St. Mary's Cathedral - blasé exterior, but the killer sanctuary space makes the climb worthwhile.

second the st. mary's suggestion. also sf art institute (www.sfai.edu) has a cool diego rivera mural and a modern (almost late corb-ish) addition at the back with a courtyard/deck with great views of the city. though i have to say i don't think sf is all about the singular moments of must-see architecture. my fav sf moment is biking over the golden gate bridge.

deyoung, legion of honor, the new federal building by morphosis,

http://www.greatbuildings.com/places/sf_area.html

what's your budget for hotel and which part of the city do you prefer to stay at?

Thanks for the tips on StMCathedral - I wouldn't have found that one on my own.

As for hotels, I'd like to find a decent place for less than $200/night-I'm an architect, so, ... I've heard that "SoMa" is a good area to stay, and am checking out the Mosser hotel. I would pay a bit more for a solid, non-touristy spot...A place with young, beautiful people sans kinds would be best.

I stayed at the Galleria Park recently - rooms are small but clean and quiet - convenient location downtown - rates about $150/night, I think.

Stayed at the Herbert a few years ago around the same time of year. Super cheap, no frills place to stay. You walk through the entry of a diner to get to the elevator. Good place if you just need a place to crash for the night. No A/C.

I've stayed at The Orchard, King George's, and The Harbor Court hotels. All under $200 and in different areas of the city (east of Van Ness).

They're all nice. The Orchard was the most conservative, resembling your typical Hilton or Hyatt. King George's and The Harbor Court both had very nice staff, but very small rooms. The Harbor Court was probably the nicest out of all of them. King George's is most convenient to Union Square.

None of them have good parking and will be extra ~$20 -$30/night.

They're all nice, although we had an issue with warm water with all of them. I highly recommend taking showers early so that the hot water doesn't run out.

the last time i visited sf i stayed at a motel on lombard for $45 with parking. drawbacks? it smelled like cigarettes, dirty, and my room was on the 2nd floor at the front overlooking the street (aka noisy as hell!). i know i could've gotten something better for a bit more but i didn't want to spend another 40 dollars for the clean motel across the street with internet access...

the mosser is cute, but not exactly the place to go to if you're trying to avoid tourists or the beautiful people.

check out the pheonix hotel. it's where the rock and rollers stay when they come to san francisco.

there are a number of threads about SF right here on these boards. lots of good info in them, food, drink, buildings, etc.

take a stab at the search function and see what turns up for you.

as far as hotels....avoid the Tenderloin...and most parts of the Mission. SOMA has some pricey hotels and not too touristy...stay away from the Wharves hotels...tourist central. If your cool peeps, you could stay at my place in the Sunset.

Here is a googlemap that I made of SF...check it.

Check out my google map of San Francisco

STONES
thanks for the tip, and the offer. I'm checkin out the map.

Cool - yeah a couple of us meet up a while back

mightylittle™, tumbleweeds, mdler and a stripper at the Toronado on Haight...mmmm lots of good beer!

Let me know if your interested in getting together...I could show you some good places to get food and drink.