Handlery Union Square Hotel San Francisco

The Handlery Union Square Hotel calls itself a family hotel with a European flair. In fact, The Handlery, located at Union Square, San Francisco, between Mason and Powell St., has had its fair share of European travelers, even before it morphed into an EU friendly upscale boutique hotel with a 2002 makeover. Whether or not the English and the French and the Germans like it, the Handlery certainly is way more Mom and Kid friendly, in comparison with other family friendly hotels in San Francisco.

For starters, the hotel is situated slam bang across Macy's (for which the hotel offers discount coupons), with the Westfield San Francisco Centre, the largest shopping center on the West Coast, located minutes away, not to mention the cable car at the corner, and as such the hotel provides an ideal base for quick shopping expeditions for Moms at some of the world's finest brand name shops without having to stray too far from the kids. Also, the hotel frees up parents from daily drudgery, with same day laundry and dry cleaning services, maid service and full room service to take care of everything from in-room dining to cleaning up after a horde of precocious teenagers.

To help parents make a quick getaway without being missed, and to keep the kids occupied, the hotel provides babysitting services via the Concierge and a heated outdoor swimming pool, and a friendly multi-lingual staff well trained to provide service with a smile to customers of all ages, from frisky tiny tots to cranky grandparents. In addition if you are in San Francisco on a business trip, the hotel offers you an oppurtunity to combine a family vacation with your business, with a state-of-the-art business center, a fitness center, gift shop, an ATM and an upscale dining restaurant located next door, ideal for business lunches.

The rooms offer plenty of space, comfort and entertainment for the entire family, with two double beds, cable tv, on demand movies and video games, mini refrigirators, wi-fi internet, coffee and tea makers, hair dryers, iron/ironing board, and individual climate control settings. Rooms in the Club Section offer a few sweet extra specials for the family, including balconies with a view of the city, and overlooking the pool (all the easier to scream at kids who don't want to get out of the pool), complimentary newspaper, electric shoe polishers and a seperate vanity area with a lighted make-up mirror.

But the best is yet to come. For a standard room with two double beds and room for a family of 4, including two adults and two children, the hotel charges a nightly rate of $189 plus tax. If you go for the family getaway package special, the rate drops even further to $179, which includes one complimentary kids funpak, two complimentary ice cream sundaes at the Daily Grill Restaurant and Bar nextdoor, complimentary valet parking with 24 hour in and out privileges, two complimentary cable car passes available from the concierge, Pier 39 Funpak and Macy's Discount Coupons. If you want more than one room, the hotel offers family friendly accomodation with connecting doors between rooms.

Info: 351 Geary Street, San Francisco, CA 94102; (800) 843-4343