It doesn’t get any better than this. Considered by many to be one of the world’s most exclusive suites, the iconic Fairmont San Francisco penthouse recently underwent a $18 million renovation. Gulp. And damn, is it lovely. I recently toured the three-bedroom, four-bath suite, that encompasses the entire 6,000-foot eighth floor of the historic main building of the [...]

The Country Hearth Inn is a fine, no frills motel option at the quiet end of Lombard Street adjacent to the Presidio. Like it’s neighbor, the Travelodge Presidio next door, it’s away from the heavy traffic and general ugliness of the portion of Lombard that extends from Lyon Street to Van Ness Avenue. Cute and compact, the [...]

Well before it becomes “crooked,” the strip of Lombard Street from the Lyon Street to Van Ness Avenue in San Francisco, is sometimes referred to as “motel mile.” A wide and busy thoroughfare with non-destination retailers and fast food joints, it also has an array of inexpensive motels. While not glamorous, it’s a good place to [...]

Rosita Missoni, of the Italian fashion house Missoni, is known for her bold, colorful knitwear. Now she has teamed with the Rezidor Hotel Group and is putting her vibrant use of color — and black and white — on a new palette, decorating the rooms, hallways, and public spaces of Hotel Missoni in Edinburgh, Scotland. Located on [...]

There is something deliciously cheesy about the Flamingo. The beckoning 50s-era neon sign seems to promise a little bit o’ Vegas in the Wine Country. It has that time-warped look and feel of  a place that belongs in another time and in desert locale. LA maybe? Palm Springs, perhaps? But here it is smack in the [...]

OK, I’ll admit, it was my morbid curiosity that lead me here. In doing some research on San Francisco trivia, I discovered that Brad Nowell, the singer/writer/guitarist of the band Sublime overdosed in one of the rooms of the Oceanview Motel at age 28. An untimely rock star death involving heroin will always get my attention. Plus, [...]

More than any of San Francisco’s grand hotels, the Fairmont captures my imagination. Perhaps, it’s the history that dazzles me more than the others — the doors were set to open, debuting this elegant palace enthroned at the top of exclusive Nob Hill, when the 1906 earthquake shook the city to its knees. Writer Gertrude Atherton [...]