A few tips for finding San Francisco hotels and visiting the city:
- High season in San Francisco is late July and August when it’s best to book early.
- My favorite time to visit is September and early October. It can still be busy but the weather is usually nicer than the summer months when it’s often foggy and chilly through much of the city.
- The Farmers Market at the ferry building on the embarcadero is fabulous with lots of great food. It runs Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday until 2pm.
- The Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival held every year in Golden Gate Park is free, fun, and amazing. Don’t miss it if you’re in town in early October.
- Can’t miss restaurants: La Taqueria for burritos (Mission District), Suppenkuche for German food and beer (Hayes Valley), Slanted Door for Vietnamese (Ferry Building), and Zazie – a french bistro with amazing breakfasts (Cole Valley).
The Best Family-Friendly Hotels
Hotel Del Sol
Very colorful hotel with heated outdoor pool. Good location near shopping and restaurants of Chestnut and Union streets, free parking and continental breakfast.
Map: 3100 Webster Street, San Francisco, CA
Helpful links: TripAdvisor Reviews, Hotel Website
W San Francisco
Kid-friendly luxury. All rooms come with stereos. Very close to Yerba Buena ice skating and bowling center, the Zeum technology museum, and the Metreon Entertainment Center – all big attractions for kids.
Map: 181 Third Street, San Francisco, CA
Helpful links: TripAdvisor Reviews, Hotel Website
Argonaut Hotel
Great location near the wharf, Ghirardelli Square, and cable car. Wine, hot chocolate, apple cider, and dog biscuits offered in the afternoon depending on age and species.
Map: 495 Jefferson Street, San Francisco, CA
Helpful links: TripAdvisor Reviews, Hotel Website
Diva Hotel
Trendy but fun hotel near Union Square. Hotel has a little divas kids’ suite that is a lot of fun.
Map: 440 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA
Helpful links: TripAdvisor Reviews, Hotel Website
Handlery Union Square Hotel
The economy choice for a downtown hotel with swimming pool. Close to Union Square. Quiet rooms despite being on busy Geary street.
Map: 351 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA
Helpful links: TripAdvisor Reviews, Hotel Website
Stanyan Park Hotel
A good budget choice near to Golden Gate Park and a fantastic kids’ playground. Lots of great restaurants nearby. Rooms are small and 2 rooms might be necessary for a family of 4 with older children.
Map: 750 Stanyan Street, San Francisco, CA
Helpful links: TripAdvisor Reviews, Hotel Website
Hotels With Swimming Pools in San Francisco
- Hotel Nikko San Francisco (shallow pool is great for kids, not so much for laps)
- Palace Hotel San Francisco (atrium style dome over the pool)
- San Francisco Marriott Marquis
- Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco (this is a lap pool, part of a athletic club, and kids are not allowed in – though the hotel will give you vouchers to swim at the nearby Marriott)
- Harbor Court Hotel (the huge lap pool at the YMCA is open to guests of the hotel)
- Hilton San Francisco Union Square (heated outdoor pool and jacuzzi)
- InterContinental San Francisco (lap pool is open to kids but not necessarily kid-friendly)
- Holiday Inn San Francisco Golden Gateway (large heated outdoor pool, some rooms have a sliding glass door that opens directly onto the pool)
- Handlery Union Square Hotel (heated outdoor pool)
- Hotel Del Sol (heated outdoor pool)
- Radisson Hotel Fisherman’s Wharf (heated outdoor pool)
- Best Western Americania (heated outdoor pool)
Further Reading
- San Francisco With Kids – The 10 Best Things To Do
- The Best of San Francisco 2011 from SFWeekly
- I Love My City – San Francisco With A Local
- 20 Great Things To Do In San Francisco
- 10 Free Things To Do In San Francisco
- 21 San Francisco Day Trips
- Why We Love San Francisco
- Frommer’s Online Guide To San Francisco
- 36 Hours In Sonoma County
- 36 Hours In Napa County
- Napa Valley – Tasting Rooms or Wineries?
- Discounted San Francisco Hotels
What neighborhood would you recommend staying in? We have 2 children ages 5 and 9 and are wondering where to base ourselves. We’ll be there for 4 or 5 nights. Thanks.
There are lots of good choices. Being close to Golden Gate park is great. There are a couple of really good playgrounds in that area and lots of low key and kid friendly places to eat. The muni (light rail) train runs right through there and into downtown. If you’re right downtown there’s lots to see of course and entertaining yourself is never a problem but it can be a bit much for some kids. It’s pretty urban down around Union Square – though there are playgrounds around if you know where to look. (http://www.ggmg.org/Playgrounds/playground_summary.html). The marina area is also nice but it’s a bit harder and takes more time to get to other parts of the city (but getting to Marin is faster). If it was me I’d go with The Stanyan Park Hotel or something nearby. I hope that helps a bit. Good luck.
