Arielle Domb

You could revisit San Francisco countless times and always have a different experience, so we’ve compiled a list of the city’s best hotels which are sprinkled across its broad array of different neighborhoods at a range of different budgets. You’ll find ultra-luxe stays in the swanky Nob Hill as well as kind-on-your-budget spots near Fisherman’s Wharf, and pretty much everything in between. So, without further ado, here are Time Out’s picks for the best hotels in San Francisco, including new reviews of the Four Seasons at Embarcadero, the Ritz-Carlton and The Battery for Fall and Winter 2025.  Which area is best to stay in San Francisco? First time visiting the Golden City? To have as much of San Francisco as possible within easy reach, opt for somewhere near Union Square, and if you’re traveling with your family, we’d recommend Fisherman’s Wharf. However, San Francisco is vast and gloriously varied when it comes to where to stay, so other brilliant options are Nob Hill for that quintessential architecture or The Castro if you want to explore the city’s LGBTQ+ scene. Hayes Valley and Haight Ashbury are excellent for spots which are a little less central.  San Francisco’s best hotels at a glance: 💎Most luxurious: Four Seasons at Embarcadero 🛍️Best mid-range: The Clancy 👛Best budget: San Remo Hotel 🍝Best restaurant: The Jay 🤩Most iconic: Golden Gate Hotel 📍 Discover our ultimate guide to the best boutique hotels in San Francisco How we curate our hotel lists Our team of

It’s 7pm on a freezing winter evening and I’m sipping an effervescent red cocktail in a Canary Wharf basement. The city’s finance bro capital might sound like an unusual location for a party, and even more so: a party with pounding house music, where everyone is nearly naked, ridiculously toned and glinting with sweat. But this is no ordinary night out. It’s the opening of ARC, the UK’s first contrast therapy club (offering a mixture of extreme hot and cold treatments), home to the nation’s largest sauna, with a 65-person capacity. Alongside the mega sauna, ARC consists of a dimly-lit room with ice baths and a sleek coliseum-shaped lounge, decked out with a custom 300-watt sound system which makes your whole body vibrate. Here, guests can take breaks between the intense sauna sessions, listening to DJ sets while drinking (unlimited) cups of loose-leaf tea. ‘There’s something about going through this experience that really drops all your inhibitions’, says ex-Soho House director, Chris Miller, who, like many others here, is topless. ‘This is what bars and clubs used to be, before everyone was on dating apps’. Photograph: Arc Spending your Friday night sweating next to a bunch of investment bankers might well sound like some people’s idea of hell. But Miller, who co-founded ARC with neuroscientist and holistic health expert, Alanna Kit, is not the only one on the hot-and-cold hype – he’s adding to the rapidly growing list of public saunas that have popped up across the UK sin

‘No one look please!’ shouts Black Venus, stripping off a Nike tracksuit and pulling up a shiny black slingshot swimming costume. ‘Not that you’re not gonna see it later!’  It’s just off 10pm and Time Out is backstage at Sex and Rage’s Black Pride lesbian strip club party, hosted at the Dalston arts centre, EartH. Five performers are tending to their outfits — putting on dangling diamante earrings and exchanging beat-up trainers for Cinderella-esque, translucent heels. Everyone performing is a queer BIPOC sex worker. Photograph: Serene PowerSex and Rage ‘We really represent the words ‘‘sex’’ and ‘‘rage’’’, said Venus, martial artist, self-defence instructor and Sex and Rage founder. She hoists up her leg onto a counter and slips her foot into a patent stiletto-heeled boot. ‘I think a lot of people are very angry about not fitting in [at other nights out] but are very sensual, very in tune with their bodies, and they want to have an opportunity to express that.’ Tonight’s event is one of a number of strip club collectives that have emerged in the UK in recent years, pioneered by women and non-binary people belonging to marginalised groups. Many parties are actively reinventing the traditional strip club model, throwing events in rented spaces with policies that prioritise performer safety and well-being. But throwing these sorts of parties isn’t always easy; organisers often face stigma and discrimination from hostile venue owners and staff who are skeptical about hosting se

