5 Best Hotels in Pacific Heights and Japantown, San Francisco

You can pretend you're a denizen of one of San Francisco's wealthiest residential neighborhoods while you stay at this understated, elegant Edwardian hotel built in 1903. Posh cream- and silver-hued rooms and suites, some with sweeping city views, are genteelly furnished and beautifully combine old-world charm with modern touches. The long list of amenities includes morning newspapers; plush robes; complimentary Wi-Fi; passes to the Jewish Community Center for swimming and exercise; a 24-hour fitness center (though the JCC offers more substantial workout options); 24-hour coffee and tea service, plus in-room Nespresso machines; and bicycles to borrow for the day. There's also complimentary chauffeur service each morning to any destination within the city. The hotel will even move your car to follow neighborhood parking restrictions. A free, expansive continental breakfast is served in a sunny, spacious dining room where tea and biscotti are on offer in the afternoon; wine, hot hors d'oeuvres, cheese, and charcuterie are set out each evening.

Open in 1902, the five-story Majestic is the city's oldest continually operating hotel; its elegant lobby is a graceful haven of antique chandeliers, plush Victorian chairs, antiquarian French books, and Edwardian architecture. Rooms are just as noteworthy for their early-20th-century design, featuring pillow-top beds with soft duvet covers as well as claw-foot tubs and other period touches. Modern notes include flat-screen televisions in each room and complimentary Wi-Fi. The hotel, which survived both of San Francisco's major 20th-century earthquakes, is said to have a friendly ghost. At the Butterfly Lounge, you can peruse the collection of exotic butterflies over a glass of wine or a specialty cocktail. Dinner is served five nights a week at Café Majestic; breakfast is every day except Monday. A few nights a week, local artists conduct fun, often well-attended early-evening painting classes (for a fee) in the café.

The blue-and-tan facade of this small hotel, punctuated on two sides by garage entrances, hints at its 1963 motor-inn origins, yet the spacious rooms feel modern. Some rooms have fold-out sofas, and 18 rooms have kitchenettes. Accommodations in the rear have cityscape views and tend to be quieter. Guests can purchase discount day passes to the extensive exercise facilities at the Jewish Community Center across the street, and diverse shops and restaurants are one block away on Sacramento Street. Other perks include complimentary Wi-Fi, continental breakfast, coffee, tea, afternoon cookies, and lemonade. Laureate Bar & Lounge is a nightlife destination in its own right, with stylish mid-century furnishings, a fireplace with floor-to-ceiling terrazzo, and bartenders slinging creative cocktails.

San Francisco doesn't get much more old-school elegant than this Lower Pac Heights Victorian mansion transformed into a luxurious, intimate lodging with spacious, individually decorated rooms. The building is known as the Payne House, having been built originally for the Payne family, which made its fortune from the mid-19th-century gold rush. Luckily, the amenities are far more sophisticated than those at a gold rush–era campsite, with deluxe Belisari Italian linens. Art lovers will appreciate the collection of paintings, a Murano Venetian glass chandelier, and haute design and furnishings in the public areas.

Built in the 1890s as a girls' finishing school, this Victorian mansion turned into a hotel is a taste of old San Francisco, with a large parlor and guest rooms that have classic touches, such as painted cherub murals and, in some, wood-burning fireplaces. Burgundy brocade, lace, heirloom antiques, stained glass, and inlaid wood floors add character throughout. Complimentary amenities include an expansive continental breakfast, daily newspaper, Wi-Fi, smartphone charging stations, and afternoon tea and sherry. The versatile parlor, salon/library, boardroom, and covered outdoor courtyard make this a popular spot for weddings.