Here’s our plan. I’m not looking for a lot of info as it’s pretty much set in stone (in my mind at least) but I wanted to run it by you as you seem to know a fair bit about the bay area. So does this plan sound ok to you:
-fly from Seattle to San Francisco. rent a car from the airport. stay at the Del Sol hotel (read lots of good reviews).
-spend 2 days seeing and doing stuff in S.F. downtown. probably Alcatraz, Berkeley, North Beach area, Fisherman’s Wharf, and the Science museum in GG park.
-then 2 days driving through Napa Valley, staying in Napa itself and driving to some wineries around there. eat some good food.
-stay with friends over the weekend in Mill Valley. do some fun stuff in Marin (they’ll probably have some ideas for us.)
-then go south, maybe to Monterey, though that might be too far for just one night stay. ideas?
-then fly home
How does that sound? We’ll be there in July and are 2 adults and a 13 year old boy.
Muchos Gracias!
Sounds like a good plan. If you’re into science then I’d add the Exploratorium (maybe the best science museum in the country): http://www.exploratorium.edu. Another suggestion would be to visit Sonoma Valley instead of Napa. It’s got a friendlier feel to it – and I like the towns better too. Healdsburg is great. Sonoma itself is great. And your son would love swimming in the Russian River. Mill Valley is a great town and has some really good restaurants too. Have fun.
We stayed at the W hotel and totally agree. It’s wonderful and surprisingly kid friendly. The girls loved it. Only thing was would have been great to be closer to Golden Gate Park as we loved the 2 visits we made there. What a lovely neighborhood. But, as far as I could tell there are very few hotels out that way so we’re fine with our decision, and as I say, the stay was wonderful.
We’re considering a stay at the Stanyan Park. Is there a swimming pool in or around Golden Gate Park? Thanks you for your time and effort.
There’s one in the Inner Richmond district which isn’t too far away – a nice walk through Golden Gate Park. (http://www.yelp.com/biz/rossi-pool-san-francisco). It has a nice playground right next to it as well.
Wanted to say thanks for this list of swimming pool hotels. It’s exactly what I searched for and I thought who’d have a list of just the swimming pools and here it is.
We have stayed at the Nikko and the kids and adults loved the pool. Very kid friendly. But it’s booked up for one of our days in SF (right smack in the middle of our stay) so I guess we have to find a different hotel.
For other parents I’d suggest being close to a grocery store is a good idea. It can really come in handy sometimes. San Francisco is a fun city for kids. Enjoy everyone!
Foggy and cold in the summer? I thought this was California, isn’t it hot in the summer? Confused.
Yes, strange isn’t it. It’s to do with the warm interior air hitting the cold Pacific air and creating fog. Consequently, much of San Francisco is covered by fog through July and August. It’s less pronounced towards the bay, so downtown and the Mission district are often nice while out towards the ocean (Golden Gate Park, Richmond, Cole Valley, and Sunset neighborhoods) are covered in cloud and quite chilly. The Golden Gate Bridge is often shrouded in fog and buffeted by wind throughout the summer and is freezing! If you do need some sun it’s easy to get: drive across the bridges to either Marin (Sausalito and Mill Valley) or Oakland and Berkeley and they’re usually 10 or 20 degrees warmer. I hope that helps.
Where to start? 6 days with 17 year old teenagers…want to see the city but also want to do some exploring of coast. Which way north or south-looking for a couple nights at beach front property for golf as well? Any suggestions?
I’d go to either Santa Cruz (hotels here if you’re interested) – a really fun town that your teenagers will love. Or Healdsburg in Sonoma (hotels), where there are lots of outdoor activities like canoeing, mountain biking, and swimming (in the river).
Any good hotels in Marin for kids? Something around $150/$200 would be about our budget. thank you.
is great. (The Best Western in Corte Madera is great.) It has a great outdoor pool, a nice open space for kids to run about in, hot tubs, incudes breakfast (just so-so, but gets you out the door in the morning), and close to a bus stop that runs right into the city. A couple decent places to eat within walking distance too (plus drugstore, grocery store, and a large mall).
For something quite different check out the Fairfax Inn Bed and Breakfast. It’s in my favorite town in Marin: Fairfax. A cool little place with cafes, restaurants, a brew pub, and live music. All very walkable and the Fairfax Inn is right in the thick of things. (Info here.)
Good luck.
I’m confused. I need to choose a good hotel in San Fran for me and my 2 sons. They like to swim and we’ll be doing the most popular tourist attractions. What hotel should I choose without spending a fortune? We’ll be there at the beginning of September.
Check out the Hotel del Sol San Francisco. Great location, nice pool, fun family vibe.
Good luck.