Inns that are "In" Part I

San Francisco is home to some of the greatest hotels in the world.  The Fairmont Hotel, where Tony Bennett first performed, I Left my Heart in San Francisco.  The Palace Hotel, whose skylight Micheal Douglas fell through in the movie the Game,  and whose lobby was driven through by Herbie the Love Bug.  However, San Francisco, and the greater bay area in general, is home to some of the quirkiest and quaintest lodging you will find.  Inns that range the gamut from private islands to youth hostels.

I've been a hotel concierge in San Francisco for many years and worked in some of the finest properties in the city.  I know this may sound surprising but when I travel I prefer more modest accommodations.  I have worked in hotels that will place a pillow mint on your bed at turndown (if you know what that is).  Nothing wrong with pillow mints, but if you live in Disneyland, amusement parks are not really high on the To-Do list while on vacation.  When I travel, I prefer to stay in the family-owned motel with the letter O burnt out in the Motel sign.  Or the kind of motel you show up at, and interrupt the Innkeeper's dinner to check in.

The Victorian, Queen Anne Hotel At Christmas

Since 1890, the Queen Anne Hotel has had many incarnations of managers, from brothel owners to church caretakers, to mysterious secret societies.  And the lobby reflects its Victorian past and storied history.  In fact, I don't think the design of their lobby and common spaces have changed in a hundred years.  This is why it has a loyal clientele.  And because of its mysterious and eclectic past, it is said to be haunted.  In fact, it is said to be the most haunted hotel in the city.  It has not only been featured on the Travel Channel’s, Haunted Hotels, it is where San Francisco's famous Ghost Hunt Walking Tour starts every excursion.

Today, many people of all ages stay in hostels, so you can't really call them "youth" hostels anymore. And hostels vary from location to location, but I have stayed in hostels which were former army barracks, castles, and mansions.  I first stayed in a youth hostel when I found myself traveling Europe alone at the age of 17, and fell in love with hosteling.  I've stayed in hostels across the United States, Canada, and from the Arctic Circle to the Red Sea.  

All hostels have some kind of common space where veteran travelers share their knowledge with novice adventurers.  For the record,  I have been both.  As my career in hospitality blossomed from graveyard-shift bellman to chief concierge of a fancy hotel, I tried to initiate the concept of a common space in every hotel I worked in.

Though technically not a hotel, the Fort Mason Youth Hostel is unique in that it rests on a bluff with commanding views of the bay and the Golden Gate Bridge.  Even though they don't have private rooms (which many hostels do nowadays) their location, simple amenities, and price can't be beat.  Here is just a sampling of the many amenities they offer: Free towels and bed sheets, guest kitchen, 24/7 staff, a game room, free breakfast, and an onsite café.

For an equally eclectic, but different kind of vibe, let me recommend the Hotel Boheme.   This little inn is in the heart of North Beach, our old Italian neighborhood, but North Beach is also famous for being the nadir of the Beat movement of the late 1950s and early 1960s.  Classic literary works like Jack Kerouac's On The Road, and Allen Ginzbergs' Howl introduced this little working-class enclave to the world, and the Hotel Boheme embodies this history.  The quaint and cozy rooms are named after such Beat notables as the aforementioned Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg.  In addition to the history and culture of the hotel, it is in a great location, walking distance from Fisherman's Wharf, Chinatown, and Union Square.

The Hotel Des Arts, Where No Two Rooms Are The Same

And now for something completely different, and awesome, summed up in three words: Hotel Des Arts!  Not to overuse the word quaint, but for lack of a better one, this little hotel has 48 quaint, but well-appointed rooms. 

That may sound like a lot of hotels in San Francisco, but what makes the Hotel Des Arts unique is that each of their rooms are designed by a different artist, all but three of them local.  The other three rooms are designed by French artists.  Tired of the well established motifs of the Hilton's and Hyatt's?  At the Hotel Des Arts, no one room is the same as the other, which makes this little hotel one of the best kept secrets in the city. 

The other great benefit of the Hotel Des Arts is the location.  Literally a stone's throw from the famous Chinatown Gate, Union Square, and the Financial District.  It is only three blocks from Market Street, San Francisco's main thoroughfare.

The power and longevity of Alfred Hitchcock’s films resonate even today.  Who hasn’t approximated the violin strings-sound from the Psycho shower scene, when defining something as disturbing or crazy?

Alfred Hitchcock made two films in San Francisco, and two more in the greater San Francisco Bay Area.  One of those films, Vertigo from 1958, starred Jimmy Stewart and Kim Novak.  In the film there is a short scene where Jimmy Stewart goes to the apartment Kim Novak lives in.  Almost 70 years later, that unknown nondescript building is now the Hotel Vertigo; the only Alfred Hitchcock-themed hotel I know of.  I’m sure if you are not familiar with the film, it may seem like an odd name for a hotel.

It is rare for a classic hotel to retain its original design.  The trend in the 21st. century is to remove the original classical motif of the pre-war era hotels and replace it with, what I like to call Silicon Valley Clean Room/Swedish Minimalism.  An interior design which is stark white, with chrome or unvarnished wood trimmings and moldings.

It is even more rare when a motel retains its original design, and that is the story of the Ocean Park Motel in the far-flung Outer Sunset District of San Francisco.  Built in 1937 blocks from the Pacific Ocean, this Streamline Moderne/Nautical-themed motel has retained its original design for almost 90 years.  In fact, it is so unique that the Ocean Park Motel, with its circular ocean liner-windows, was honored by the Art Deco Society in 1987.  It is said that their first customers arrived for the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge that same year, another Art Deco classic you may have heard of.