City Guide

San Francisco has only a handful of five-star hotels, a ranking dependent upon a long list of amenities, facilities and services that few can deliver. And then there's Taj Campton Place, officially a four-star for its lack of a spa and swimming pool, but in every other way a bona fide luxury hotel, with service on par with the city's best. Elegant and correct in their restrained design, all 110 rooms are done in soothing shades of neutral ecru, with walls of pear wood and high-end furnishings, including leather-top writing desks. Beds are dressed in silky-soft Frette linens, and the limestone bathrooms are stocked with high-end products and chenille robes. Entry-level "California rooms" have the same finishes and fixtures as larger rooms, but because of their compact size feel a bit crammed; consider upgrading to a larger room. Downstairs the eponymous Michelin-starred restaurant, Campton Place, serves three meals daily, and the same kitchen provides room service to guests.

A giant Plinko board rises in the lobby of this art-filled downtowner, whose mezzanine games room befits the overworked Silicon Valley techies who are its target market. Built in 1903 and completely gutted in 2013 by the Viceroy Group, the 116-room hotel is up to date with all the latest gadgets. The design theme plays off salvage and rescue (which is also the name of the lobby bar), and repurposed materials are everywhere, as in the lobby's tiered chandelier of cast-off eye glasses. Rooms are bigger than average, uncluttered and whisper-quiet, with giant butcher-block architect's desks, plush beds with 500-thread-count sheets, and Bluetooth pairing to link your electronics with the 47-inch TV and Jambox speaker. The onsite Cavalier gastropub serves stick-to-your-ribs cooking that will keep you working all night.

A woodsy alternative to downtown hotels, Inn at the Presidio is a National Park Service lodge on a former military base at the Golden Gate Bridge. The red-brick inn was originally built 1903 to house bachelor officers, and in 2010 was converted to a boutique B&B. Seventeen of the 22 oversized rooms are 530-square-foot one-bedroom suites, but even standard rooms are gigantic, and all look like a catalogue spread from Restoration Hardware, with distressed leather furniture and white-on-white damask sheets. Note: Ground-floor rooms may front on a rocking-chair veranda; if you prefer total privacy, book the third floor, though there's no elevator. Outside are 24 miles of hiking trails. The obvious drawback is the proximity to downtown: A taxi costs about $35, but free daytime shuttles get you there in 30 minutes.