The Stanyan Park Hotel, SF.
The Stanyan Park Hotel was my first introduction to San Francisco. No wonder why I never left.
My girlfriend and I drove across country after college and landed at this elegant, centrally-located hotel.
We stayed first in one of the cupola rooms overlooking the Park with a four-poster bed, desk, and armoire, and eventually moved to one of the six well-equipped suites. I can remember settling in at that desk and thinking, I could live here.
The suites are like adorable little apartments complete with built-in cabinetry, sitting rooms and kitchen with everything you need to feel at home. Some have pull out coaches and second bedrooms with twin beds making them ideal for families and extended stays. Rooms range from $139 to $225; suites are $275 to $350.
Pale yellows and cream, sagey green and peach tones contribute to the relaxing ambiance. It’s not surprising that the hotel is a favorite for visiting surgeons working up the hill at UCSF medical center or professors from USF on the other side of the Panhandle. The governor of Washington also stays here when he come to San Francisco.
The location on the east end of Golden Gate Park is close to the De Young Museum, the Japanese Tea Gardens, and the newly-opened California Academy of Sciences.
Haight Street with its panoply of restaurants (every type of cuisine from Ethiopian to Caribbean to Middle Eastern to New York-style pizza), bars, boutiques, thrift stores, head shops, and the city’s best music store, Ameoba, is a block north.
There are also two yoga studios on the block, a sports bar, bicycle rental shops, a nail/tanning salon, and Lava Java, a cute little cafe that serves delicious sandwiches, coffee and Chai.
A generous Continental breakfast is served in the cafe.
The hotel offers a generous Continental breakfast and afternoon tea in the street level cafe. Stanyan Park is both sophisticated and laid back with lace curtains, bright open spaces, free WiFi, and computers, and printers available to guests.
I eventually had to leave this lovely spot, but I never left San Francisco.
