Venue & Accommodations | SPNHC 2023

Staying at the Hilton is highly encouraged. When you make reservations elsewhere, SPNHC does not get credit for those rooms. When the minimum number of contracted rooms goes unsold, the Society must pay penalty fees to the hotel. In addition, the inability to prove the actual number of occupied hotel rooms by our attendees each year weakens our negotiating power for favorable rates and our ability to contract convention centers for future meetings. Please reserve your room at the Hilton to keep overall meeting costs for attendees as low as possible.

Explore our two conference venues: The Hilton San Francisco Union Square in downtown San Francisco and the California Academy of Sciences in Golden Gate Park.

333 O'Farrell St.
San Francisco, CA 94102
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We are excited to host the conference at the Hilton San Francisco Union Square. Located in the heart of downtown San Francisco, the multi-towered skyscraper hotel has plenty of large meeting spaces and beautiful guest rooms. The hotel is an easy walk to restaurants, theaters, museums, shopping, public transportation, and the world-famous cable car.

We've reserved a block of rooms for SPNHC attendees at a special discounted rate. Enjoy the panoramic views and network with other SPNHC members in the city’s highest skybar or at the year-round outdoor pool. Explore San Francisco for a few days before or after the conference for the same great room rate.

Golden Gate Park
55 Music Concourse Dr.
San Francisco, CA 94118
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The California Academy of Sciences is a nonprofit scientific, research, and educational institution located in San Francisco, California, with a mission to regenerate the natural world through science, learning, and collaboration. The Academy is one of the largest natural history museums in the world, and includes an aquarium, planetarium, rainforest and natural history museum all under one living roof.

With nearly 46 million natural history specimens from around the world, the Academy’s research collections provide one of the best records of life on Earth through time, helping us track the spread of disease, predict the impact of climate change, and understand our place in the natural world.

Entrance to the Academy is free with SPNHC 2023 registration badge during the conference period.

While SPNHC 2023 is packed with enough activities to keep you busy all week, we encourage you to make time to explore the artistic, cultural, and culinary delights of San Francisco. With its world-class museums, innovative cuisine, and endless outdoor adventures, San Francisco is a vibrant, eclectic world city with something for everyone. Click the links below to explore SF. 

The hotel is within walking distance of Union Square, Chinatown, the Embarcadero, and North Beach. There are plenty of shops, restaurants, bars, and sights to keep you busy near the hotel, but a lot to explore in other SF neighborhoods like the Mission District, Castro, Hayes Valley, Inner Richmond, or Outer Sunset. Here are some free self-guided walking tours around SF neighborhoods.

Or cross the bay to visit other sites, including the flagship University of California campus in Berkeley. SPNHC attendees get free admittance to the University of California Botanical Garden by showing the registration badge during the conference period.

Visit California

SF Travel

Museums

San Francisco

California Academy of Sciences

DeYoung Museum

Asian Art Museum

Exploratorium

SF Museum of Modern Art

East Bay

Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

Oakland Museum of California

Nature in the City

Golden Gate Park

Presidio/Crissy Field/Tunnel Tops (Golden Gate National Recreation Area)

Ocean Beach/Sutro Baths

Muir Woods National Monument (across the Golden Gate Bridge to Marin, reservations required)

Alcatraz

Angel Island State Park

Whale watching

Food

There are a lot of restaurants in the vicinity of the hotel. Here is a list of some options where you can make reservations.

Both a Trader Joe's (0.4 mi) and a Whole Foods (0.8 mi) are close to the hotel and good for picking up prepared foods and grocery items.

Ferry Building/Farmers Market: (1.2 miles, or Embarcadero stop on BART/Muni) The ferry building has lots of food and shops inside and hosts a huge farmers market outside on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

Brenda’s Soul Food: (0.6 mi) southern fare

The Westfield Shopping Center (5th and Market, 0.3 mi) has a large food court and is an easy option for a quick bite.

Drinks

Bourbon and Branch (0.1 mi, speakeasy with secret rooms and fancy cocktails)

Tonga Room (0.5 mi, historic tiki bar in the basement of the Fairmont Hotel)

Edinburgh Castle Pub (0.5 mi, weird, old dive bar with pub fare, trivia)

Cityscape Lounge (in the hotel, bar with a view)

Blue Bottle Coffee (Market St or Mint St, both locations 0.5 mi, fancy coffee)

Getting to San Francisco

If you’re traveling by air, we recommend flying into either San Francisco International (SFO) or Oakland International (OAK) airport. Both airports are about 30 minutes from the hotel/venue. Both are served by BART trains which will take you to downtown SF (close to the hotel). The Powell Street Station (BART and Muni) is the closest station to the Hilton, and is about a 7 minute walk from the hotel. Uber, Lyft, or taxis are also easy to catch.

Getting around San Francisco

MUNI (https://www.sfmta.com/): SF’s bus/light rail system

BART (https://www.bart.gov/): rail system that connects SF to the East and South Bays, with good service to both SFO and OAK airports.

CLIPPER CARD (https://www.clippercard.com/): almost every Bay Area transportation agency (including Muni and BART) supports the use of Clipper, an all-in-one rechargeable transit card (and phone app). This can also be used on most local ferries and trains. Physical Clipper cards can be picked up at any BART station. There is also an option to add the Clipper card to your phone.

San Francisco is a small city and is generally walkable (if you don’t mind hills!). While the area is usually safe, there are areas near downtown and the hotel where extra caution should be taken. Make sure not to leave ANYTHING in cars, don’t make valuables accessible or visible in any way, and don’t make yourself a target. Remove your conference lanyard before walking around the city, and avoid looking like a tourist.

Parking in SF is a nightmare! Street parking is hard to find, often permitted, and usually limited to 2 hours (or metered). Garage parking is plentiful downtown, but is expensive. Remember to check the hours at the garages as some close early!

**Google Maps has great real-time public transportation/direction information for the Bay Area. We suggest using it to plan any trips on Bart/Muni. We’ve added our recommendations regarding type of transport to the following destinations, but refer to Google for scheduling specifics**

Getting to Golden Gate Park and to the California Academy of Sciences, De Young Museum, SF Botanical Gardens, Conservatory of Flowers, etc.

Via Muni: take the N-train from Powell Street Station to 9th Ave+Irving St. From there walk north along 9th Ave into Golden Gate Park.

Getting to the University of California, Berkeley (MVZ/Essig)

Via BART: take the Richmond (Red) or Orange/Yellow (Richmond/Antioch, transfer at 19th Street Oakland) line from Powell east to the Downtown Berkeley Station. From there walk east along Center Ave to the UC Berkeley Campus. Both museums are located in the Valley Life Sciences Building.