San Francisco

It’s easier to ride than walk the Hyde Street hill.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

Lombard Street in San Francisco is known as “The Crookedest Street In The World.”  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

San Francisco visitor Chetan Hans from Louisiana sees himself and the Ferry Building reflected in a puddle.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

The sun sets behind Coit Tower in San Francisco.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

Evening commuters on the Bay Bridge, looking toward San Francisco from Yerba Buena Island.  (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)

A golden sunset finds the Golden Gate Bridge.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

Dusk drapes the San Francisco skyline.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

Visitors silhouetted in the Ferry Building of San Francisco with the Bay Bridge beyond.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

With nightfall, the Ferry Building dons neon and the Transamerica Pyramid emerges in sharp relief.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

San Francisco’s Lotta’s Fountain at Kearny and Market streets is where residents gathered in search of loved ones after the 1906 earthquake.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

A girl at the H. Dana Bowers Memorial Vista Point in Marin County on a rainy day by the Golden Gate Bridge.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)

San Francisco is an easy weekend trip.  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

The parlor of a one-bedroom suite at the Hotel Rex is a mix of vibrant colors. The San Francisco hotel underwent a $1 million renovation in 2003  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

The lobby bar at the Hotel Rex is said to have been inspired by the literary salons of the 1930s.  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

Cuisine at Hotel Rex’s Café Andrée is a French-Latin fusion.  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

Close to Union Square and across from the Curran Theater, Hotel Diva’s 116 rooms are ready for their close-up.  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

San Francisco’s Hotel Diva: sleek and cool.  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

Vinyl records, painted by the artist Klutch, enliven a room at the Hotel des Arts, off Union Square in San Francisco.  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

With hotel parking fees as high as $57 per day, consider forgoing a car for San Francisco’s excellent public transportation system.  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

In a former life, Hotel Majestic was an Edwardian mansion .  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

The Golden Gate Bridge illuminates the San Francsico fog.  (Myung J. Chun / LAT)

The Transamerica Pyramid and downtown San Francisco are framed within the windows of the Carnelian Room restaurant.  (Genaro Molina / LAT)