Air Travel

There are two airports very close to San Francisco, and prices can vary a lot between them. We suggest checking on flights both into San Francisco International (SFO) and Oakland International (OAK). Both provide easy access to San Francisco via cars or public transit.

Hotels

We were looking at booking a block of rooms at a hotel in San Francisco, but honestly? It turns out to be cheaper to just search on Kayak for hotels (current quote on Kayak at the Marriott, for example, is $30 less than if we were to reserve a block). That said, we can recommend some of our favorite hotels in SF:

The Marriott Marquis Hotel looks like a giant jukebox! It's also centrally located near the border of the shopping districts of Union Square and SoMa, ample public transit, and is a short walk to the waterfront of the Embarcadero.

Good Hotel is basically what you'd expect an eco-friendly, San Francisco boutique hotel to be. Yes, that includes bedding made of 75% recycled soda bottles. It's located in a more transitional area of SoMa, just a couple blocks from the new Twitter headquarters. The owners, Haiyi Hotels, own a few other hotels in the area as well that might be worth checking out.

The Metro Hotel is another very SF boutique hotel, this one in the heart of the Divisadero corridor in Western Addition. Close to amazing food, awesome bars, and several of San Francisco's better parks, it offers a cheaper, hipper option than some of the others.

The W is modern luxury personified... hotel-ified? The lobby is all water and fire features, the staff is painfully hip and fashionable, the lights are forever dim, and the music is always sexy. It can be a little much, honestly, but in an awesome way.

The Mark Hopkins is old school luxury. Perched on top of Nob Hill, it boasts one of the best views in San Francisco, especially from its 19th floor penthouse lounge, The Top of the Mark.

Other Lodging Options

If you're interested in having a truer San Francisco experience, there are many listings on AirBnB or VRBO that would allow you to rent an actual house or apartment. Neighborhoods to look for: Mission (for hipster utopia), Noe Valley, Bernal Heights, Potrero Hill, SoMa near 3rd street, Western Addition. Neighborhoods to avoid: Tenderloin, Hunters Point, "Lower Nob Hill", anything too far from public transit, SoMa near 6th street.