Hotel Vitale
COST: $$$
<p>Location, location, location…the 199-room Vitale has it in spades. Not only is the hotel right on the Embarcadero—three minutes' walk from the Ferry Building and facing the bay—but it sits all alone on its own block. From the outside, the nine-story brick structure looks nondescriptly “contemporary,” but inside, it's Tahoe ski lodge meets Finnish sauna: rough limestone alternating with warm pine. Sprigs of lavender are tucked behind the number plates next to each room's door, beyond which are designy, circa-1996 sleek wood desks, rectilinear chairs, and chaises in varying shades of sand. Caveat: In the deluxe city-view and the superior category, the bathrooms are disappointingly motel-like.</p> <p><strong>Tip:</strong> The tiny San Francisco Railway Museum, behind the hotel, is really more of a gift shop, but the items here, featuring the historic tram cars on the Market Street line, are light years beyond the schlock you'll find at the Cable Car Museum's store.</p> <p><strong>Room to Book:</strong> The Urban Studios—you can't see the bay, but the rooms are larger than the pricier Waterfront Deluxes, and the bathrooms each have a soaking tub with city views (and a curtain).</p>
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From Travel + Leisure , SEP 2005
Hotel Vitale also has startling 180-degree views that take in the Bay Bridge and the Ferry Building, a landmark so beloved that the legendary Chronicle columnist Herb Caen once observed, 'The waterfront without the Ferry Tower would be like a birthday cake without a candle.'...MORE>>
Last updated September 2005
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