San Mateo · Hotel shortlist
Hotels with a pool in the historic centre, San Mateo
Marc Delacroix France
These are my five favourites in San Mateo, out of the 24 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.5 down to 4.2.
Residence Inn by Marriott Redwood City San Carlos is the one I would book myself.
Highest rated of the five
Residence Inn by Marriott Redwood City San Carlos
★★★★★4.5 from 618 reviews
Residence Inn by Marriott Redwood City San Carlos comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.5 from 618 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.
It is a 3 star property, found under city centre and around $644 a night on the dates we checked.
24 hotels in San Mateo qualified for this list and five made it. Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Poolsomewhere to cool off between walks
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
- Family roomscots and larger rooms rather than a squeeze
- Kitchenettebreakfast on your own schedule
All five, ranked
-
1
Residence Inn by Marriott Redwood City San Carlos
★★★★★4.5 from 618 reviews
- Pool
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Kitchen
- Pet friendly
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2Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport
★★★★★4.2 from 5,058 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
-
3Aloft by Marriott San Francisco Airport
★★★★★4.2 from 2,785 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
-
4Residence Inn by Marriott San Francisco Airport/San Mateo
★★★★★4.3 from 768 reviews
- Pool
- Spa
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Kitchen
-
5Courtyard by Marriott San Mateo Foster City
★★★★★4.3 from 606 reviews
- Pool
- Gym
- Restaurant
- Bar
- Parking
- Pet friendly
How this list was put together
24 San Mateo hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating, then on class, and took the top five.
Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.
The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.
What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.
Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.
Marc Delacroix France
Closes the shop two weeks each winter and goes wherever people make something fermented. Dairies in the Basque country, the Caucasus and rural Sardinia.
Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.