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FeedGrand Hyatt Hotel
It’s been more than 40 years since you-know-who left his you-know-what in you-know-where. But some things never change. The City by the Bay continues to draw legions of lovers from around the world looking to find romance, San Francisco style. And “The City,” as locals insist on calling it, keeps finding new ways to romance visitors.
Take the specialty package offered by the Hotel Triton, one of dozens of boutique hotels in the Kimpton Group. The “So Hip it Hurts” deal may not be for everyone. Still, it’s sure to serve a certain niche market. For just $289, you get “deluxe” accommodations (queen or king-size bed), morning tea service and an evening wine-and-beer reception (with tarot-card readings) at a cutting-edge hostelry just three blocks off Union Square. Very “hip.”
The “hurts” part? The Triton throws in a $65 gift certificate for either a tattoo or piercing at Mom’s Body Shop in the legendary Haight-Ashbury district.
Not your idea of romance? Then you may opt, as I often do, for a room in the Grand Hyatt Hotel, which has just undergone a $10 million renovation. This is not the Regency or Park Hyatt level, but it is a reliable, full-service hotel, with Union Square right outside the door. And although room rates seem to have been climbing steadily for the past few years, it’s a relative bargain when you compare the closest option, The St. Francis, across the square.
The Grand Hyatt’s new “Romance Package” doesn’t include any piercings, but it does come with an Enchanted Evening board game—in case you run out of ideas for your own games—and a romantic souvenir book, Best Places To Kiss in Northern California. The book counts the hotel’s rooftop jazz lounge among those best places. Also included in the package: chocolate-covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne, delivered to the room.
(I did not opt for the Romance Package, but still, a lovely goblet of strawberries and a bottle of sparkling wine were delivered to my room. Later, I noted the name on the envelope that came with them: Dr. Elliott Pamplomille. I phoned room service; they never came to retrieve the doctor’s treats.)
The $349-per-night rate includes a $50 food-and-beverage credit that could be used in the rooftop restaurant and lounge, Grandviews, which does offer some pretty grand views. Still, nothing can compare with the views from Equinox, the revolving rooftop restaurant at the Grand Hyatt’s sister hotel, the Hyatt Regency at Embarcadero Center. Now, this is romantic.
The restaurant makes a 360-degree revolution every 45 minutes, and the motion may be a bit disorienting at first. But it doesn’t take long to go with the flow. The restaurant management describes the experience thusly:
“Your table is ready. You sit. You glance at the view. You smile. Pick up the menu. Smile again. You hear a young girl say, ‘Mommy, the floor is moving.’ You look out the window. See the Bay Bridge passing by. You grab your chair. You duck and cover. You spill some beverages. We refill them. We’re used to it.”
Not incidentally, the Equinox serves some of the best hotel food anywhere. If you don’t go for dinner, do, at least, go for two appetizers: the Dungeness crab cake (with avocado, red onion and cilantro relish) and the Absolut vodka shrimp martini.
The ground-level views in San Francisco are romantic, too. Especially around Union Square. Lovers, hand-in-hand, window-shopping Macy’s and Neiman Marcus. Lovers, hand-in-hand, sprinting to catch a cable car. Lovers, hands-in-pockets, reaching for spare change to help feed the old woman in
a wheelchair and the dozen cats that swarm over her. And despite the late columnist Herb Caen’s insistence that they’re nothing more than feathered rats, even the panhandling pigeons seem lovelier on Union Square.
Not that this city is without its problems. The distinct aroma of sewage wafts from every street grating these days. Graffiti spreads to even the most upscale storefronts. And there may be more homeless people per square foot here than in any other city on earth. On the other hand, this is likely a higher class of homeless. It’s so much easier to qualify, considering a rather ordinary studio flat in the city commands rents of up to $2,850 a month.
The view from a studio can be lovely, too. But it’s lots cheaper to savor San Francisco’s romantic panorama with an $11 Absolut vodka shrimp martini at Equinox.
IF YOU GO: United and Southwest Airlines offer direct flights to San Francisco from San Diego, with occasional restricted fares as low as $78 round trip. Consult a travel agent for best fares.
Rates for a standard room at the Grand Hyatt range from a low of $209 on weekends to a high of $425 on weekdays. Phone 800-233-1234 for reservations at any Hyatt. For dinner reservations at the Hyatt Regency’s Equinox: 415-788-1234.
—Tom Blair
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