I audibly yelped when I opened up the door to my room on the top floor of Four Seasons at Embarcadero—arriving in San Francisco via ferry earlier that morning, it was my first time seeing the city from above. And oh, was it gorgeous. Rolling hills peppered with palm trees, pastel-coloured houses juxtaposing glittering skyscrapers, the endless expanse of pale blue water, stretching serenely into the distance.  San Francisco is famous for its mild, misty weather—the fog even has a nickname, Karl—so waking up in a room at this sky-high Four Seasons has a distinctly dream-like feeling of floating in the clouds. The fog usually burns off by midday, by which time you’ll have the pink-orange sunsets to look forward to. (I yelped again when I opened the bathroom door and saw the shiny, gigantic tub set next to the ginormous window—bathing here with a green tea at sunset provided transcendental levels of bliss).  Why stay at Four Seasons Embarcadero? Staff at Four Seasons Embarcadero say that the hotel has the best views in San Francisco, and they’re not exaggerating. Located on the top 11 floors of a 48-story building, the hotel is the tallest in the city, and each of its 155 rooms boast dazzling, panoramic views. With plush king beds, sleek furniture, panoramic windows, staying at the Four Seasons Embarcadero feels like sleeping on a marshmallow, like being in heaven, like being a queen gliding through the sky. It’s top notch, flawless luxury.  What are the rooms like at Four Season

Tucked away on a quiet street, it would be easy to miss the door to The Battery. The low-key entrance is no doubt enigmatic by design, given that the building is both a four star, 14-suite boutique hotel and a stylish private member’s club. A former marble factory revamped by renowned-interior designer Ken Fulk, The Battery has a phantasmagoric feel, decorated with patterned wallpapers and surrealist furniture (think leopard print chairs and pink pianos). Guests at the hotel become temporary members, giving them access to the hotel’s exciting programming and its many onsite eateries and bars. I particularly enjoyed The Battery’s courtyard, kitted out with brightly-coloured sofas, fairy lights and potted flowers—the perfect spot for an early morning coffee or cocktail at dusk. Why stay at The Battery? The Battery is for stylish guests who appreciate exuberant interior design, quirky furnishings and upbeat vibes. The hotel has multiple onsite restaurants, bars and cafes (each with their own distinct interior design) and an extensive program of workshops, shows and parties. Hotel artwork so often feels like a drab afterthought, but being at The Battery feels like wandering around a gallery after taking a couple of tabs of acid. You can spend a good hour exploring its psychedelic emporium, from the giant photobooth filled with silly hats to the bathroom cubicles labelled with each of the seven deadly sins to the pineapple-shaped lamps. It’s sexy, stimulating and rejuvenating, wit

Being a wreckhead was cool when I was a teenager. As a Zillenial Brit who went to school in the 2010s, I grew up hooked on Skins, perpetually trying (and failing) to emulate the enigmatic party girl Effy Stonem. Admittedly, at the time my social life primarily consisted of gatherings of adolescent north London Jews at someone’s parents house in Edgware. And yet the reckless hedonism of Skins hung in the air, a cultural template for the type of unbridled parties we wished we were having. Until very recently, it looked like the teens of the 2020s were behaving very differently. In 2023, more than a fifth of Gen Zers were sober and only one in 10 had tried a Class A drug, with many turning away from drink and drug-induced depravity in favour of healthier, more wholesome activities like gym dates and ‘grandma crafts’. But a new IWSR survey, released in June, indicates that famously sensible ‘generation clean’ are back on the booze.  Over the past six months, 73 percent of Gen Zers have drunk alcohol, compared to 66 percent two years ago – the biggest increase of any generation. Gen Z have also fallen in love with BuzzBallz – the sugary, neon-coloured, 13.5-percent-alcohol cocktails that you can buy from your corner shop for £3.99 a pop. Were Gen Z ever truly boring, or was the data missing out crucial parts of the story? Time Out spoke to Londoners aged 20 to 25 about what they make of their dull reputation, and to get the real scoop on their partying habits.  Photograph: @99999