During my week in San Francisco I had been staying outside of the city centre. The person who I had come with wanted to be close to the beach for his morning runs which didn’t bother me as sometimes I like being away from the touristy areas. You get a better idea of what it’s like for locals when you stay closer to where they live. Unless they are very rich, they will be living outside the city centre.
There was a tram stop close to our motel which made getting into the city centre easy but after a few days the long commute was getting to my travel companion. You see, he really isn’t a fan of public transport so it took only a few days for him to get fed up with our daily journey which was taking about 40 minutes.
Towards the end of our trip we cycled along the Golden Gate Bridge over to the cute town of Sausalito. Due to my weak knees and San Francisco being a hilly place, I was unable to cycle back so we opted to take the ferry back across to San Francisco.
The ferry from Sausalito heads to another small town, Tiburon, before heading across the bay to San Francisco. While we were docked at Tiburon our eyes were drawn to a stunning little hotel along the water. We both started to think about how lovely it would be to stay here and enjoy the peacefulness of the San Francisco Bay. Then we started to talk about how it would be the perfect end to our trip. Before we had docked at San Francisco we had booked a room for our final 2 nights.
Getting to Tiburon from San Francisco
Tiburon can be reached by ferry and road. For ferry there is Blue & Gold Fleet Ferry which sets off from Pier 41 in San Francisco. The first ferry from San Francisco departs at 9:45am on weekdays and10:10am on weekends. The ferry will take about 45 minutes as it also stops off at Sausalito. The last ferry will depart from San Francisco at 10:00pm on both weekdays and weekends.
From Tiburon, the first ferry will depart at 10:40am on weekdays and 12:10pm on weekends. This ferry journey will only take 30 minutes as it goes direst to San Francisco. The last ferry will depart Tiburon at 10:40pm on both weekdays and weekends.
Please keep in mind this timetable may change so double check on the Blue & Gold Ferry website.
Of course, the ferry timetable is very restrictive so if you want to travel between Tiburon and San Francisco outside of these times you’ll have to travel by road. There is a bus service (Route 8) but this is also a limited service. We opted to use Uber instead which was costing around $40-50 for each journey.
Waters Edge Hotel
The Waters Edge Hotel is located on the historic Tiburon dock which overlooks San Francisco Bay. It is the only waterfront hotel in the seaside town of Tiburon which makes it the perfect place to stay if you’re looking for relaxation.
We entered the hotel and were greeted to friendly staff who made us feel so welcomed. We ended up chatting to the staff for some time while they fed us deliciously warm and gooey cookies. While we chatted I took a moment to look around my new surroundings and instantly fell in love with the place. The hotel had so much charm and warmth to it I knew I was going to enjoy my stay here.
The Room
The hotel is rather small with only 23 rooms and we booked ourselves into one of their Standard King rooms. Our cosy room was quite spacious for it’s size and the interior was simply stunning and definitely matched it’s waterfront surroundings. The shutters on the windows were great for bringing natural light into the room giving it a more vibrant feel.
Each room comes with a plush bed that was amazingly comfortable and gave us the best nights sleep we had the whole trip! As soon as I lay down on that bed I had wished we had booked this hotel from the start of the trip.
Each of the 23 rooms also comes with a soaking tub, 55” LCD television with DVD player and DVD library, Bose iPod dock, hair dryer, iron and ironing board, air conditioning and spa robes. The rooms also comes with a fireplace which sadly we couldn’t use during our stay. The laws in San Francisco are strict and fireplaces can’t be used all the time.
Breakfast at Waters Edge Hotel
Due to the small size of the hotel they are unable to provide a breakfast area for guests. However, the have come up with the perfect solution to this by providing guests with an in room continental breakfast service.
Each evening you simply mark on your breakfast card what you would like and at what time and they will have it brought straight up to your room. I loved this service. I couldn’t resist being a lady of leisure and enjoying my room service breakfast in the spa robe. It really was the best way to start the day.
The menu is limited but still offers a wide variety of options to chose from. You have options for coffee and different flavoured teas, juices, bagels, fruit bowls, yoghurts. All the things you would expect to find on a continental breakfast menu.
Hotel Facilities
The Waters Edge Hotel really do go out of their way to make sure you get the most out of your stay with them. It’s the little touches they provide that make a huge difference to the guests during their stay.
Every evening freshly baked cookies are brought out to reception and guests are encouraged to enjoy as many of them as they like. I definitely took advantage of this and had several each night! I mean, it would have been rude not to right?
Later in the evening the complimentary wine and cheese is brought out. The wine is sourced locally and this gave me something to look forward to each evening.
Guests have access to the Grand Waterfront Deck which provides stunning views of the San Francisco Bay. In the evenings they light a fire so you can sit out on the deck and enjoy the sounds of the water.
Key Information
- Check in is 3pm and check out is 11am
- The Waters Edge Hotel is conveniently located next to Tiburon ferry
- Make sure to take advantage of the home baked cookies and wine & cheese hour
- The staff know the area really well so take advantage of their knowledge
- It’s best to book online in advantage. Use this handy widget to check availability
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Oooh this looks like a lovely place to stay! I really like the sound of that breakfast service! You must have felt so spoiled!
I felt very spoiled there. With breakfast in bed and wine and cookie hour in the evening I didn’t want to leave!
Those bathrobes look divine!