We recently spent a few nights at the Courtyard at Fishermans Wharf to start off our huge American road trip.
With close proximity to tourist attractions and parking available, it was a sure fire winner….
As part of my favourite chain, Courtyard is a subsidiary of the Marriott group and my first port of call for booking hotels in the US. We have stayed in a fair few Courtyards and find they offer exceptional value for money as well as generous rooms, amenities and great locations.
The hotel is based just 2 streets back from the piers at Fisherman’s Wharf at Anchorage Square. It was a 5 minute walk to Pier 39 and all the fun that the area has to offer. Most importantly, the trolley turn around was 2 minutes away so you could always beat a queue! We drove from the Airport and our route took us all the way along the Embarcadero at rush hour and I have to say it was a really straight forward route. It’s pretty much 1 straight road all the way from AT&T Park. Of course the views are spot on with the bay to your right and the city rising up to your right.
Some people say Pier 39 is the trashy touristy part of San Francisco and that you don’t get a good feel for the city and the vibe by staying there. WELL. Having stayed both here and in Union Square, I can safely say I prefer the area around the Pier as it was a more pleasant place to stroll and soak up some cute stereotypical American vibes. It also means the trams and trolleys that terminate on the Embarcadero are closer to home after a long day! Hyde St Pier and the historical boats is well worth a look as are the bars near The Cannery.
The hotel is well sign posted from the road and shares access to the Anchorage Square multi storey car park. Our beast of a hire car (Trevor the Truck!) was too big for the parking structure so we relied on the valet which came in at $38 a night with in + out included. This was a big plus for us as other city centre hotels were enforcing a ‘pay per park’ rule so we’d need to pay $38 each time we wanted to use the car. Crazy when you are in a tourist sightseeing area!
Check in was simple and with a quick flash of our photo id, we were checked in and being prepped for our days ahead by the helpful concierge who is always armed with a stack of leaflets and information. The reception is fresh and modern and smells of gorgeous fresh flowers. We later realised this was a piped in scent as the floral displays were fake but who cares! There’s free Starbucks coffee each morning for guests as well as a mini market for snacks and essentials you may have forgotten. Our tip is to nip next door to the liquor store and stock up on cheaper goodies there!
The room was ginormous and plenty big enough for us to unleash the chaos that was in our suitcases. The room had a modern and fresh bathroom, a lounge area as well as a great vanity and work area. It made it easy to write up this report while watching TV I must say!
On site there is a restaurant serving breakfast and dinner as well as a fitness room. We were out and about walking for 8hrs a day so I can safely say we didn’t check out the fitness room!
The only thing I didn’t like was that there wasn’t a toilet that was accessible straight from reception. You had to go back up 1 floor and then down some steps… to the disabled toilet! There was a stairlift for the few steps but it seemed like such a useless waste of time, I could have ran back up to the room just as quick!
