Where in San Francisco is good? please help

There are a couple of good hotels in the Fisherman's Wharf area but the real center of town is Union Square. If you plan to not go outside S.F. very much, you don't really need a car. I spent a week in the city over Christmas/New Year's 2003 at a hotel on Sutter Street (I think it's closed for renovations now) and walked everywhere or took the buses or cable cars. You haven't lived til you've ridden on a San Francisco cable car! Lombard Street is the crookedest street in the world. I'm not sure if there are any hotels there. If you stay at or near Union Square, it's a great walk through Chinatown, down Grant Avenue, to North Beach and thence to Fisherman's Wharf. You can take a California Street cable car back to your hotel.

Are there roads where you can drive a car there, too?

Forget the car - it will cost you almost again as much as your hotel room each day to rent it and park it, unless you plan to go further outside the city. You don't need it - take a cab or PT.

cjhsa is right. Only reason you'd want a car in the city is if you're planning to drive outside the city and see some Bay Area towns like, say, Bodega Bay. If you're staying in town, a car isn't a necessity, it's not even a luxury -- it's a liability. Parking is impossible and if you're not used to driving up and down hills that have a 40 degree slope, it can be harrowing as well. Even if you go outside of San Francisco proper and visit, say, Oakland or Berkeley across the Bay, the BART commuter rail system is excellent and inexpensive.

What part of S.F. have the steepest slopes?

All of it, Chris. The city built on three major very steep hills -- Telegraph, Russian and Nob-- and some slightly gentler slopes. Downtown streets sometimes seem to run at a 45 degree angle. People who know the city well and have to do a lot of walking find ways around, instead of going over. For example, I discovered that to get from the downtown to Fisherman's Wharf, it's much easier to go down Alameida Ave, then, say, California Street which might be more direct. But if you're in good physical shape, trudging up and down the hills can be a lot of fun.

Merry Andrew and cjhsa pretty much summed it up. There are also some good places up at the top of California Street on Van Ness Avenue that are not bad places to stay and you can catch the Cable Car right on that corner that takes you down to Grant (Chinatown) and then further down to Downtown and then onto Fisherman's Wharf.

I was in heaven staying at a great little hotel on Sutter Street once though. It may have been called The Sutter Hotel in fact, if I remember correctly.

No matter where you stay it is going to be expensive. The public transit system is good and the Cable Cars are fabulous. You may want to just rent a car on days you do plan to travel outside of the City as most of what you need can be reached by PT or Cable Car as previously mentioned.

In any case, make sure your hotel has a concierge. They are the best at navigating you to wherever you want to go!

Oh, Chris! I wish I still lived there...I'd take you on all the personal tours you could handle! Just enjoy it my friend. I think it is the most beautiful City in the world!