The Washington Square Inn is the best location to stay in San Francisco.

At the corner of Stockton and Filbert Streets, the Washington Square Inn has my vote for the most perfect location of any San Francisco lodgings. Bar nothing.

I was invited to this by owners Dan and Maria Levin to spend the night last week. I hurried over to North Beach after work where I met my husband at O’Reilly’s Pub (a former haunt of ours back in the days pre-Kids) then checked into room eight, dominated by a view of the spires of Sts. Peter and Paul piercing blue sky.

The view from Room 8 at the Washington Square Inn.

I settled onto the window seat and gazed out over Washington Square Park, one of the city’s true treasures. A handsome guy in shorts threw a frisbee to a dog, old Italian men in hats argued with each other on a park bench, hands gesticulating wildly, a gaggle of pretty girls were catching the last waning rays of sun, and a group of tai chi practitioners made slow movements in sync.

Our room was comfortable and elegant, with muted calm colors. Baroque-style antiques were juxtaposed with a flat screen television, and the California king bed was topped with an extraordinarily comfy Serta pillow-top mattress.

The other rooms I viewed had similar tasteful furnishings and color schemes. The ones that don’t have views of the park or Filbert Street look out onto a little landscaped courtyard that affords these quieter, inside rooms with additional light. Prices range from to $179 to $329, check here for specials and packages.

The location, smack in the heart of North Beach and at the foot of Telegraph Hill means a wealth of great restaurants — from Sushi on North Beach and Da Flora to Firenze and Tommaso’s. Having lived in the ‘hood for several years before moving to the Panhandle, we’ve dined at many of the greats, but we decided to check out something new and chose to eat at Piazza Pellegrini, opposite the inn on Columbus Ave.

Mistake. The food was ridiculously mediocre — when I don’t finish a half-order of spaghetti Carbonara something is definitely amiss — and the place a real tourist trap. It was disappointing to not get a good meal in North Beach, but we moved on to Tony Nik’s and Amante where we met friends for cocktails.

The legendary Caffe Trieste in North Beach.

Next morning, we availed ourselves of the option to enjoy the Continental breakfast in our lovely room. There is also a large breakfast table downstairs in the lobby and a cozy seating area, where guests can curl up in front the fireplace with coffee and a newspaper.

Then it was out into the old neighborhood for a leisurely morning. We stopped at Liguria Bakery to pick up a few slabs of the best focaccia ever made by the hand of man. Focaccia is all that this old school family-owned bakery makes. They start selling early and close up shop when they run out. People line up down the block during holidays and leave with bundles of white waxed paper tied up with strings. I picked some up for our dinner party that night.

We had coffee at the historic Caffe Trieste that roasts their own coffee beans and sustains a unique music scene. On Saturday mornings, the Giotto family hosts a long-running concert featuring opera, jazz, ballads and Italian classics. That morning, a guitarist and mandolin player were jamming to Beatles tunes at the sunny corner caffe where we bumped into a local SF politico. Then on the advice of Maria, our knowledgeable innkeeper, we visited the National Shrine of St. Francis of Assisi across the street to see the newly opened  of the “Porzincula,” a replica of the little church built by San Francisco’s patron saint in Assisi.

Ah, another lovely day in North Beach. Doesn’t get much better.

Photos by Lisa Dion.