Are you from Northern California? I need help!!!?

Question

I will be going to my cousin's wedding in Glen Ellen on Sunday, August 26th. While I am up there I would like to visit San Francisco and Half Moon Bay. I was considering staying in San Francisco but the hotels are so expensive!! Does anyone know a good city to stay in (within 30 minutes of Glen Ellen) that is not too far from San Francisco and Half Moon Bay (more than an hour)? The most important thing for us to be is near Glen Ellen, but I also need to stay in a city that is affordable. I definately don't want to stay in a bad area...but definately...the cheaper the better. Do any of you have any ideas?

Answer 1

Let me tell you right off that unless you are prepared to do a LOT of driving in heavy traffic, to forget about seeing Half Moon Bay...it is about an hourlong drive in the completely opposite direction you will need to drive to get to Glen Ellen from San Francisco, on a twisty mountain road accurately termed "Devils Slide", and it would likely take you about 2.5 hours, possibly more, to drive from Glen Ellen to Half Moon Bay because traffic crossing the Golden Gate Bridge and then winding your way through the city streets to get to the highway again is pure hell.

That being said, Sonoma or Santa Rosa are probably your best cities of choice to find a hotel near Glen Ellen...they are both good sized cities about 30 minutes or less from Glen Ellen. Neither city is a big tourist trap, and you should be able to find a very reasonable deal on standard hotels in either of those areas.

Answer 2

The marin is pretty expensive to live in, but I dunno about hotels. There are a lot of motels up there cuz it's a touristy area, but most are real rural and quaint cuz it's the marin, but you might like that. Try a city like petaluma or san rafael if you want to be near glen ellen(but still off the 101 and close to the city). If you want to be closer to san francisco and half moon bay, try san mateo. It's a real nice area, at least to me it is, and the hotels should be cheaper than the ones in the city. Maybe something near the airport even? Milbrae, san bruno? I have never stayed at a hotel cuz I live in the bay so I might not be the best person to answer this. However, I used to live in the peninsula and I know the city is real expensive so I definitely recommend staying in the peninsula. Hopefully I've made enough suggestions!

Answer 3

First thing you should know is that SF and Half Moon bay are not really that close to Glen Ellen. Glen Ellen is in Sonoma County and more near Sonoma and/or Santa Rosa. It is probably an hours drive to SF (50 miles) and maybe 1 1/2 to 2 hours to Half Moon bay (76 miles to be exact).

Your better bets for loding would be Santa Rosa, Petaluma, Sonoma or Napa in terms of close proximity to Glen Ellen. Glen Ellen is in the heart of wine country. There aren't really any bad areas around Glen Ellen that I am aware of.

Answer 4

Try Sonoma or Petaluma, both are closer to the bay area but a short drive from Glen Ellen. I have never stayed in a motel in either city but since they are not big tourist towns they should be cheaper. Try www.hotels.com for good rates.

Answer 5

Sometimes you can get a really good rate in the financial district of San Francisco since it's not really "well known" throughout the tourist community as a great place to stay. It's one of our hidden secrets. It's right in the middle of all the best places to visit in SF, parking is easily found on the streets after 6pm on Saturdays and the hotels are quiet and very nice. They are much cheaper too on the weekends since they primarily focus on weekday business. A really good one is Le Meridien, a Starwood hotel (you can get or use your points!) http://specialoffers.starwoodhotels.com/lemeridiensanfrancisco