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A 50's-style motor lodge converted into a cheerful, colorful boutique hotel. The rooms are arranged around a central courtyard complete with covered parking, a postage stamp pool, palm trees, and hammocks (in season).

There are ten 1-bedroom suites (three with tiny kitchenettes, two with fireplaces). These rooms have 1 queen bed, and another room with twin trundle beds. They range in price from $149--209, breakfast included.

The service is outstanding, as is the location (in Cow Hollow, between the Marina and Pacific Heights). Free Wifi, free afternoon cookies, free gift bags for kids on check in.

Fun and funky!

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Hotel Tomo offers lots of style and good value in funky Japan Town, just a mile from Union Square (with frequent and cheap bus service), and walking distance from the many shops and restaurants of posh Fillmore Street.

Rooms are inspired by Japanese pop culture, and have eye-popping murals, beanbags, on-demand video gaming, and (important for families) minifridges. Hit one of the nearby grocery stores (Safeway, Mollie Stone, or a smaller Japanese grocery), and use the table and chairs in your room to save on dining. Or don't, there are plenty of restaurants to tempt you too.

Ask nicely for a corner room, the views are amazing! Staying here is just plain fun.

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Yes, I'm sick of hanging out at playgrounds too, but this one is an exception! Lush lawns, comfy benches, a beautiful fountain, cable cars trundling past, and exquisite views of Grace Cathedral.

Families will have a hard time tearing themselves away from this poshest of all parks.

If your child is afraid of dogs, this might not be the place for you. Residents pay no mind to the posted leash law.

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An enormous indoor mall comprising 3 buildings (connected by a plaza on one side, and a shop-filled over-the-street bridge on the other). This is a great place to spend an afternoon souvenir shopping.

If your kids like Pokemon and Hello Kitty (among MANY other Japanese cartoon characters), you'll have to pry them out of here with a crowbar.

I especially love Ichiban Kan Different Things, a store patterned after Japan's 100 Yen shops. You can pick up kitchen utensils, beauty products, dry goods, stationary, and bento boxes, for unbelievably low prices. I would still be there if my eye-rolling spouse hadn't dragged me out.

There are lots of tempting places to eat too, and not only Japanese. On the Bridge has pasta and hamburgers, Belly Good Cafe and Crepes has cafe fare, and there are plenty of coffee shops too.

Getting here is easy on the bus (lines 2, 3, and 4 drop you off right in front of the mall). If you get stuck with rainy weather while you're in SF, this is the place to go.

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Japan town is a mall, market place and cultural centre of the Japanese community in San Fran. If you're into Manga, Anime, robot model kits and Japanese cuisine, this is an interesting - if expensive - destination.

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Ignore the meditative people shuffling around like they've had too much cold medicine, and let your children have fun solving this puzzle with their feet. There are two labyrinths at Grace Cathedral---we recommend the outdoors one. Climb the steps, turn right, and you're there.

Nob Hill is pretty posh, but there's a nice children's playground across the street in Huntington Park if your kids have extra energy to burn afterwards.

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This is probably San Francisco's most popular breakfast spot, and with good reason. The food is divine, the portions are big, and the location (on Washington Square in North Beach) is appealing.

They serve breakfast from 8-3, and lunch for about half that time.

Now the bad news: they don't take credit cards or reservations. Mama's is popular with locals, and it's not unusual to wait an hour and a half for a table!

One parent can stand in line while the other takes the kids across the street to the park to watch people doing Tai Chi. Or next door to Sts. Peter and Paul Church (where Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe were married).

Stay in close contact by cell phone though, you'd hate to lose your table after all the trouble you took to get it.

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