San Francisco 2 Nights

My girlfriend an I will be going in late June, then making our way up to Portland. I'd also like to hear some ideas!

Thanks in advance.

 

Union Square hotels can be very pricey and hotel parking can be up to like $50/day. It's a good location in the middle of the city so it's easy to get to other places but if you have a car, that won't be a big deal.
If you want easy access to beer related stuff, I'd recommend staying in lower or upper Haight or Soma (not anywhere near 6th and Mission!). If you're around Haight, you'll be able to walk to Magnolia and Toronado and it'll be a short drive/cab to Zeitgeist, Monk's Kettle, and Healthy Spirits. In Soma, you'll be able to easily get to City Beer Store, Thirsty Bear, 21st Amendment, and Public House. SF is pretty small so if you have a car it'll be easy to get around. Parking can be a pain though.

 

Stay in the Tenderloin.

 

Look into Joie de Vivre hotel group. Not sure what their parking situation is currently, but they're by far the best value in hotels in the city. Great quality for the price. Good Hotel is their cheapest and is very close to City Beer. I would skip Thirsty Bear if I were you. I've never tasted a beer there that was worth a damn. Others are all good, though.

 

You should add La Trappe, also. Maybe Amsterdam Cafe.

 

Look into the SOMA area for hotels. The public transit system works very well via the BART, Muni or bus routes. I just utilized these during SF Beer Week and got around quite easily. A lot of the places you mentioned are very accessible through these options and you wont have to worry about parking and limiting how much you can drink.

 

If you get a chance don't forget to take a quick BART trip to Oakland, you won't want to miss out on Beer Revolution and The Trappist. Cheers!

 

Fiance and I stayed at the Intercontinental last trip - very very nice. Walking dist. to Thirsty Bear and City Beer Store. Not to hijack, but in a similar vain - any good hotels for bachelor parties in SF? I'm doing a bay area brewery themed bach party and Day 1 Saturday is in SF but we need a place to stay! Can't seem to find any multi-bedroom suites.

 

As I will always answer, look into Joie de Vivre. In particular, the Hotel Phoenix in the TL has some good multi-room set-ups that I used for my own bachelor party. Super close to Bourbon and Branch, in case you decide you need some of the harder stuff.

 

Good call.

 

i always stay in union square. central location + easy public transportation access.

 

I am thinking we might just stay somewhere out of the city, hotels are almost 50% cheaper up in Santa Rosa, I looked there because I definitely want to check out RRBC. Its an hour or so out of the city but gas there and back would be cheaper than hotel costs and parking fees.

 

Makes sense. Just be prepared for that hour to be closer to 2 during rush hour.

Also: Make sure you choose a hotel within a 1/2 mile of RRBC. Santa Rosa outside of downtown is super-boring, and parking downtown can be a giant pain.

 

I would stay home SF is a bad city to visit for beer.

 

Great IPA's are everywhere. Toronado, Barclay's, Beer Revolution will all give you great choices.

Drakes (San Leandro) is a good stop if they're open when you have the time, but with just two days I would simply look for some of their brews around town. Their seasonal releases are a good choice if you're taking bottles back.

Don't leave town without trying a Moonlight beer or two. Not necessarily hop-centric (do they even make an IPA?) but a local treasure you won't find in bottles.

 

That's a good spot, close by. It is on the other side of the freeway, so I think you'll either need to walk through the shopping mall on 5th street or under it via 3rd to get over to Russian River. Probably about a 10-minute walk. I'd just ask directions at the desk. Make sure to also visit Flavor Bistro -- it's a block from RRBC and is the best place on earth to get Moonlight beers.