In San Francisco, hospitality mirrors the city itself: bold, diverse and utterly distinctive. From urban luxury towers to intimate boutiques, eco-conscious retreats to sprawling wellness sanctuaries, the best hotels in San Francisco embody the quintessential Northern California spirit.
Below is a look at the MICHELIN Key hotels in San Francisco — the best of the best accommodations, as selected by MICHELIN Inspectors.
A Single Three Key Hotel: Just Outside the City
When a hotel earns Three MICHELIN Keys, it marks a destination unto itself. Canyon Ranch Woodside may not be in San Francisco proper, but its unique approach to luxury wellness makes it well worth the hour drive. Set on 16 acres of redwood forest — the giant trees for which Northern California is ecologically famous — guests sleep in luxurious accommodations, some within lofted treehouses, and indulge in a holistic health experience that's just as elevated. This is not the type of hotel from which you'll commute into the city for the day; everything you need is onsite, from fitness and meditation classes to creative workshops and farm-to-table meals. The spa is exemplary and transformative. Local ingredients are incorporated into the vast treatment menu.
In the city itself — as well as just across the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito — San Francisco boasts three hotels with Two MICHELIN Keys. Between them, you'll find the entire breadth of the city's geographic drama and urban sophistication. Start with Cavallo Point Lodge. At the base of the bridge, this historic hotel takes as its location a former army base, its guest rooms set in Victorian-style homes with wraparound porches — originally built to attract reluctant personnel to the military.
The astounding views of the glittering bay at Cavallo Point Lodge are rivaled only by the towering vantage point of the Four Seasons Hotel San Francisco at Embarcadero, another Two Key selection — this one in a more traditional location for the city's travelers: a downtown skyscraper. Expect the same elegance found at a Four Seasons anywhere in the world, mixed with San Francisco-specific experiences like private sunset sailing cruises around the bay and photography tours led by an internationally acclaimed photographer.
The Two Key selection rounds out with the Battery. A 14-suite boutique hotel in the heart of the city that doubles as an exclusive members club for the tech elite, it remains the city's most coveted social hub, complete with an active event calendar and a myriad of upscale dining and drinking options open only to members and hotel guests. Business travelers will appreciate the quiet workspace downstairs, as well as the arcade-like game room for blowing off late-night steam.
Finally, the last Key selections in San Francisco are two One MICHELIN Key hotels. On one side of the city, the Hotel Drisco makes its home in the tony neighborhood of Pacific Heights, its hilltop location far from the bustle of downtown and just a short ride from the city's Presidio National Park. The house is classic Edwardian in look, and just as elegant within. This is no bed and breakfast — it's much more luxurious than that phrase might denote. But the hotel itself is without a doubt, well, a house, albeit one with panoramic city views from spacious suites to go with gourmet breakfasts, wine and cheese receptions and chauffeur service to nearby sights.
Head to the financial district on the water and you'll find 1 Hotel San Francisco. Like its sister hotels across the United States, the mission here is sleek, eco-conscious design, an excellent spa (this one known for a range of organic products and dedication to low-waste practices) and an on-site restaurant that sources most ingredients from within a 100-mile radius. Active sightseers borrow the hotel's bicycles and explore the waterfront and downtown attractions, all just a short pedal away.
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Hero image: A view across the grounds towards the city skyline at Cavallo Point Lodge
