Oh, San Francisco isn’t a very big city. The City by the Bay measures 7 miles by 7 miles, mostly surrounded by water and protected by its local guardian, Karl the Fog¹. Our venue for #SNDSF is the Holiday Inn — Golden Gateway, conveniently located between major city attractions and districts.
Oh, remember to register today. Space is limited and early bird registration ends March 9.
Oh, remember to book your flight! San Francisco International Airport (SFO) is your best option for airlines and fly times. Oakland International Airport (OAK) is a great alternative when flying with Southwest Airlines and Alaska/Delta. Use Kayak, Hipmunk, TripAdvisor or Google’s ITA to keep your eyeballs out for airfare deals.
Oh, remember to book your hotel room at the Holiday Inn — Golden Gateway. We’ve increased the hotel block, make your reservation before March 16 to guarantee the $179 nightly rate. Or check out the vacation rental listings on Airbnb and Homeaway.
Getting to the #SNDSF venue
If you’re arriving at SFO
The San Francisco International airport is 13 miles away from the hotel.
By taxi or on-demand ride services: The 20-30 minute ride costs between $55 to $65, depending on traffic. Note: Local cab companies do not have a flat rate fee to and from SFO. Use TaxiFareFinder for an estimate.
Shuttle Charge: $17.00 with SuperShuttle
Public transit: There are no direct route from SFO to the hotel. If you choose to take the hour long public transit ride to the hotel, you’ll have to catch a northbound BART train from SFO and hop onto a MUNI bus from either the Civic Center or Embarcadero stations. The trip will cost about $11.
Rental car: Take US-101 North, exit 434 A and merge onto Mission St./US-101 toward Golden Gate Bridge. Take a slight left at South Van Ness Ave, 1.2 miles to hotel. The hotel is located on 1500 Van Ness Avenue between Pine and California Street. You’ll need to drive northbound on Van Ness Avenue to get access to their lobby entrance.
If you’re arriving at OAK
Oakland International Airport is roughly 20 miles away from the hotel.
By taxi or on-demand ride services: The 40-50 minute ride costs between $60.00 to $70, depending on traffic from OAK. Note: Local cab companies do not have a flat rate fee to and from OAK. Use TaxiFareFinder for an estimate.
Shuttle Charge: $26.00
Public transit: There are no direct route from OAK to the hotel. If you choose to take the hour long public transit ride to the hotel, you’ll have to catch BART’s airport shuttle train to the Coliseum station where you catch any BART train heading to San Francisco to either the Civic Center or Embarcadero stations, taking a MUNI bus to the hotel. The trip will cost about $13.
Rental car: Take 880 North to 80 West across Bay Bridge ($6 Toll). Exit Fremont St. Turn Left on Pine. Follow Pine for 1 Mile, turn Right on Van Ness Avenue. Hotel is on corner of Pine St. and Van Ness Avenue. You’ll need to drive northbound on Van Ness Avenue to get access to their lobby entrance.
If you’re driving into San Francisco
Driving in from the north bay: Take 101 South across Golden Gate Bridge ($7.25 pay-by-plate, or $6.25 FasTrak pass). Stay left on 101 which becomes Lombard Street. Turn right onto Gough Street for a little less than a mile. Turn left onto Bush Street. In two blocks, turn left onto Van Ness Avenue in two blocks. The hotel will be a block away at the corner of Pine St. And Van Ness Avenue. You’ll need to drive northbound on Van Ness Avenue to get access to their lobby entrance.
Driving in from the east bay: Take 880 North to 80 West across Bay Bridge ($6 Toll). Exit Fremont St. Turn Left on Pine. Follow Pine for 1 Mile, turn Right on Van Ness Avenue. Hotel is on corner of Pine St. and Van Ness Avenue. You’ll need to drive northbound on Van Ness Avenue to get access to their lobby entrance.
Driving in from the peninsula/south bay: Take US-101 North, exit 434 A and merge onto Mission St./US-101 toward Golden Gate Bridge. Take a slight left at South Van Ness Ave, 1.2 miles to hotel. The hotel is located on 1500 Van Ness Avenue between Pine and California Street. You’ll need to drive northbound on Van Ness Avenue to get access to their lobby entrance.
Parking
The hotel charges $40 + taxes per day.
Photo by Courtney Kan
Getting around San Francisco
Public transit
MUNI is our local transit system of buses, rail trains and famed cable cars. Holiday Inn is located next to the California cable line². For more info on routes and fares: https://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/transit
BART is a rapid transit system connecting the Bay Area together. If you’re planning to explore Oakland, Berkeley or parts of the peninsula, check out their routes, schedules and fares here.
For a local public transit trip planner for times, directions and fare costs, check out 511.org.
Vehicles-for-hire
San Francisco is ground zero for on-demand ride services. We recommend using Lyft and Uber. Also check out Flywheel, which hails and pays a taxi driver through your smartphone.
On foot
Remember I said San Francisco isn’t a very big city measuring 7 miles by 7 miles? You can easily walk across this city in a few hours. You’ll survive when you take each daunting hill one step at a time. Just wear comfortable sneakies.
We’ll be profiling more #SNDSF speakers and sharing tips for the 38th Annual Workshop & Exhibition throughout the month. To register for the workshop, which runs April 7-9 in San Francisco, click here.
¹Karl the Fog
² The California cable line takes you from the hotel to our Ferry Building, our waterfront foodie mecca, on the Embarcadero. The cable line crosses the iconic Powell Street cable car lines, which will take riders to Fisherman’s Wharf and to the iconic Powell/Market cable car turnaround.