High Style at Hyatt Fisherman’s WharfBy Madelyn Miller, the TravelladyWhen I was growing up, my family often stayed at Hyatt. It was a comfortable family place. Then I traveled professionally and stayed at Hyatt hotels. They were always dependable and predictable, a safe haven. Flash forward to 2006. Hyatt has reinvented itself with high style. I am staying in the Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf as I write this and except for the familiar logo, I would be unable to recognize this if there was a blind “tasting.”  This newly remodeled Hyatt has a zen-like feeling that seems like something designed by Phillip Starke. Surfaces are slick, furniture is stark but highly functional. There are lots of subtle, sensual touches.
The rooms have all been updated with 32” Flat screen plasma TV’s, Hyatt Grand Beds, Wireless internet, and deluxe bathrooms with rain showers mounted in the ceiling. All the rooms have been redesigned with a soothing light blue and chocolate brown color scheme, modern light fixtures and desk and seating area.  I love the big black bathroom with a huge shower and a long counter. ( the minimalist sink however, is not highly functional for someone traveling for weeks and wanting to handwash laundry.)
The Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf is not only a great place for tourists with families, but a central stepping off point for anyone that wants to explore San Francisco. The Hyatt Fisherman’s Wharf is ideally located in the reinvigorated neighborhood of Fisherman’s Wharf and is no longer your typical Fisherman’s Wharf, T-shirt selling, waffle cone kind of a place. Try the hotel’s sports bar, Knuckles, which was voted the best historic sports bar in San Francisco. But that is another story. Hyatt at Fisherman's Wharf
555 North Point Street
San Francisco, CA 94133
Phone: 415-563-1234
800-233-1234
Fax: 415-486-4424
URL: www.fishermanswharf.hyatt.com
E-mail: sales@sfofw.hyatt.com GREAT SAVINGS
WWW.citypass.com Helpful Website
www.onlyinsanfrancisco.com BEST SPA
Bliss Spa
http://www.blissworld.com/spa/location/sf/ BEST CULINARY TOUR
At Local Tastes of the City Tours, you eat your way through San Francisco. Each one of the three-hour adventures explores the soul of a neighborhood, including North Beach, Fisherman's Wharf, Golden Gate Park, Chinatown, and Haight-Ashbury . San Francisco is one of the culinary capitals of the world and every block has its own unique feeling and foods. Go into local bakeries, restaurants, and cafés, and sample the food and meet the people who make it. Each of our tours is followed by the option of a full meal at a neighborhood restaurant with phenomenal food. The three-hour easy, small-group walking tours cover separate neighborhoods where participants not only sample bread, pastries, chocolate, coffees, dim sum, seafood and other culinary delicacies, but also meet the bakers and chefs as they prepare the delicacies. In addition, they explore the local crafts scene, like pottery studios where you get an opportunity to meet artisans. Local Tastes of the City Tours
2179 12th Avenue
San Francisco, CA 94116
Phone: 415-665-0480
888-358-TOUR (8687)
Fax: 415-651-9548
URL: www.sffoodtour.com
E-mail: tmedin@localtastesofthecitytours.com GREAT RESTAURANTS
Perlot offers an a la carte menu with appetizers averaging between $7 and $16, and entrée prices averaging between $18 and $29. A prix-fixe menu also is available at $45 per person, and features eight appetizers and entrées from which to choose. During the meal, guests are treated to Chef Blythe's amusés, small one-bite tastes, between courses, of whatever strikes his fancy. For a grand finale, Pastry Chef Margaret Davis prepares five delicious desserts from which to choose. Perlot also features a chef's tasting menu, a five or six course menu which may include fish, meat, game and a cheese course. These menus are never the same and are based on what ingredients are fresh and seasonal. The multicourse tasting menu is $65 per person. Perlot: For breakfast, served Monday through Saturday until 10:30 a.m., and for Sunday brunch until 2 p.m., guests are invited to dine in this charming, romantic setting. In between meals, a light-fare menu is available through room service. This menu features light appetizers, soups, salads and lighter entrées. It is available 24 hours a day. Avalon: During dinner hours, the Hotel Majestic's bar, Avalon, features a café style menu with salads, soups and entrées, including Pacific salmon with tomato fondant and dry-aged New York steak with Roquefort butter. Avalon features a horseshoe-shaped mahogany bar with polished South American granite top from a Parisian bistro. Here, guests are invited to try one of many fine Napa and Sonoma wines by the glass, an expertly crafted cocktail or house specialty drinks named after exotic butterflies. While enjoying the bar's ambiance, visitors can view one of the largest US collections of rare specimen butterflies from New Guinea and Africa. Perlot for dinner: Named for the French oyster, Perlot is the Hotel Majestic's crown jewel. Often called one of the most beautiful and romantic dining rooms in San Francisco, Perlot presents an elegant atmosphere -- perfect lighting, fine linens and beautiful table settings -- for Chef Geoffrey Blythe's Seasonal American cuisine. Chef Blythe is an alumnus of Johnson & Wales University and the Baltimore International Culinary College. He was formerly Chef de Cuisine at Jack's Restaurant in San Francisco. Perlot is open nightly for dinner, with live piano/jazz Wednesday through Sunday.
Perlot in the Hotel Majestic
1500 Sutter Street
San Francisco, CA 94109
415/441-1100 (phone)
800/869-8966 (toll-free)
415/673-7331 (fax) GREAT GUIDEBOOKS
San Francisco Day + Night
By Julianne Balmain with Kate Chynoweth
Part of the Cool Cities Series from Pulse Guides
www.pulseguides.com VegOut Vegetarian Guide to San Francisco
Gibbs Smith Publisher
www.gibbs-smith.com
www.vegoutguide.com Diffordsguide to City Drinking #0.1
from the Publishers of the Magazine for Discerning Drinkers
It tells the Best Hotels, Restaurants and Bars in top cities
www.diffordsguide.com FODOR'S SAN FRANCISCO 2005
www.fodors.com SAN FRANCISCO AS YOU LIKE IT
23 Tailor-made tours for culture vultures, shopaholics and everyone else
Ulysses Press
www.ulyssespress.com HIDDEN SAN FRANCISCO & NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
By Roy Riegert
Ulysses Press
www.ulyssespress.com ACCESS SAN FRANCISCO
By Richard Saul Wurman
Harper Resource
www.harpercollins.com Taste Of San Francisco at home San Francisco Cuisine 2003
Menus and recipes from the Bay Area's finest restaurants
www.sanfranciscocuisine.com
ptifari@sanfranciscocuisine.com THE ESSENCE OF CHOCOLATE: Recipes for Baking and Cooking with Fine Chocolate
The first cookbook from Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker founders John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg. (Hardcover; $35.00; ISBN: 1-4013-0238-6; 100 color photographs throughout) features over one hundred spectacular-and often simple-recipes drawn from the Scharffen Berger files and from two dozen top pastry chefs BEYOND SAN FRANCISCO
Weekend Adventures in San Francisco & Northern California
By Carole Terwilliger Meyers
www.carousel-press.com BEST SAN FRANCISCO FASHION ACCESSORY
Wear your favorite city on a scarf! Tasaram's 100% silk Map Scarves feature detailed street plans of London, Paris, Rome, New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. with more cities coming soon.
www.mapscarves.com Or check out:
Signature Accents/ "City Scarves" & "City Ties"
336 Bon Air Center, Suite 347
Greenbrae, CA 94904
Phone: 415-927-7174
Fax: 415-962-4229
URL: www.cityscarves.com
E-mail: info@cityscarves.com
Primary Contact: Ms. Maria Simone, CEO | 
