While we were in San Francisco we decided to stay at Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites San Francisco Fishermans Wharf (This hotel is not to be confused with the Holiday Inn Hotel – Fisherman’s Wharf which is right next door.)

We actually got a great deal through Hotwire which included return airfares from Las Vegas and 5 nights accommodation for $376 each. This is the first time we have booked through Hotwire and the process was quite simple. The only drawback is that you don’t know your flight times until after you have booked and paid for the package. So after booking we found that the outbound flight was leaving Las Vegas at 7am (which meant we had to be up at 4.30am) and our return flight was leaving at 9pm. Not the best times but then it was worth it for the cheap deal.

We got a door-to-door shuttle to our hotel from the airport which cost $16 each and it took about 30 minutes or so to get to our hotel.

When we got to the front desk we found only one person behind the counter so we had to wait a few minutes to be attended to. The girl at the reception desk was very competent and quick and even though it was only 9.30am and well before check-in time we were given a room. This may have had something to do with the fact that we are Priority Club members. However, during our entire stay we found that the staff at the front desk were very helpful and friendly to everyone who approached the reception area.  This same friendly manner and professionalism was also displayed by the staff at the Holiday Inn in Tusayan when we visited the Grand Canyon recently.

On the way to the lift to get to our room we notice the clean, modern lobby area and the eating area where people are still eating breakfast. The hotel has a nice feel about it and appears to be well maintained from what we can see at a first glance.

When we get to our room we are pleased with what we see. Our room is big enough to accommodate two people comfortably and looks clean and fresh.

Our room is a double room on the 2nd floor (#268) with two double beds, a TV cabinet with a 26in(68cm) TV and a table with two lounging chairs.

Next to one of the beds is a closet with hanging space. It also contains an iron and ironing board and a fold up luggage rack. There is also a safe in the closet which is large enough to hold our 14in laptop. The safe uses a key rather than the digital keypad password that you see in most hotel room safes these days.

There is adequate storage with closet hanging space and the three drawers in the bottom of the TV cabinet.

Lighting is fairly good. There are ceiling lights in the entrance way but the rest of the room is lit by lamps – one between the two beds and a standard lamp next to the table.

The beds are very comfortable with padded mattresses and clean fresh linen. Each bed has four pillows with each pillow slip embroidered with either the word ’soft’ or ‘firm’.

The view from our room is not what I would call a view. We can see what you might call a courtyard and we look across to another room. Subsequently we keep the net curtains closed for our entire stay.

The bathroom is not huge but it is bright and clean and actually looks like it has been recently renovated. There is one sink, a toilet and a bathtub with shower.

The water pressure from the shower is okay. It’s not really strong but it’s pretty good. The showerhead also allows you to adjust the flow to suit your preferred spray type.

The towels are plentiful and are soft and clean.

The bathroom also has a 2 cup coffee maker and the hotel provides both tea and coffee. This is something we really missed when we stayed at Caesar’s Palace and The Golden Nugget in Las Vegas. After there is nothing quite like sitting down with a nice hot cup of tea after a day of sightseeing.

The air conditioner in the room does the job although it was a little noisy. While it was on we had to turn the TV up in order to hear the programs.

Just near the lifts on our floor is a room with an ice machine and a vending machine which sells drinks. To get into the room we needed to use our hotel key.

As we need access to the internet in order to run our business we love staying at Holiday Inn hotels as the internet is free – at least it has been in the ones we have stayed in so far. The connection is wired. To connect just open your browser and it will connect to a screen where you just need to click on a link and then you will get immediate access to the internet.

While we were here we took advantage of the coin operated laundry in the next building which is also part of Holiday Inn. To get to it, exit at the front of the hotel and turn right. Keep walking and cross over the first road you see which will get you to the other Holiday Inn. Walk through the lobby until you see the lifts and take the lift to the “G” (garage) floor. This will take you to the parking garage. Walk straight ahead and turn to the left and you should see a room against the wall which will be the laundry. Make sure you have plenty of quarters. The laundry powder was $1.50, the washing machine was $2.00 and the dryer was $2.00.

