Luxury vacation rental meets upscale hotel at the city's best, if most expensive, residence-style lodging. The Ghirardelli Square factory setting has plenty of character, while modern one-, two-, and three-bedroom units feel like designer model homes with top-of-the-line amenities. Maserati car service, personal grocery shopping, 24-hour butlers, and free breakfasts are among service highlights.

The stylish, 200-room Hotel Vitale has an ideal location on the Financial District's revitalized waterfront, surrounded by fine dining. Its beautiful guest rooms, top-tier services, reputable spa, and numerous freebies -- Wi-Fi, daily yoga, passes to use the nearby YMCA's lap pool -- make it a great luxury choice.

Though last renovated in 2006, the 549-room Hilton Financial District still feels fresh, and its great beds, up-to-date electronics, and nice bay views from select rooms make it great for business travelers -- and leisure guests that don't mind walking 10 minutes to get to the interesting dining and culture in Chinatown and North Beach.

The 342-room Club Quarters can be a fine alternative to other, more costly business hotels in the quiet, skyscraper-lined streets of the Financial District. But with the drop in price come smaller standard rooms, cheaper bedding, scarce service (no doorman or concierge), an older fitness center, and a less-than-exciting restaurant.

This charming boutique, situated in an impressive historic building only a block from Union Square, offers attractive rooms that mix modern comforts and antique furniture. But amenities are few -- there's not even a fitness center on-site (though guests can access one at a different hotel a few blocks away). Still, its intimacy and stately feel make it one of the better options for the price in this location.

The 182-room Villa Florence in Union Square admirably rises to the challenge of bringing Italy's culture and countryside to one of San Francisco's loudest, busiest, and most commercial districts. Rooms combine up-to-date technology with old-world style, but the hotel goes overboard on the Italian theme, and its amenities and services are uneven.

This 94-room Union Square boutique, themed after 1920s and '30s literary salons, is a bit quirky, with fairly hands-off service and few amenities. But the tiny quarters are nicely furnished with up-to-date amenities, there's a daily wine hour in the reading-room-style lobby bar, and an on-site bistro offers up well-priced Californian fare.

This Union Square boutique -- a member of Marriott's Autograph Collection since 2013 -- has 171 up-to-date, well-appointed rooms that deliver the right luxuries -- pillow-top mattresses, flat-screen TVs, and free Wi-Fi -- in a stylish package. A fitness center, business center, great service, and an on-site restaurant make this hotel one of the best options in its area and price range.

A sexy 198-room property that doubles as a hip art gallery, the Hotel Palomar has spacious, comfortable rooms, a free wine tasting every evening, an upscale restaurant on the 5th floor, and an open-arms policy toward pets. Other downtown boutiques may cost less, but the Palomar is a cut above for a romantic getaway.

A historic, but well-past-its-prime, 459-room hotel that once served as San Francisco's City Hall, the Whitcomb is stuck in the past with dingy and dirty rooms, lackluster features, and dark, musty hallways. The Holiday Inn Civic Center or Good Hotel are better bets in this seedy neighborhood.