San Francisco Smart Splurges

Opened in February 2008, the InterContinental is the first new hotel to come to San Francisco in three years. The eco-friendly building’s modern, turquoise façade is a prime example of the city’s progressive attitude towards art, as is its minimal, yet inviting, neo-Japanese style interior with its dark polished wood walls and marble floors. The 550 accommodations are distributed among 32 stories and feature floor-to-ceiling windows with sweeping city views (grab a corner junior suite with a Bay view if you can). Don’t leave without checking out Luce, the inventive lobby restaurant, and the adjoining Bar 888, where a sampling of the grappa is an absolute must.

Contemporary-feeling rooms with superb city, bay views are elegantly decorated with Asian accents and feng shui principles. Amenities include WiFi, binoculars, Frette Egyptian cotton sheets, daily newspaper, and welcome tea and cookies.

A Golden Gate tour is nice, but a Champagne Flight is spectacular. Passengers sip champagne at sunset while soaring above the coastline – the most romantic 30-minutes of your life, guaranteed.

Bradley Ogden’s restaurant has long been a hotspot for American cuisine. For the ultimate...more

The current, swanky hotspot for locals and out-of-town A-listers has exposed brick, lots of black, and rotary phones in the booths to connect you to others in the bar, including the bartender.