 |
|
|
|
|
The 32-floor InterContinental San Francisco is the largest hotel to open in the city in nearly two decades. Unlike the ornate, 1920s-era InterContinental Mark Hopkins - the brand's first San Francisco property - this sleek, 550-bedroom glass tower is a brand-new build, with a gleaming, marble-floored lobby and public spaces flooded with natural light. Floor-to-ceiling windows in each bedroom and suite give an immediate sense of place, with spectacular views of the downtown skyline and the Bay Bridge. Interiors feature a northern Californian palette of 'seafoam green' and mahogany, accented with deep, rust-red sofas, curving metal lamps and large orchids. Bathrooms are stocked with natural botanical products by Floris. The sixth-floor spa has 10 treatment rooms, a lap pool and a fitness centre overlooking a bamboo-lined, heated outdoor terrace (where there are daily yoga classes). In the evenings, a busy downtown crowd fills the lobby's Bar 888 for cocktails. The restaurant, Luce, is a partnership between famous winemaking families in Napa (Mondavi) and Tuscany (Frescobaldi). In keeping with this pedigree, chef Dominique Crenn cooks inventive Californian dishes with a Tuscan influence: beautiful Dungeness crab ravioli with sliced beetroot and watermelon radish, topped with trout caviar; black-ink trofiette carbonara with calamari, pancetta and poached egg. The hotel is in the shopping- and entertainment-focused SoMa (South of Market) neighbourhood, and the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the new Westfield mall are a couple of blocks away. If you need a lift anywhere within a two-mile radius of the hotel, there is a complimentary car service.
WHEN TO GO
Late spring or autumn to avoid the holiday crowds and summer fog.
ROOM TO BOOK
One-bedroom corner suites on the 29th and 30th floors have two walls of floor-to-ceiling windows.
888 Howard Street, San Francisco (00 1 888 811 42731; www.intercontinentalsanfrancisco.com). Doubles from $295; one-bedroom corner suites from $1,197
Find out more about San Francisco in our city guide |
|
|
|
|
|
