Pip's thankful for headrubs and cuddles!

"I can help decorate too!"

We’re all thankful for our guests who continually return to enjoy our hotel and the city of San Francisco!

Happy holidays everybody!  Here’s looking towards the new year!

-Pip and staff

"Just add a bow and kitten gift box is good to go!"

"I'll get that Santa... but first, a nap!"

We’re in the full swing of summer and have been quite happily busy, but sorry for not posting in quite a while! We are working on a big project for the site – it’s not ready just yet, but it will be a huge go-to reference list of all our favorite restaurants and activities.

In the mean time, we’ve received a lot of great pictures from our guests over the years and thought it would be nice to share some of our favorites. Enjoy!

From Dixie H. of Tennessee

From Mr. Oh of Southern California

"Stowaway" by Phillipe and Sylvie of France

From Nicole of Germany

We’ve got plenty more, but we don’t want to use them all in one post! Enjoy your summer!

-Pip and Staff

After all the hectic planning, preparations, and stress of the holiday season, we here at the Golden Gate Hotel hate the idea of more planning and searching for things to do while on vacation.

So for those thinking about a trip to San Francisco, we’ve done some of the legwork and put together a list of activities that let you enjoy the sights.

No Brain Activities:

Rick Evan’s Architectural Tour of Downtown
www.architecturesf.com (415-264-8824 for same day)

Tom’s Muir Woods Walking Tour (we love Tom, he is great!)
www.muirwoodstour.com

Sail with John’s (the innkeeper) friends in a catamaran on the bay
www.adventurecat.com

Some can’t stand the idea of visiting an old prison, but it’s an icon that can’t be missed – especially if you book one of the night time tours guided by a former prison guard!
www.alcatrazcruises.com

If you would prefer not to go on a guided tour and just do your own thing, stop by the office and borrow a copy of Stairway Walks in San Francisco by Adah Bakalinsky. It is full of fabulous walks with terrific views.

Activities That Involve Contemplation and Gazing:

Check out the absolutely enormous interior of St. Mary’s Cathedral followed by a walk to Japantown (see Experiences post!) and enjoy warm udon at Sapporo-ya or ramen at Suzu Noodle House (both in the Peace Plaza).

Oogle the stained glass window of the Masonic Memorial Temple on California and Mason Streets, followed by the Grace Cathedral (take a pew and rest) and then down into Chinatown for a tea tasting at the Red Blossom Tea Company (at 831 Grant St.) or Vital Tea Leaf (at 905 Grant St.).

Take the #38 bus into the Richmond district (by the ocean side of the city) and check out the Holy Virgin Cathedral at Geary and 25th Avenue. You’ll have to stand as there are no pews here, but the icons and priests look like they stepped out of the 5th century. Hop back on the #38 and head towards the Legion of Honor. Enjoy the art currently on display and a cappuccino…

Now, if your feet hurt after all that walking… sit down and enjoy a movie!

Enjoy a movie on the 50 foot high IMAX screens at the Metreon Theater

The Kabuki Theater caters towards the over 21 crowd in the evening. See a movie after 8PM and you can bring wine, beer, or a cocktail and snacks into the top floor screen.

Head to the mission district and see something at the Roxie Theater. Enjoy “the Best Burrito in San Francisco” at Papalote before or after your movie!

Head to the famous Haight-Ashbury district and enjoy some UNIQUE shopping as well as a movie at The Red Vic.

For a different movie experience, the Castro Theater in the Castro district has a Wurlitzer organ and sometimes has singalong movie screenings.

Pip's thankful for headrubs and cuddles!

We’re all thankful for our guests who continually return to enjoy our hotel and the city of San Francisco!

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

-Pip and staff

While we love shopping down in Union Square as much as our guests do, sometimes it IS the little things that count. Research (click for article) agrees!

Below we list some of the hotel staff’s favorite experiences in San Francisco:

Patsy with the Cliff House in the background

Small Dog Walk at Ocean Beach, 10am Saturdays, on the beach between Beach Chalet restaurant and the Cliff House.  (Hilarious!)
Google Map

Frenchie Fridays, in Dolores Park, 4pm.  Funny park, great views, interesting (!) neighborhood, Tartine Bakery two blocks away at Guerrero & 18th St.
Google Map

Hot chocolate at the Warming Hut in Crissy Field below the Golden Gate Bridge (one of our favorite places for dog walking)
The Warming Hut
Crissy Field

Walking the Labyrinth at Grace Cathedral – or jogging for the younger ones…
www.gracecathedral.org/labyrinth

Take a tour of the Fortune Cookie Factory in Chinatown – it is not what you expect, and there’s even an adults-only version!
Fortune Cookie Factory

Reading grave markers in the gardens of Old Mission Dolores
www.missiondolores.org

Riding the vintage F-line Trolley (the historic street cars) to the Ferry Building to take in the sights and smells of the organic farmer’s market, Saturdays and Sundays, 8am to 2pm.
Information on the historic street cars

Walking through the Peace Plaza in Japantown to either the Kinokuniya shopping center or the Kintetsu shopping center (each on opposite ends of the Peace Plaza).  Don’t miss peeking into the largest Japanese bookstore on the west coast, the Kinokuniya Bookstore or at trinkets in the Kinokuniya Stationary (both in the same-named shopping center).
Japantown
Peace Plaza
Kinikuniya Bookstore

Iceskating in the Yerba Buena Garen’s skating rink (enclosed, open year-round) or for the braver exhibitionists, out in the open at Union Square’s holiday season skating rink.
Yerba Buena Skating
Union Square Skating

Watching the Nutcracker, a San Francisco holiday favorite!
www.sfballet.org

Cavalia is also in town until December 12th!
www.cavalia.net

Pip inspecting the Christmas garland...

Hoping you all have great winter experiences of your own…

-Pip and his persons

Just found a great list of events in San Francisco and surrounding towns of the Bay Area:

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/10/24/PK931FTNKQ.DTL

We’re in the full swing of summer and we’ve all been busy busy busy!

We wanted to take some time to answer a guest’s question, show another guest’s love for Pip (me!), and give you a peek into the life of a hotel animal.

First, we get asked by quite a few guests and get sent the occasional email: what’s the magic behind the cookies we serve during afternoon tea?

Well, let me introduce our secret weapon!

Introducing the lovely Dora, who helps make breakfast possible and prepares the cookies from scratch!

Next, we had a guest so in love with Pip that she decided to have him along forever:

and it's real!!!

We’re honored!

With summer comes many families with children to play with, many guests to cuddle up with at night, and many a puppy to be kept in line.

So far, summer is exhausting…

… but we wouldn’t have it any other way.

Just another quick update.  Adding a link to a great article in the San Francisco Chronicle about restaurants in the Inner Sunset district, right outside of the Golden Gate Park (great for those wanting to explore the DeYoung Museum, California Academy of Science, Japanese Tea Garden, Conservatory of Flowers, etc.)

Heading off into the Inner Sunset

Local blogger Peter Hartlaub of The Poop primarily makes humorous parenting posts, but also blogs about popular culture and (more importantly to our guests…) fun and interesting things to do in the San Francisco Bay Area.

He recently posted about a few overlooked attractions in The City – many of which we at the hotel love as well!

His post is here and also added to our favorites section.

Hope everyone is enjoying the beginning of summer!

Added some of our staff’s favorite views of the city to the Staff Favorites section.  We will be continuing to add restaurants, tours, and local hangouts to that section slowly.

~Pip and staff