We arrived in San Francisco in the afternoon after quite a long trip (at that point, we were up for almost 24 hours straight). First item on the list was picking up our car at the Avis car center at SFO airport before heading off to our b&b. The Inn San Francisco has a pretty great location if you’re driving up there from the airport. I think it only took us half an hour to get there once we departed the car center.
Now, upon entering The Inn, I knew we made the right choice. The owner, Marty, quickly approached me and offered to help my husband park the car in one of the private garage boxes across the street (mind you, we were delivered a brand new Ford Mustang convertible with about 7 (!) miles on the milometer). He also introduced me to a couple of other guests who were lounging in the living area. While Steven and Marty were parking the car, I checked in and to my surprise our room got upgraded (I never get the upgrades hence the excitement).
Before we got to our room though, the owner insisted on showing us around the property and telling all about its history. Honestly, I’ve never experienced such a warm welcome.
The photos above give you an idea about the interior, which we absolutely loved (although I can imagine not everyone is fit for something like this). There were also multiple extras such as the beautiful covered hot tub, the garden and the rooftop terrace. The Inn was also one of the few lodgings where breakfast was included. Every morning we woke up to this beautiful breakfast buffet which we could have in the living room, the garden or our own room.
What I particularly liked here was the approach towards the guests: a ‘welcome home’ upon entering the b&b when the front desk was occupied, drinks and a fruit basket in the living room, tons of photo books about San Francisco and California. As you can guess, totally my thing. I particularly enjoyed our last night, spent in the hot tub and browsing through all the photo books, a sherry on hand.
The other guests were charming as ever and we got to meet some interesting people this way. There’s nothing I love more than to socialize with locals or other travelers and learn about their country and travel plans.
As to its location, The Inn San Francisco is located in the Mission District which is quite a lively neighbourhood. There are plenty of restaurants, coffee bars and shops around and there are multiple bus stops in the area. We did prefer to take a cab around San Francisco because public transport is slow, very slow. We also didn’t want to drive the car around the city since parking is limited and garage parking is quite expensive (compared to the cab fare).
When anyone asks me where to stay in San Francisco (and many of you have via Instagram or Twitter, lately), I can do nothing more but highly recommend The Inn San Francisco. Needless to say, I’m happy to show you this selection of photos from our memorable stay today. I love me a “hipster” hotel or two, but I felt nowhere more at home than here.
Thank you for the best stay ever, Marty & co!