Set your sights on a San Francisco getaway and chances are you'll get a vacation full of great food, fine wine, credit card damaging shopping, cultural enlightenment and the inevitable sore calf muscles from all that walking up steep hills. There are also a few deals out there to help ease the financial burden.
Sanfrancisco.com (www.sanfrancisco.com) offers cut price accommodation rates on select properties. The historic and centrally located Fitzgerald Hotel Union Square (tel. 866/302-3918) has the following deals for stays on any night of the week (weekend included):
- Queen room: $99 (until October 31, 2006)
- Suite: $169 (until October 31, 2006)
- Queen room: $59 (November 1, 2006, to April 30, 2007)
- Suite: $129 (November 1, 2006, to April 30, 2007)
The Radisson Hotel Fisherman's Wharf (tel. 866/259-0434) has standard king rooms from $129 per night per room midweek and $139 on weekends, or a standard room with two double beds for the same rates. Be sure to request the sanfrancisco.com special rate when making your reservation.
The boutique Orchard Hotel (tel. 888/717-2881; www.theorchardhotel.com) has a "Value Package," which is available during the summer and fall and offers two-nights in a Deluxe room for $189 per night and receive the third night at 50% off. The package includes a complimentary daily European breakfast buffet, high-speed Internet access, CD/DVD Entertainment centers and free DVD movies from the front desk. Their "Go San Francisco" package is available for two-night stays in a Deluxe King room. It includes two One Day Go San Francisco cards with free general admission to over 45 San Francisco attractions and tours including SFMOMA, a full-day Deluxe Wine Country tour, Golden Gate Bay cruise, Legion of Honor, Six Flags Marine World, a full-day Monterey and Carmel Tour, Asian Art Museum, California Academy of Sciences-Steinhart Aquarium and Bay City bike rentals. Accommodation also includes European breakfast buffet, high speed Internet access, DVD movie rentals, turn down service and complimentary newspaper. This package is priced at $199 per room per night. Coming in October, 2006 is the opening of their sister hotel, Orchard Garden Hotel which will feature environmentally friendly green practices like chemical-free cleaning products, a 100% tobacco-free environment, recycled paper with soy-based inks, and the San Francisco debut of a guestroom key card energy control system.
Personality Hotels (tel. 800/553-1900; www.personalityhotels.com) a group of boutique hotels located around Union Square has recently added two additional kids' rooms to help make junior travelers feel at home. The Little Divas suite at the Hotel Diva celebrates famous child actors and is decorated in bright colors with modern bunk beds, a tent, cushions and a drawing table. Special diva touches including a selection of kid-rated movies, a microwave stocked with popcorn, a large trunk filled with dress-up gear and a karaoke machine. Oh and there is an adjoining room for those pesky accompanying adults. Rates for the two rooms start from $249. The Ring in the Kids suite at Hotel Union Square has a historical theme with a large mural of San Francisco landmarks, a trundle bed (and two queen-size beds), and a computer stocked with history-related games. Rates start at $189 per night for the one large room. These two suites are on top of the first kids' suite at the Hotel Metropolis introduced six years ago, The Zen kids' suite features kid-sized furniture, bunk beds and rubber ducky décor in the bathroom. Three inter-connected rooms including a living room area, and another room with two queen beds starts from $359 per night.
The Ferry Building Line (tel. 415/901-5253; www.ferrybuildingline.com) has recently introduced a new cruise which departs from the Ferry Building on Wednesdays to Sundays. The 90-minute cruise offers passengers a choice of three audio tours: Architecture (available in English, Spanish, German and Japanese), Natural History and Native American. Passengers can listen to the audio tapes or just sit back and enjoy the ride and scenic vistas. The cruise travels along the waterfront, under the Bay Bridge, around Yerba Buena Island, Treasure Island and past Alcatraz. Tickets are $39 for adults, $26 for children aged five to 11 and the ride is free for children under five.
For a spot of shopping and entertainment under one roof, you don't need to head out of town to find massive mall. The expanded Westfield San Francisco Centre (tel. 415/512-6776; www.westfield.com/sfc), located adjacent to Union Square and Yerba Buena Gardens will be opening in late September 2006 and boasts that it is the largest urban shopping center west of the Mississippi River. Home to the largest Bloomingdale's outside of New York and the second largest Nordstrom in the U.S., the center will house more than 170 specialty stores and upscale boutiques, a nine-screen cinema as well as fine dining restaurants and an international gourmet marketplace. The centerpiece will be the 102-foot wide steel and glass dome restored from the now-gone Emporium department store.
In almost all cases, with every airline, flights into Oakland are considerably cheaper than San Francisco proper and to be honest, there is little to no difference in terms of distance and price when it comes to transportation into the city, so you should really consider this alternate airport.
Sample round-trip prices (including all taxes) for flights into Oakland and San Francisco through Travelocity (www.travelocity.com) for midweek travel during the month of September include:
- Seattle to Oakland: $123 on Alaska Airlines non-stop
- Fort Lauderdale to Oakland: $193 on America West or United with one-stop
- Chicago to San Francisco: $211 on Northwest Airlines with one-stop
- Boston to San Francisco: $263 on US Airways
- New York to Oakland: $264 on Delta with one-stop
- Dallas to Oakland: $273 on United or American Airlines
- New York to San Francisco: $343 on Continental or American Airlines non-stop
- Miami to San Francisco: $343 on American Airlines with one-stop
Southwest (www.southwest.com) currently has an airfare sale with discounted priced on flights to Oakland. Tickets must be purchased by August 31, 2006 and fares listed below are one-way with 14-day advance purchase valid for travel from August 22, 2006 until January 9, 2007. Taxes are additional.
- From Los Angeles or Burbank: $49
- From San Diego: $49
- From Seattle: $79
- From Portland OR: $79
- From Chicago: $99
- From Long Island NY: $99
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