I fly up to the Bay Area to attend games, and always stay in the city while I'm there. Here are a list of hotels I've stayed at.
Palace Hotel (Starwood property) on Market Street. This is a great hotel, on the high end, but it's within walking distance to the ballpark. And, if you feel like taking the Muni train, the Montgomery train stop is just outside of the hotel, so you can basically have door-to-door service on the train ride. Rooms are nice, high ceilings and they're very clean. It's also close to Union Square if you want to get in some shopping. A bar across the street called House of Shields is a great place to get a beer after the game - a good final pitstop before heading back to the room. The hotel also a bar called Peter Piper and the drinks are good there too, but they're a bit expenesive. If you're a breakfast eater, the hotel is close to Sears Fine Food on Powell Street near Union Square, the best place for breakfast.
Hyatt Regency Embarcerdo on Market Street and Drumm Street. This is a good hotel, again within walking distance to the ballpark and if you wanted to take the Muni train, the Embarcerdo train station is just outside of the hotel as well, so it's a easy trip if you wanted to train it to AT&T. The nice thing about this property that it's close to the water and Ferry Building. They have a hugh farmer's market setup on the weekends, so it's nice to walk around and get some fruit or snacks. Plus, they have a Noah's Bagel shop and Starbucks within a pitching wedge distance to the hotel, so you can grab a quick breakfast in the morning. The best way to the ballpark is walk along the Embarcerdo, you will hit Gordon Biersch about 2/3 along the way, so it's a good pitstop before and after the game.
The Omni Hotel on Montgomery Street. The Omni is in the heart of the financial district, it's within walking distance but add another 8-10 minutes to the walk from the Palace Hotel. Rooms are nice, but nothing much around there on the weekends. It's an easy walk to Union Square if you wanted to grab a drink, breakfast or dinner. Overall, not a bad place.
The Grand Hyatt at Union Square. Another Hyatt property. To walk to the ballpark from here is a hike, definitely doable but it's a hike - plan for a 30 minute walk. Best thing to do is walk down to the Powell train station and catch the Muni train (N Judah) to the ballpark - That should cut your travel time by half. The hotel is nice, nothing spectacular, but it works. Kinda noisy since you are near Union Square and you can hear traffic and road construction. It's close to shopping, bars and restaurants.
If you're looking to book a room, I would suggest the following:
- Check the hotel websites, they have specials going on every once in awhile, and you have a automobile club membership, see what rates they offer to AAA members. I got the Palace Hotel for $139 for the AAA rate, the normal rate was $219. So it can make a difference.
- Try Priceline.com - I got the Omni last year for $125 a night, the normal rate was around $200, and the other hotels were packed so that was a great rate. This season, I used Priceline and I got the Park Hyatt for $129 and $130 a night for four different trips. The only thing is you don't know which hotel will accept your offer, but if you choose the high-end option, it shouldn't be a problem.
- Book in advance, hotels like to sell rooms far in advance ... plus the AAA rates are only available for a handful of rooms, so once those are sold you can't get the special rates.
