Thursday, September 12, 2013

Honeymoon: The Lodging

Airbnb is where it's at, people.

That's the site we used to book our rentals in San Francisco and Napa. Renting an apartment can be more affordable than a hotel, not only due to price per night, but also because you don't have to buy food every single time you're hungry. Another bonus: No housekeepers are knocking on your door at 8 a.m. to start cleaning.

In San Francisco, we stayed in an adorable one-bedroom apartment in Noe Valley. It was bright, clean, and in a safe, quiet neighborhood - yet still within walking distance to all of the action.





In Napa, we rented a gorgeous cottage in Calistoga. The cottage is only a few yards away from the sweet couple who rents it out, but we rarely saw them. Oh, and they also let us use their inground pool. Our four days there were seriously heaven.









Our Napa cottage didn't have a full kitchen, but we made eggs each morning in the microwave. We also bought a styrofoam cooler and ice, and used that as a fridge. 

After four days in Napa, we returned to San Francisco for our last night, since we were flying out of Oakland. We booked a hotel in Union Square - Parc 55 Wyndham - so we'd be within walking distance to AT&T Park, where we had tickets to a baseball game. Well, when we arrived at Parc 55, the woman who checked us in told us we got "upgraded," and to go to floor 32. Um, yeah...I'm not sure why we got upgraded (they had no idea we were on our honeymoon), but this hotel room was larger than our home. It also had spectacular views of San Francisco.



First bathroom.

Second bathroom.


The view from one of many windows.


Which do you prefer: rental or hotel? 


8 comments:

  1. I've heard really great things about Airbnb, but I'm also a sucker for a super fancy hotel for special occasions :) Every place you stayed looks awesome!

    Sues

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  2. Wow, what great finds. I especially like the idea of having a kitchen when traveling (especially when you have all that good wine and cheese at your disposal)!

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    1. A kitchen did come in very handy!

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  3. Awesome accommodations. Hotel is great if you're planning on having all your meals, but a rental is perfect for being able to cook!

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  4. Sweet upgrade! I love when that happens. Looks like you found great places to stay. In my former life, I gravitated toward hotels, since they were easy to research, and you generally got what you paid for in terms of luxury. Now we are definitely more into rentals, since it's ideal to have a separate room for the kiddo, and that gets expensive with hotels. You're inspiring me to start planning our fall vacation!

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    1. Glad to hear it! Where are you headed?

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  5. I definitely prefer hotels, but your rentals were adorable!

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  6. I can't believe those places were Airbnb! The pool!

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