WWYD Santa Clara or SF stay

[ellipsis]

H and I are going to San Francisco for a wedding next month. The wedding is actually in Santa Clara (1 hr drive from SF). We are flying in 2 days early to check out San Francisco, but I'm having a hard time swallowing the prices for hotels in the area. Even on hotwire, 3 star hotels are roughly $250 a night before taxes and fees. The hotel we are staying at in Santa Clara is $110/night inclusive with free parking. 

Here are the options I'm considering...WWYD?

1. Suck it up and pay ~$600 for 2 nights in SF, then rent a car and stay 1 night in Santa Clara for the wedding.
2. Stay in Santa Clara the whole time, and take the Caltrain (~1 hr, probably slightly more once you factor getting to the station, etc) to and from downtown SF for 2 days
3. Stay in Santa Clara the whole time, drive into SF and attempt to find parking somewhere. Or 3a. drive into the SF vicinity, park at a BART station and then take BART into downtown SF.

Are there any alternatives I'm not considering?

[Mushe]

Hmm, I'd try Priceline for an SF hotel first. I think taking CalTrain would be annoying, and personally I like to be able to go back to my hotel after a day of sightseeing and before going out for dinner. I'm also not sure how late you like to stay out, if the train would still be running, as I think it's geared more towards commuters. BART would be better on that point.

We have always had good luck with Union Square hotels. We start with a 3 star hotel and an $80 bid, and usually get something under $100 before taxes. The Hyatt was most often the hotel that came up.

[lolo]

I can recommend a cute airbnb in Burlingame, walking distance to Caltrain, if you're interested.

Also I live in Santa Clara county if you have questions about the area.

[alleinesein]

Stay in Santa Clara. If you have a rental car in SF you can easily pay upwards of $50 a day for parking.

There is a huge park and ride over by the airport (Millbrae/Burlingame) if you want to take Bart into downtown SFO.

[starlily]

Traffic on 101 suuuuucks between SF and Santa Clara unless you're driving between 10am and 2pm. I'd either stay in SF or take Caltrain from Santa Clara.