Cheap hotels in Pacific Heights & Japantown, San Francisco

Neighborhood Description

Populated by exquisite Victorian homes and grand mansions, posh Pacific Heights has a long legacy of extravagance. What started out as the playground of the nouveau riche in the late 1800s is now home to such glitterati as Gordon Getty and Danielle Steele. Aside from gaping at grandeur, the primary activity here is shopping. Fillmore Street is lined with luxury boutiques—with plenty of sidewalk cafés for watching the daily parade of the well-heeled.

Amid all this glamour is Japantown. At its peak in the '20s and ‘30s this 'hood spread over 20 blocks, but it was virtually gutted when the Japanese were interned during World War II. Today this workaday enclave stretches only a few blocks around the pagoda in the Japan Center Mall. Still, the area seems to be making a resurgence, with a popular annual cherry blossom festival and local businesses like the Kabuki Theater keeping the spirit of Japanese heritage and pop culture alive.