boston firsts Thank you to so many friends who contributed their thoughts on the best places in S an Francisco to

3110 Oc tavia St. (at L ombard St.), San F rancisco, CA 94123. &800/274-1420 or 415/928-1000. F ax 415/928-5909. w ww.marinainn.com. boston firsts 40 units. $65 $135 double. R ates include c ontinental br eakfast. Kids under 5 stay free in parent s room. Additional guests $10. Rollaways and cribs free. AE, DC, DISC, MC,

For hotels in the upper price echelons, it can be hard to rank one luxurious alternative over the other. While I prefer the Four Seasons for its mor e spacious guest rooms and kid-friendly treats, I give the prize for top luxury family hotel to the St. Regis for its marvelous pool, a feature most kids highly priz e. At the Four Seasons, you have to head out the back door to the M arriott for use of an uninspiring pool in an antiseptic, tiled r oom not quite the same as popping do wn the elevator in your swimsuit and plush hotel bathrobe to arrive at a soothing light-filled space housing a glorious, 50-foot-long infinity pool. Kids at the St. Regis are also plenty well pampered. If you talk to the concierge in adv ance, the hotel will invite the kids to check in and sign their names on arrival. Kids will find personalized notes for them in the guest room, as well as a cookie with their own name on it not to mention kid-sized bathrobes, a toy from the SFMOMA Museum boston firsts store, and a children s room service menu.

VIETNAMESE This may well be the most popular r estaurant in San Francisco. No matter that it has twice r elocated to bigger spaces, boston firsts mo ving from its original site in the M ission to a larger space in the E mbarcadero to its curr ent location in an enormous corner of the F erry B uilding. The huge space, o verlooking the water and framed by walls of glass, is still nearly impossible to get into without reservations. Even the expansive bar ar ea has an hour-long wait on w eekend evenings. But fame has not made Charles Phan, the owner behind boston firsts this success story, rest on his laurels. The restaurant continues to produce mouth-watering delicacies based on traditional Vietnamese dishes such

Thank you to so many friends who contributed their thoughts on the best places in S an Francisco to play, eat, and shop with childr en. Thanks very much to my editor Linda B arth for her guidance and flexibility. My appreciation extends to Nina Thompson, who remains a treasure trove of information about this lo vely city; she is endlessly gener ous with her time and always available to answ er last-minute queries. I am grateful to Leann Castaneda and to J ennifer Coombs for their research assistance, and to Raili Salmi and Renee Veale for their help at home. Above all, I thank my husband M ika for his suppor t and encouragement and my childr en Annika, Natasha, and Aksel, with whom exploring S an Francisco is always a delight.