This hotel is located in an ideal position. It took us around five minutes to walk to Fisherman’s Wharf, around 10-15 minutes (uphill) to walk to The Crookedest Street and about 5 minutes to get to the pick up point for the hop-on/hop-off bus.

There are also plenty of restaurants and cafes close by. Denny’s is actually in the building itself and there is a bar and grill across the road but there are plenty of other restaurants and cafes within easy walking distance.

Overall we really enjoyed our stay here and would definitely come back again.

Our Rating of the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites San Francisco Fishermans Wharf :

Checking in and out 5/5
Room 4/5
Position 4.5/5
Price 5/5 (Based on our Hotwire package deal)
Cleanliness 4/5

We booked this excellent package through Hotwire, where you will also find great deals.

It is 4am and I am wide awake and have been since 2.05am. Then for some reason the alarms on our 02 PC Phones went off at 3.30am even though they were set for 4.30am.

As soon as we are packed and ready we head down to check-out and then make our way to the airport in a cab. As it was so early we have no problems with traffic and we arrive at the airport by 5.30am. The taxi cost us about $35. Nowhere near as cheap as a shuttle bus but we wanted to be sure that we were going to get to the airport on time as it was so early and shuttle buses can be slow as they generally have to go via various hotels to pick up other passengers before they head on to the airport.

We got a great deal through Hotwire for this trip which included return airfares from Las Vegas and 5 nights accomodation at Holiday Inn Express in San Francisco for only $376 each.

The flight only takes an hour and 10 minutes and then it is time to negotiate the airport corridors to the baggage claim area. San Francisco airport is huge and it takes us about 10 minutes to get to where we need to be. Only three passengers are waiting to collect baggage so we assume that the other passengers have gone on to other connections.

Once we have collected our bags, we head out to find a shuttle bus to take us to our hotel in Fisherman’s Wharf. For some reason, we have been finding this difficult in the US as signage for the buses and shuttles is not very good and we wander back and forward trying to figure out where they are. After going up and down in the elevator we see an area where we think we need to be and head that way.

We finally make our way over to the Super Shuttle company and ask the driver how much it will be to our hotel. We find out it will be $16 each so we hop into the van and wait. The driver has no other passengers and decides to wait a little longer to see if he can grab a few more before he leaves. Fifteen minutes later he realises he is out of luck and after making a round of the airport he reluctantly  heads off to our hotel. So we are lucky enought to have the shuttle to ourselves and we get a direct trip to our hotel.

We arrive about 30 minutes later having driven past what we thought was the Golden Gate Bridge only to find out later that it is the Bay Bridge. We also drive past the piers at Fisherman’s Wharf including the famous Pier 39 where the seals hang out and the many tourists wandering up and down trying to keep warm.

We really have no idea as to where our hotel is in relation to the main sights but are pleasantly surprised when we realise we are close to just about everything in fact The Holiday Inn Express – Fisherman’s Wharf is in an ideal location.

We initially decide not to do too much today as we are quite tired after the early morning start but we can’t help ourselves and decide to take a walk up to the Crookidest Street in the world which is within walking distance of the hotel. Mind you, it is all up-hill but it is a pleasant walk all the same and we just take our time. This is a definite must see especially watching the cars try and navigate their way down the hill.

On our way back we stopped at Denny’s for dinner as we hadn’t eaten since breakfast that morning. This was our first visit to this chain of restaurants and we really enjoyed the food.

We then head down to the water to walk along Fisherman’s Wharf. This area is full of tourists but also obviously some locals as we see them jogging along the walkway. We end up at Pier 39 which as mentioned before, is famous for the seals which inhabit the area for most of the year.

We take a few photos and then head to Boudins which is a famous old restaurant that has the best clam chowder which is served up in a sourdough bread bowl for $6.95. We bought a bowl each along with some black cherry soda. The meal was delicious and really warming as it was very cold outside.

For some reason we weren’t expecting San Francisco to be quite so cold.