Hotel Bohème (444 Columbus Ave., 415/433-9111, www.hotelboheme.com, $200–225) offers comfort, history, and culture at a pleasantly low price for San Francisco. At the Bohème, a long history in the City meets a recent renovation to create an intriguing, comfortable lodging.

Rooms are small but comfortable, Wi-Fi is free, and the spirit of the 1950s bohemian Beats lives on. Smallish, warmly, colored and gently lit rooms are particularly welcoming to solo travelers and couples, with their retro brass beds covered by postmodern geometric spreads. All rooms include private bathrooms, and the double-queen rooms can sleep up to four people for an additional charge.

The Washington Square Inn (1660 Stockton St., 415/981-4220, www.wsisf.com, $195–350) doesn’t look like a typical California B&B. With its city-practical architecture and canopy out on the sidewalk, it’s more of a small, elegant hotel. The Inn offers 16 rooms with queen or king beds, private bathrooms, elegant appointments, and fine linens.

Some rooms have spa bathtubs, and others have views of Coit Tower and Grace Cathedral. Only the larger rooms and junior suites are spacious; the standard rooms are “cozy” in the European urban style. A few of the amenities include a generous continental breakfast brought to your room daily, afternoon tea, a flat-screen TV (all rooms), and free Wi-Fi. To stay at the Washington Square Inn is to get a true sense of the beauty and style of San Francisco.