I spend so much time in San Francisco, review local restaurants and cafes, and yet, until now, I have never posted a list of my favorite SF hotels. Since the world has woken up from the long summer holiday, visiting friends and business colleagues have been pressing me for a list of places to stay. Note please, I have listed nothing in the Fisherman’s Wharf area, which one must avoid at all costs. I also broke down and listed hotels that belong in the “chain” category (which I normally despise but in this case I make an exception for the Joie de Vivre group, otherwise this post would be very short indeed). For whatever reason I can’t find really good stylish B&Bs and boutique hotels that meet my “design” test (i.e. modern urban chic; no flower-patterned curtains, crocheted doilies on tables). As for other areas of San Francisco, the city is famous for being anti-growth and anti-change so most of the new hotels are concentrated downtown. And remember: you do NOT want to end up at Fisherman’s Wharf or Cannery Row which are nothing more than dismal tourist traps with awful restaurants and junk food.

Diva
440 Geary St.
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 885 0200
www.hoteldiva.com
Union Square

Hotel Rex
562 Sutter St.
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 433 4434
www.jdvhotels.com/rex
Union Square

Clift Hotel
495 Geary St.
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 775 4700
www.clifthotel.com
Union Square

Hotel Kabuki
1625 Post Street
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 922 3200
www.jdvhotels.com/kabuki
Japantown / Fillmore

Hotel Tomo
1800 Sutter St.
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 921 4000
www.jdvhotels.com/tomo
Japantown / Fillmore

Hotel Adagio
550 Geary St.
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 775 9388
www.jdvhotels.com/adagio
Theater District / Union Square

Hotel Vitale
8 Mission St.
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 278 3700
www.jdvhotels.com/vitale
On the Embarcadero across the Ferry Building, views of the SF Bay; the bar gets very busy in the late afternoon and early evening, good for people watching

Phoenix Hotel
601 Eddy St.
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 776 1380
www.jdvhotels.com/phoenix
Rock ‘n Roll hotel in the Tenderloin

Hotel Triton
342 Grant Avenue (at Bush Street)
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 394 0500
www.hoteltriton.com
Chinatown/ Union Square; Cafe de la Press, one of my favorite cafe/restaurants is a few doors down

Hotel Metropolis
25 Mason St.
San Francisco, CA
+1 415 775 4600
www.hotelmetropolis.com
Union Square

Go to my Google map of San Francisco hotels mentioned in this post.

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Here is a Google map with my favorite San Francisco restaurants and cafes. Read reviews of all my favorite restaurants and cafes in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Sponsored Link: Find the best boutique hotels in San Francisco.

Guido van den Elshout, owner of Haagsche Suites, a fabulous boutique hotel in The Hague, interviewed me recently about my favorite travel destinations and places to stay, as well as my top recommendations for visitors coming to San Francisco (first one is to avoid Fisherman’s Wharf). If you are curious about my favorite places to stay, what I recommend in SF, where to go for the best ice cream, read on:

10 Questions (6) for: Esme Vos of Mapplr

Regular readers of Mapplr know that when it comes to hotels, I prefer to stay in places that do not belong to a chain. I like small, intimate hotels or B&Bs whose owners pay a lot of attention to design, atmosphere and personal service. Last winter, I had a chance to go to Japan for the first time. I was invited to speak at a wireless conference in Fukuoka and decided to stay an extra week to visit Tokyo and Kyoto.

Finding a non-chain hotel in Tokyo is challenging. Thank heavens for the ryokan, a Japanese-style B&B. There are many ryokans in Tokyo and Kyoto, but some accept only Japanese guests because they do not have English-speaking staff. Fortunately, ryokans are becoming more popular among foreign visitors so finding one that accepts foreigners isn’t a problem anymore. What to expect from a ryokan: tatami mats, sitting on the floor at a low table to drink and eat, sleeping on a futon which the ryokan staff roll out at night (and roll back into a closet during the day), Japanese breakfasts, a Japanese bath on the premises, and in more luxurious ryokans, kaiseki breakfasts and dinners served in your room.

Here are my favorite hotels and ryokans in Tokyo.

Claska
1-3-18 Chuo-cho
Meguro-ku
Tokyo, Japan
+81 3 3719 8121
www.claska.com/en/
Small hip hotel in Meguro

Yoshimizu
3-11-3 Ginza
Chuo-ku
Tokyo, Japan
+81 3 3248 4432
www.yoshimizu.com/en/ginza/index.html
Eleven room ryokan in the heart of Ginza

Sukeroku No Yado Sadachiyo
2-20-1 Asakusa
Taito-ku
Tokyo, Japan
+81 3 3842 6431
www.sadachiyo.co.jp
Modern ryokan in Asakusa

Ryokan Asakusa Shigetsu
1-31-11 Asakusa
Tokyo, Japan
+81 3 3843 2345
www.shigetsu.com
Ryokan by Sensoji temple in Asakusa

Shibuya Granbell Hotel
15-17 Sakuragaoka-cho
Shibuya-ku
Tokyo, Japan
+81 3 5457 2681
www.granbellhotel.jp
Boutique hotel by Shibuya station

Andon Ryokan
2-34-10 Nihonzutsumi Taito
Tokyo, Japan 111-0021
+81 3 3873 8611
www.andon.co.jp
Industrial chic meets traditional Japanese design

The b Akasaka
7-6-13, Akasaka
Minato-ku
Tokyo, Japan
+81 3 3586 0811
www.ishinhotels.com/theb-akasaka/en/

Mapplr’s favorite ryokans in Japan

If you are going to other cities in Japan or out into the countryside, make sure you check out my favorite ryokans.

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Here is a Google map of Tokyo with my favorite hotels and ryokans.

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I posted a few notes on my trip to Japan, including photos, on Rosecantine.com:

With luggage like this, you’ll never be at a loss at the airport baggage carousel

Cheap fast food in Tokyo: noodles

Funky outfits near Harajuku station in Tokyo

In Japan this week