Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Funky Hotel

I was at a meeting in San Francisco over the weekend. Staying downtown in a big city can be a pricey proposition even when the meeting negotiates "discount" rates. If you procrastinate about making your reservations, you might not find the less expensive options available.

Sometimes I take a chance on a local joint. This time I found the Hotel Des Arts near Chinatown in San Fran. This modestly priced hotel is in an older building with smaller rooms (some have a shared bath, I sprung for a private bath) and has a very European vibe to it. It's not uncommon to hear other languages in the lobby or at breakfast.

The cool thing about this hotel is that every room has been painted by a local artist. Your room comes with its very own mural and art. Here is the room I stayed in.


Outside your room, the hallways are art galleries. You can buy the art as well. One of the artists also works the front desk.

While maybe not for everybody, I enjoyed my stay there. Good price, good location, fun room. Hard to beat that combination.

5 comments:

SER said...

Who is that guy in the lower left hand cornor of the picture?

kkdither said...

I love San Francisco. One of my favorite places to visit.

You can hear many languages spoken when you venture out of Wisconsin. The only foreign one you hear around here is Spanish... and that is found pretty much everywhere, now.

OrbsCorbs said...

Neat hotel, though I wouldn't share a bathroom with someone unless it was my significant other. What happens if you don't like the art in your room? Can you select a different one? Or do they provide pictures before you get a room?

hale-bopp said...

Yeah, the shared bathroom is down the hall. I feel the same way, Orbs, so I went for the private bath. Still a bargain.

I talked to them about the rooms. They are going to update their website with pictures of all the rooms so you can request a certain room for your stay.

Why Not? said...

When we are in Wisconsin, you can hear some Swedish around... I have never been to San Fran, would love to someday.. I find the guy to be a little creepy though, feels like he would be staring at you when you are in bed..

I recently booked a hotel for the night before we fly out of Stockholm.. it's right at the airport and it's only a room with two beds (bunk beds) in it.. just a closet, the bathroom is shared and there are not windows and you are only allowed to stay for 10 hours.. but hey it's right at the airport and it only cost about 80 dollars for all 4 of us.. helps us be there at 5:30 a.m. to check in.. kinda smart actually I thought.