Should we stay at the SFO Airport?

Hello:

We will be visiting SF for three days (arriving in the afternoon on Sept 10 and leaving on the morning of Sept 13). It seems that the hotels near airport are cheaper (via Price Line). Does it make sense to stay near airport and take BART for the city? Are there any travel cards which will cut down travel expenses between hotel and the city? Do all hotels near airport provide free transportation to the airport?

Thanks

Should we stay at the SFO Airport?

There is a nice place in Brisbane called the Homewood Suites and they do have 24 hour shuttle service to and from SFO. I know that they provide a free hot breakfast and on the weeknights, they have a managers hour. Check out Hotwire, too, you may get lucky and catch the Homewood on a great rate. It makes great sense to save a little and getting a lot from a place like the Homewood. And take advantage to the free shuttle service from 5am to midnight to and from the San Bruno BART station.

Should we stay at the SFO Airport?

I dunno. FernandoBee comes to SF frequently enough that perhaps staying outside the city is fine. If I%26#39;m coming to a place from far away, and don%26#39;t get there often, I prefer to get a smaller place to stay within budget so I can be right in the city and experience it all. It just depends on the atmosphere you want. Most, but not all, airport hotels will provide a shuttle service to the airport. If you%26#39;re determined to stay in an airport hotel, I%26#39;d stay at one of those that provide free transportation to the San Bruno BART station. That way you%26#39;re one stop closer and you don%26#39;t have to sait for the the shuttle that connects the airport to BART.

To me, its all about location, location, location. If it is important that you be near the airport, stay near the airport. If you are coming to visit The City, stay in The City. It is worth the extra money to be in the place you want to visit and if you search enough and use the tools available, you can find something close to the same rate as the airport. Someone just a little while back stayed down there when they were visiting the City and wrote a terrible story about the experience.

If you stay at the airport, you won%26#39;t have the opportunity to go back to your hotel in the middle of the day to get rid of packages, rest your feet, change clothes, switch to more comfortable shoes, etc. You%26#39;ll probably spend less time seeing the city than if you were staying in the city. So I really don%26#39;t think it makes sense to stay at the airport. After all, you%26#39;re paying a lot to get here; you might as well see what you came for!

Definitely stay in the City. You%26#39;ll miss so much if you don%26#39;t. I know there are Holiday Inns and Best Westerns. They are probably not as expensive.

If your main purpose is to actually see the City then I would definitely stay in San Francisco proper. The airport is a decent 20 minutes away.. at least from what I remember (due to traffic and such).

maybe stay at SFO on your last night, if you have a rental car, leave everything in the trunk and checkin when you are done the last day? I%26#39;d stay downtown, as the other post states, location, location, location.

I like the Sheraton Gateway at SFO. It has free airport transportation; nice views of the bay; nice rooms; nice bar area. It would be fairly easy to get from here to SFO (but you do lose on the commute time back and forth to San Francisco so there is a trade-off.....but you%26#39;d still have a nice vacation and room.

If you are coming to see San Francisco and only have 3 nights then definately do as Wes Tyler GM suggests and search for similar priced room in the city.

Staying at the airport is definately not the best way to see the city.

See if you can find something in a similar price range that you are looking for and come back to the forum for suggestions on those properties.

Stay IN The City!!!! Go to Priceline.com bid $70-$80 for Union Square East. You%26#39;ll get a very nice hotel in a great area that%26#39;s much more convenient than anything at SFO.

Part of visiting the City is being able to walk to your hotel late after a night out and then waking up the next morning and opening your window to the sounds of the City. You wont get that at SFO.