The best family-friendly hotels in San Francisco, including giant Plinko and virtual-reality games
San Francisco is an all-ages playground: from the blinking arcade lights and sociable sea lions of Fisherman’s Wharf, to a splashy, high-speed ride around the bay on the infamous ‘Rocket Boat’. Happily, family-friendly hotels here are just as fun. Whimsical, nautical-themed boutiques at the wharf; city stays with free virtual-reality video games; a suite in a former chocolate factory – there’s plenty to make kids big and small giddy. Plus, many large luxury brands roll out the red carpet to little ones, with the likes of scavenger hunts and nightly milk and cookies. Here's our pick of the best family-friendly hotels in San Francisco.
Argonaut
San Francisco, California, United States
8Telegraph expert rating
The hotel is perfect for families due to its proximity to nearby attractions – the San Francisco Maritime National Historic Park museum and visitor centre is adjacent to the lobby and it is just a few steps to Fisherman’s Wharf. You can also hop on a cable car over the hill to Union Square, ride a streetcar along the Embarcadero or board a ferry to Alcatraz Island. Inside the hotel, which inhabits a 20th-century fruit cannery warehouse, a nautical-themed interior design incorporates vintage steamer trunks and antique telescopes. Rooms with two queen-sized beds and connecting rooms accommodate large families. Read expert review From £126 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Hotel Zephyr
San Francisco, California, United States
8Telegraph expert rating
This zany hotel, in a handy location by Fisherman's Wharf, is artful yet unpretentious. Hotel Zephyr’s best feature – especially for families with children who have energy to burn – is the outdoor courtyard, simply called The Yard. It's filled with games, such as a giant Connect Four board and a ping-pong table challengingly constructed inside a tube, as well as fire pits made out of recycled soda cans. If the weather doesn't cooperate, show the kids the indoor games room instead. In the courtyard, a vintage camper sells coffees, espressos, breakfast pastries and light lunches and dinners. Read expert review From £106 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Lodge At The Presidio
San Francisco, California, United States
8Telegraph expert rating
This inn, set at the heart of one of San Francisco's most spectacular settings, The Presidio national park, is perfect for getting back to nature. Featuring just two storeys and 22 rooms, the property feels classically cosy, complemented by a fire pit encircled with more wooden rockers on the patio out back. Views from the rooms look onto surrounding Presidio forest; top-floor guests can, on a clear day, observe the towers of a certain red bridge. A good option for families, suites accommodate a family of four and complimentary puzzles, games and milk and cookies are provided for children. Read expert review From £241 per night
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Hotel Zetta San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States
8Telegraph expert rating
This hotel is all about fun: just look at the split-level lobby, where guests can play shuffleboard, giant Plinko and virtual reality video-games free of charge. Expect an enthusiastic welcome at the front desk, where nothing seems too much trouble. Though guestrooms’ techie design cues aren’t particularly cosy, the central location and ample space (with plenty of room for camp beds) make boutiquey Zetta a bargain. Market Street, only half a block away, is the place to catch buses and vintage trams while an enduring tourist favourite – the Powell Street cable car turnaround – is a block away. The excellent San Francisco Museum of Modern Art is less than a mile east. Read expert review From £112 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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Fairmont Heritage Place
San Francisco, California, United States
7Telegraph expert rating
This all-suite hotel set in an old chocolate factory offers vast, apartment-style residences and knockout Bay views right beside Fisherman’s Wharf. The suites are intended to feel more like holiday homes than hotel rooms, with fully-equipped kitchens, washer-dryers, large dining areas and sitting rooms. For that reason, the hotel has few communal facilities: however, housekeeping is provided twice daily, and guests can use a texting service to request 24-hour concierge assistance. Other services, offered for a fee, include pre-arrival grocery shopping and childcare. Suites easily accommodate families and the hotel provides amenities including cribs, nappy genies and children’s bathrobes on request. Read expert review From £493 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The St. Regis San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States
8Telegraph expert rating
This 40-storey new-build hotel is as contemporary as they come and offers some of the city’s best rooms: large and light-filled, with plenty of room for camp beds. Even the entry-level category is both luxuriously spacious and excessively comfortable. Bedside touch controls operate everything from the window blinds to ‘do not disturb’ notices and views either face skyscrapers or look over Yerba Buena Gardens, while generously sized bathrooms offer a large walk-in rain shower and separate deep tub. Children receive a warm welcome with a stuffed toy on check-in, plus milk and cookies in the room. Read expert review From £288 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
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The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco
San Francisco, California, United States
8Telegraph expert rating
Despite a renovation, this landmark hotel in wealthy Nob Hill feels like an old classic. The 17-column, nine-storey neoclassical building and its large, landscaped inner courtyard add a touch of historic pomp to future-facing, tech-obsessed San Francisco. Design giant Hirsch Bedner Associates’ modern interiors are a counterpoint to the hotel’s stately exterior. Each of the 336 rooms feels large and luxurious; all are similarly attired and offer docking stations, espresso machines, Netflix-enabled televisions, and couture Frette sheets. The hotel is very family-friendly and offers children’s menus for breakfast and all-day dining, plus seasonal events and DIY scavenger hunts. Read expert review From £291 per night Check availability Rates provided by Booking.com
Contributions by Sara Benson and Laura Chubb
