The 5 Best San Francisco Hotels According to Readers in 2025

San Francisco, an iconic American city is currently in the middle of a major 2025. It’s welcoming Counterculture Museum Haight and Ashbury is transforming an oceanfront highway to create the idyllic Sunset Dunes, and the Presidio has added a food hall and picnic meadow. The dining scene is constantly changing, with everything from Michelin-starred restaurants to Mission Burritos. United Airlines’ 20% increase in service at San Francisco International Airport makes it even easier to travel to the City by Bay. It’s no wonder our readers are excited about San Francisco this year—and loyal to its legendary hotels.

Voting is a Simple Process

Every year for our World’s Best Awards survey, T+L asks readers to weigh in on travel experiences around the globe—to share their opinions on the top hotels, resorts, cities, islands, cruise ships, spas, airlines, and more. Almost 180,000 readers of T+L completed the survey for 2025. Over 657,000 votes were cast for over 8,700 different properties (hotels cities cruise lines etc.).).

The criteria used to rate hotels included: their location, amenities and rating.
- Rooms/facilities
- Location
- Service
- Food
- Value
Respondents could rate each characteristic as excellent, above the average, average or below average. These responses are averaged to arrive at the final score.

The Presidential Suite Balcony, The Ritz Carlton San Francisco.

Ron Starr/The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco

What Readers Really Loved

What do our readers love about San Francisco 2025? Rankings are being re-arranged. This year’s winners are completely different than last year. There is no hotel on the list from 2024. Apart from the “hip” 1 Hotel San Francisco (No. 5)—which one reader said has “very good food and energy in the evening”—our voters gravitated toward mature properties from heritage brands, like the Fairmont Heritage Place, Ghiradelli Square (No. The historic Ghirardelli chocolate factory is home to the No. 3 hotel. The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco is back at the top of this year’s list. The landmark Neoclassical hotel was last crowned World’s Best in 2023. 1 spot.

The Winner

The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco

The San Francisco Suite at The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco offers a panoramic view of the city.

Don Riddle/The Ritz-Carlton San Francisco

The column-lined temple-like façade of this property, which has only been serving as a grand entrance to a hotel since 1991, has impressed mere mortals ever since 1909 when the U shaped Nob Hill Building was built as the Pacific Headquarters for Metropolitan Life Insurance. Readers say that the hotel is now insured, and they are assured of a wonderful stay. The property has a timeless quality, particularly in the swanky bar, where “great staff” serve afternoon tea, either traditional or gin-spiked, and cocktails whose ice is stamped with the RC Logo. The readers suggest upgrading to a suite with access to Club Level to enjoy the dedicated concierge, complimentary food and beverage throughout the day and the dedicated concierge.