San Francisco room rates fall, but parking is still precious

The way San Francisco’s hotel rates are going, someone soon is going to wind up paying more for his parking space than for his bed.

Scores of the city’s hotels are slashing their room rates to lure recession travelers. But parking fees haven’t changed so much — and parking in San Francisco has always been at a premium.

As a result, the city is full of hotel fees that stack up in startling ways. On Feb. 5, for instance, I paid a scant $60 for a room at the Hotel Metropolis on Mason Street — and $30 for parking. (There was an additional $9 in taxes on the room and a $4.20 tax on the parking spot.)

On Feb. 6,  I stopped by the InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel on Nob Hill, where room rates now go as low as $144, but parking remains $44 nightly.

Later, checking online for the night of March 19, I found these figures:

At the Inn at the Opera, on Fulton Street, rooms ran as low as $88. Parking: $25.

At the Hotel Carlton, on Sutter Street, rooms ran as low as $53 (if you book by Feb. 28 and stay at least four nights). Parking: $30.

At the Hotel Triton, on Grant Avenue, rooms ran as low as $139. Parking: $38.

At the Holiday Inn San Francisco Fisherman’s Wharf, on Columbus Avenue, rooms ran as low as $105 (advance purchase). Parking: $41.

If you can go carless, this is the cheapest time in years to visit the city. If you can’t go carless but still want to pinch pennies, you may want to think about the auto-friendly corridor along Van Ness Avenue and Lombard Street (which are also designated as U.S. 101). The lodgings there aren’t so fancy, but many of those motels and motor lodges still offer free parking. Here are a few that get decent ratings from Tripadvisor, along with rate quotes for the night of March 19:

The Columbus Motor Inn, on Columbus Avenue. Rooms $86 and up.

The Hotel Del Sol on Webster Street. Rooms $88 and up (if you reserve 21 days ahead and pay in advance).

The Cow Hollow Motor Inn, on Lombard Street. Rooms $82 and up.

The Marina Motel on Lombard Street. Rooms $85 and up.

— Christopher Reynolds, Los Angeles Times staff writer

[Photo: San Francisco traffic, February, 2009, by Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times]

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 19, 2009 at 5:00 pm by Christopher Reynolds and is filed under Business Travel, California, Hotels, News, Tips & Advice, Northern California, San Francisco. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.