island and lets you go into the prison. It is a really interesting tour, and the views of San Francisco from the island are fantastic. It is hard to get tickets as they sell out quickly, so recommend you make reservations before you leave for San Francisco. After the tour, you can walk around Fishermans Wharf, really a neat place with lots to see. Pier 39 has the sea lions that inhabit the end of the pier. The Cannery and Ghiradehli Square are also in the area. We rode a cable car to get to these places(a definite must-do experience) Also, Muir Woods is beautiful, you walk among the old redwood forests, and about 10 minutes from this area, you can drive up to see the Pacific Ocean. There is a walkway over the cliffs that jut into the sea and the views are just Breathtaking! We rented a car for the day, giving us the freedom to see these things, along with driving over the Golden Gate (a definite must see) and onto the beautiful valleys of Sonoma and Napa.
