Find a shared van (Lorrie's recommended by the hotel)..."Where are you going?" Replying, "Da Vinci Villa!" the driver immediately nodded, "Yes, yes, the one on Van Ness, right?" Yes, that is the one and we were one our way . . . a multiple-visitor to SFO but never been at Da Vinci Villa before, out of what could be called, "mainstream" my thoughts kept searching all the familiar places along the way. We kept moving on and then the driver hit "Van Ness" and we traveled about five blocks from what in the distance looked like the bay, the wharf and all that the area offered. Hmmmm, only a ten minute walk? I wondered if my daughter would complain about how far from the crowd we were, or if my friend would complain about the distance . . . . we arrived at Da Vinci Villa and we were pleasantly surprised . . . it was not a large, imposing namebrand hotel with a driveway . . . it was however, a sleek, efficient check in area . . . modern in style but still inviting (especially the tall, glass dispencer full of , iced, fruit and cucumber-flavored water. The waiting area off to the side of check-in pergola was comfortable (but not if there was check in for more than eight people). However, when you walk the short distance to the elevator, one finds a very large room with couches and with a large enough flat-screen TV, a place that folks could set as meeting place before they set out for the day. The name escapes me now but located in the hotel is an Italian restaurant which offers a continental breakfast for the amount of days you are checked-in. A perusal of the menu offered what looks to be an offering of beautiful, flavorful meals, a little above-moderately priced (never got a chance to try the food). We arrved at breakfast time, and our party of four took advantage of the continental breakfast. We waited for what could be described as a "long wait" but it really wasn't ---- it is what's to be expected especially when everyone checked-into the hotel all woke up at the same time to grab a bite! The continetal breakfast was enough to get the day started. (There was one waiter who never smiled and seemed to be bothered that we wanted to order off the menu in addition to our Continental breakfast . . . it didn't bother me at first, because it was busy and I could forgive him; but our party happened to get him the next two mornings and his demeanor did not change --- boo hoo!)
Our room was fabulous, but my friend and brother exclaimed that more lights were needed, especially by the closet. We were given a room with a large bathroom and we did not know if all the bathrooms were all set-up for the handicapped . . . the bathroom was "huge" with my daughter exclaiming, "it's so big; bigger than my bedroom!" The beds where inviting with the down covers, the flat-screen TV providing a good respite to catch up on the 2012 Olympics and a desk area made for two was sufficient and had it's own individual lighting. The room had a heating system and we could not find an air conditioning unit but the natural, cool SFO air and slight wind, combined with the screened windows more than provided enough comfort.
Billed as a boutique hotel, it had a family atmosphere. It was comfortable with the pool right in the courtyard of this (was it four or five?)-story hotel. They even provided a work-out room. You could hear laughter of the children and teenage boys at play in the heated-pool that they enjoyed sometimes past 11:00 p.m. But we didn't mind because after a long day, out and about, with the beds inviting, we just sacked out!
Our party tried the walk to Fisherman's Wharf . . . it was not bad at all and we found many of the families that stayed at the Da Vinci Villa made the same walk. On our way back, during our five days in SFO, used the City's transportation system which stopped a half block away from the Da Vinci Villa . . . and some of those same families were on the bus, too!
All in all, the staff (i.e. Freitas and Griffin) was helpful, cheery, professional in manner and look, and friendly. The staff was equally as stylish as the hotel and the entire package: staff, facility, location, cost and amenities --- is a winning combination. However, a word about the elevator, it is "a little slow" but the stairs was only right around the corner and not a bad walk up or a run down (just ask the kids and teens)!
hotel reviews