San Francisco: Hotel Triton

I'm finally getting around to recapping our awesome trip to San Francisco. Yay! :)

We planned our trip so that we had a few hour layover in the Las Vegas airport. I've only ever been to the Vegas airport once before for a layover on this exact same route. I actually like flying into this airport for a few reasons, one is that the view out the airplane window is amazing. You get to see so many different landscapes happening and it really reminds you how beautiful this country is. I let Adam have the window seat for this trip since I had seen it all the last time I took this route and this was his first time. The other reason I like the Vegas airport is because it cracks me up that there are slot machines all over the place. I guess if you didn't lose all of your money at the casinos, this is your last chance (or maybe you're more optimistic than I am and you're hoping to win big). While we were sitting and waiting for our plane, I overheard a lady telling her husband that she and her friend just lost ten dollars in the five minutes they played the slots. Exactly why I'm not a gambler.

We arrived at the San Francisco airport and took the BART into the city. We like to take public transportation whenever we can, because there are only two of us and it's easier and cheaper than renting a car or taking a shuttle service. From the BART we walked a few blocks to get to our hotel, Hotel Triton, which is located in Union Square, directly in front of the Chinatown Gate.

The hotel is definitely something to see. The lobby was loaded with bright colors and bold patterns. I kind of felt like I was in Pee Wee's Playhouse, especially with that painting of the flowers above the fireplace (you have to remember these guys who sat outside the Playhouse window). So fun. The hotel is pet friendly, so of course there was a water bowl and treats waiting by the door for all the four-legged friends who walked in.

Here's Adam chillaxing on their gold lamé couch with their seven-finned friend who lived in the lobby. Unfortunately, I didn't catch his name.

The fun doesn't stop in the lobby. The good music and mood lighting in the elevator ride up to our room was a surprise. We walked out of the elevator and passed the Kathy Griffin suite (designed by Kathy herself) on our way to our room, which was just a few doors down from it. I thought the microphone painted on the door was a cool touch.

I did a lot of research before we left for San Francisco to get an idea of what was in store for us room wise. I was excited to read that Hotel Triton was in the midst of a complete room overhaul - a redesign of the entire room and color scheme. We walked into a newly renovated room that was bright and inviting. The green beadboard with the book excerpt wall paper (Jack Kerouac's On the Road if you're interested) was a great touch. I'll admit that of all the details in the room I loved the yellow headboard the most, but was totally smitten over that lamp above the bed.

The smaller details the worked into the room were really sweet. The pillow pattern was so lovely and I liked that there were books sitting on the side table next to the bed in case you had a hard time falling asleep. Of course every time I see something by Allen Ginsberg I think of Mad Men. Thanks, Mad Men.

The bathroom was a bit small, but worked well for us. I actually prefer stall showers, but wish they had shelves or a rack to put your toiletries at eye level instead of on the floor.

Before we left for San Francisco, I found out that Kimpton Hotels (the owner of Hotel Triton) has a Facebook page and it just happened that they had mentioned on their page that they were going to be running a secret password surprise special. You had to mention the secret password (which was Slip 'N Slide) at check in to see what the surprise was. We were definitely super surprised when Valerie, our assistant at the front desk, told us that we had the choice between a bottle of wine, a free movie, or a Hotel Triton rubber duck (which is kind of their mascot). After Adam and I chatted about our options for a few seconds, I wanted the bottle of wine, but Adam's not a wine guy and I didn't want to drink the whole bottle myself (cough lush cough), Valerie jumped in saying that she could offer us a bottle of Champagne instead of the wine if that worked for us. We were sold. I think I ended up drinking the majority of the bottle anyway.

We loved our stay at Hotel Triton and would definitely recommend it to anyone wanting a great location and a cool hotel for their vacation in San Francisco. Be sure to check out some of their sweet amenities like a wine reception between five and six o'clock and bicycles that you can borrow for that non-walking trip around the city.