A good-value hotel at Union Sq, the eight-story Stratford has simple white-walled rooms with blonde-wood furnishings and occasional scuff marks – but they're clean, as are bathrooms with rainfall showerheads (no bathtubs). Rooms on Powell St offer views over the cable-car line, but they can get loud. The elevator is s-l-o-w.

A remodeling is in the works for 2019.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby attractions

1. Union Square

0.06 MILES

High-end stores ring Union Sq now, but this people-watching plaza has been a hotbed of protest, from pro-Union Civil War rallies to AIDS vigils. Atop the…

2. I Magnin Building

0.07 MILES

When Timothy Pflueger’s radical design was revealed on Union Sq in 1948, SF society was shocked: San Francisco’s flagship clothing store appeared…

3. Ruth Asawa's San Francisco Fountain

0.12 MILES

Covered in local landmarks and colorful SF characters – burlesque icon Carol Doda, psychedelic rockers Jefferson Airplane, protesters declaring themselves…

4. Frank Lloyd Wright Building

0.14 MILES

Shrink the Guggenheim, plop it inside a yellow-brick box with a round Romanesque entryway and put it where you'd least expect it: on a shady SF alley that…

5. James Flood Building

0.16 MILES

This 1904 stone building survived the 1906 earthquake and retains its original character, notwithstanding the Gap flagship downstairs. Upstairs,…

6. 450 Sutter St

0.17 MILES

A 26-story deco dental building fit for the gods, this 1929 Mayan-revival stone skyscraper has a lobby covered floor to ceiling with cast-bronze snakes…

7. Powell St Cable Car Turnaround

0.17 MILES

Peek through the passenger queue at Powell and Market Sts to spot cable-car operators leaping out, gripping the chassis of each trolley and slooowly…

8. Bohemian Club

0.21 MILES

San Francisco's infamous, secretive men's club was originally founded by bonafide bohemians – but they couldn't afford the upkeep and allowed the ultra…