Inexpensive, Comfortable Basic Hotel Close to (but not IN) San Francisco
Written: May 30 '05 (Updated Aug 10 '05)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Half way between San Francisco Airport and downtown SF. Cheaper than hotels in the city.
Cons: Not in the city! Staff stretched too thin to be truly attentive.
The Bottom Line: Modestly priced hotel conveniently located between San Francisco Airport and downtown San Francisco. Worthy if price is your main concern and you're not seeking a true city experience
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| jsquarejj's Full Review: Courtyard by Marriott San Francisco Airport |
The Marriott Courtyard near San Francisco Airport is a comfortable basic hotel for anyone making a quick trip to San Francisco, as long as actually staying in the city is not important and adequate but unexceptional service will suffice. Reasonable price is an important attraction, also. My partner and I just stayed here for one night between a Saturday wedding and a Sunday Giants game.
Why Stay Here?
The Marriott is in one of those non-descript hotels in one of a handful of non-descript business parks along highway 101 in South San Francisco, half way between the city and San Francisco Airport. It’s reason for existence seems to be to accomodate the fly-in business community, and it is just minutes from the airport. It’s also only 10 minutes or so by car to SBC Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and slightly longer to downtown, China Town, the Embarcadero, and other tourist attractions.
We go to San Francisco often. Sometimes we want a real urban experience, so we stay downtown, typically near Union Square. Other times, all we care about is price, and we’re willing to drive a few minutes from outside the city. When that’s the case, we use PriceLine, which almost always plunks us down in one of the South San Francisco business lodgings, like the Marriott Courtyard.
The main reason to stay here is to get basic amenities at a reasonable price within a short drive of San Francisco. Be warned: this area has none of the flavor of San Francisco; it’s just a reasonable hotel in a business park.
Location
The Marriott is in one of those non-descript hotels in one of a handful of non-descript business parks along highway 101 in South San Francisco, half way between the city and San Francisco Airport. It’s reason for existence seems to be to accomodate the fly-in business community, and it is just minutes from the airport. It’s also only 10 minutes or so by car to SBC Park, home of the San Francisco Giants, and slightly longer to downtown, China Town, the Embarcadero, and other tourist attractions.
You need a car here. Fortunately, parking is free (compared to about $30 or more per day in the city), and access to Highway 101 is less than a minute away.
The airport is several miles away, and airplane noise is rarely noticeable.
The hotel is right on a little inlet from San Francisco Bay, and there’s a nice walking path that takes advantage of the proximity. There’s a pleasant view of the Bay, but the rest is office buildings, freeway ramps and some brown hillsides.
Rooms
Standard rooms come with two queen beds. They’re pretty basic, and spacious for two but not for more. They provide a shower-bath, hair dryer, iron and ironing board, cable TV with a moderate number of channels, on demand movies, a coffee maker and supplies, and high speed internet access. There’s a desk with a comfortable work chair and a too-soft easy chair. The bed we used was quite comfortable.
Unfortunately, the arrangement of the bathroom area was not well thought out. There was a separate, and fairly large (maybe too large) area with the shower-bath and toilette, and another area with the sink and sliding door closet. Let’s just say that a more sound allocation of space would have made the closet larger and the bathroom smaller. Oddly, the bathroom door swung into the sink-closet area rather than into the bathroom, making for constant jockying of the person at the sink whenever the other person went in or out of the bathroom. Furthermore, when open, the bathroom door blocked the closet doors and had to be closed to gain access, again forcing the person at the sink to move. This is a really stupid design flaw.
Although there was no problem with the shower, the flow restrictor on the sink was so limiting that it took an effort to rinse the shave cream off my razor, soap off my hands or even to rinse a toothbrush. Strange!
Room decoration was bland but unoffensive. The rooms, especially the bathroom, were spotless. The view from our window was of a not very interesting part of the Bay.
Prices
The PriceLine price was $80 per night. This is one of those hotels where weekend prices are better than weekday prices. A similar room in a nice part of the city would typically cost about twice as much.
Other Amenities and Services
Breakfast, served in a bright, good-sized dining room, is available with a limited menu either buffet style or a la carte. The continental buffet ($8) includes fresh fruit, hot and cold cereal, a choice of juice or coffee/tea, yogurt, bagels and bread. The full breakfast ($9.50) adds egg dishes.
Each room has high-speed internet access, and there is a public access computer in the lobby, complete with laser printer, so last minute tasks like printing out your boarding passes are a breeze.
There are several meeting rooms (sizes unknown), and a living-room like courtyard area for socializing. There’s also a smallish indoor swimming pool, hot tub and a small but well equiped fitness center.
Parking is free and more than adequate. There’s also a walking/running trail that goes around the hotel complex.
Staff
The staff were not the best aspect of the hotel. They weren't rude, but I felt they were stretched too thin to be truly attentive. At breakfast, especially, our needs were only attended to by flagging down a waiter.
Neighborhood
This area is best called an office park wasteland. There’s nothing here but the hotel and office buildings. There are no restaurants within walking distance.
Useful Links
For two hotels in the heart of the city near Union Square, check out:
- Serrano Hotel
- San Francisco Hilton and Towers
For another inn between the city and airport, check out:
- Hampton Inn San Francisco Airport
Get 1% cash back on your hotel bill. Check out my review of this great no-fee Visa card.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
jsquarejj
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 - Top 200 |
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Member: Jim J
Location: Santa Cruz, California
Reviews written: 190
Trusted by: 78 members
About Me:
#7 in Personal Finance, #14 in Travel. My goal? Saving you money.
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