San Francisco and the Bay Area's houses
San Francisco keeps its luxury on its hills and along its water; the Bay Area, on the coast and the Peninsula.
Luxury hotels in San Francisco & the Bay Area
7 hotels
San Francisco keeps its luxury on its hills and along its water; the Bay Area, on the coast and the Peninsula. The houses are on Nob Hill and around Union Square, where the cable cars climb past a neoclassical landmark and a tower stands a block from the square; in SoMa and Yerba Buena, beside the museums, and up the towers of the Financial District by the Embarcadero, where the Bay and its bridges open below the windows; and beyond the city, on the bluffs of Half Moon Bay above the Pacific and on the Peninsula beside Stanford. We list seven houses, each described at exactly the tier it holds, with a concierge behind every stay.
“Because the house is the one five-star hotel we list inside the city, a tower beside SFMOMA in Yerba Buena with butler service and the Remède spa, the museums at the door and the Embarcadero within a walk — and the house holds five-star standing.”
From our editors · The St. Regis San Francisco
The neighborhoods
Nob Hill & Union Square
The hill of the cable cars and the grand hotels, with Union Square and its shops at its foot. On the slope stands a neoclassical landmark and, a block from the square, a tower.
SoMa, Yerba Buena & Embarcadero
South of Market and the museums of Yerba Buena, the towers of the Financial District and the Embarcadero along the Bay. By the water stand the Ferry Building and the piers, with the bridge at the end of the street.
Half Moon Bay
The coast forty-five minutes south of the city, with bluffs above the Pacific. There are two links courses, the fog and, below, the surf of Mavericks.
Silicon Valley & Palo Alto
The Peninsula beside Stanford and Sand Hill Road, an hour south in traffic. Here are the campus, the offices and a rooftop pool at the south end of the Bay.
Good to know
Which are the five-star hotels in San Francisco & the Bay Area?
Two. The five-star hotels we list in San Francisco & the Bay Area are The St. Regis San Francisco, the tower beside SFMOMA in Yerba Buena, and The Ritz-Carlton, Half Moon Bay, the lodge on the bluffs above the Pacific, forty-five minutes south of the city. Five more houses hold four-star standing: Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at Embarcadero, at the top of 345 California; Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco, on Market Street above Yerba Buena Gardens; The Ritz-Carlton, San Francisco, the neoclassical landmark on Nob Hill; Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley at East Palo Alto, beside Stanford; and Hotel Nikko San Francisco, a block from Union Square. Each has its own page, reached from the list above, with a concierge behind every stay.
Which part of San Francisco should I stay in?
Nob Hill and Union Square for the cable cars, the shops and the walk down to Chinatown and North Beach. SoMa, Yerba Buena and the Embarcadero for the museums, the Ferry Building and the Bay at the end of every street, with the Financial District a few blocks away. Half Moon Bay for the coast, the golf and the fog rolling over the bluffs, forty-five minutes south. Silicon Valley and Palo Alto for Stanford, Sand Hill Road and the offices of the Peninsula, an hour from the city in traffic.
When is the best time to visit San Francisco?
September and October are the warm, clear months, after the summer fog; spring is mild and green. Summer brings fog to the coast and the city while the Peninsula stays sunny; winter is the rainy season, quiet and cool. Half Moon Bay is coolest and foggiest in summer and clearest in autumn, when the big-wave season at Mavericks begins.
How do I get to San Francisco — and do I need a visa?
San Francisco International Airport is twenty to thirty minutes from Nob Hill and the Embarcadero, more at rush hour; twenty minutes from Palo Alto; forty minutes from Half Moon Bay over the hills. Most visitors from Europe, the UK, Japan and Australia enter under the visa waiver with an ESTA applied for online before the flight; others need a visitor visa; the rules change, so check before you travel. The hotels arrange their own airport transfers.
How do I reserve a stay?
Search your dates on the hotel's page to see reference rates, then send the concierge a request. The concierge confirms exact rates and availability with you before anything is booked, and any payment and its timing are set out before you confirm.
