San Rafael · Hotel shortlist
3 star hotels near the main square in San Rafael
Sofia Marchetti Italy
These are my five favourites in San Rafael, out of the 40 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.7 down to 4.6.
Acqua Hotel Mill Valley is the one I would book myself.
Highest rated of the five
Acqua Hotel Mill Valley
★★★★★4.7 from 444 reviews
Acqua Hotel Mill Valley comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.7 from 444 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 the airport and around $403 a night on the dates we checked.
40 hotels in San Rafael qualified for this list and five made it. Waters Edge Hotel is the one I would book if the first is full.
Why it works for this trip
- Air conditioningthe one that decides a summer trip
- Restaurantdinner downstairs on the night you land
- Family roomscots and larger rooms rather than a squeeze
- Parkinga real consideration if you are driving in
- Step free accesslevel entry and a lift
All five, ranked
-
1
Acqua Hotel Mill Valley
★★★★★4.7 from 444 reviews
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Pet friendly
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
-
2Waters Edge Hotel
★★★★★4.8 from 186 reviews
- Restaurant
- Parking
- Pet friendly
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
-
3Marin Lodge
★★★★★4.6 from 378 reviews
- Parking
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
-
4Monte Cristo Bed and Breakfast
★★★★★4.9 from 115 reviews
- Restaurant
- Airport shuttle
-
5Mill Valley Inn
★★★★★4.7 from 169 reviews
- Parking
- Pet friendly
- Kid friendly
- Air conditioning
- Accessible
How this list was put together
40 San Rafael 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.
Sofia Marchetti Italy
Refuses to fly anywhere reachable by rail. Four sleeper-train crossings of Europe, a collection of old transit maps, and building sketches drawn from carriage windows.
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.