Hotel at a Glance: Hotel Carlton

Hotel Carlton’s Nob Hill location puts you within a 15-minute walk of Union Square’s shopping and mere blocks from Polk Street’s nightlife. But you don’t need to leave the hotel to get a taste of San Francisco’s culture: head to the free nightly wine reception to hear live music from local artists.

• Recently remodeled rooms have a mix of bold patterns and bright colors, with upscale accents such as marble-topped desks.
• For the best views, choose a city-view room (they’re on higher floors).
• Drink local: Phlox Commons Kitchen & Draught House pours dozens of California wines and craft beers.
• Eco-friendly: The hotel is carbon neutral and uses green cleaning products.

Nob Hill, San Francisco: Fashionable Neighborhood with Scenic City Views

One of the original seven hills on which the city was built, Nob Hill is a fashionable, upscale neighborhood, once referred to as a “Hill of Palaces” because of its many estates. Huntington Park is the centerpiece for the bustling district, and it’s bordered by Grace Cathedral, a beautiful Gothic-style building with colorful mosaics and a replica of the medieval labyrinth in France’s Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres.

Just downhill from Nob Hill is the Russian Hill neighborhood, whose notoriously steep roads provide some of the city’s most scenic vistas. From the top of Russian Hill, you can drive down Lombard Street, often dubbed “the world’s crookedest street” for its eight tight hairpin turns. The street is lined with stately houses and meticulously manicured gardens. A few blocks south, the tiny Ina Coolbrith Park is made up of tucked-away terraces cut into a steep slope between Russian Hill and Nob Hill. The secluded space is considered a local hidden gem for its postcard-worthy views of downtown. In 2008, SF Weekly named it the Best Park Named for a Poet Laureate—Ina Coolbrith was the first person to hold the esteemed title.

San Francisco’s iconic cable cars head up and down the streets of Nob Hill and Russian Hill. The nearby Cable Car Museum fills you in on the history of the iconic San Francisco tradition. You can hop on one of the cable cars and head north to reach Ghirardelli Square’s high-end boutiques and Pier 39’s seafood restaurants, or take a cable car south to see Chinatown—one of the largest Chinese communities outside of Asia—and the quaint cafés in the Italian-influenced North Beach neighborhood.