My 14 year old daughter and me will be spending a week in S.F. and would like some suggestions of a hotel that is clean, safe, in the Union Square district, and relatively affordable. Also, we'd love to hit some great used books stores and any type of retro-clothing stores. Thanks.

Brooke, I'd recommend you and your daughter stay in the Marina area, perhaps at the Hotel del Sol. Union Square is mainly populated with stores you can find in your hometown, department stores, FAO Schwartz, etc. You and your daughter will want to hit the shopping areas in the Marina, the Haight and Hayes Valley, all either walking distance or a cab ride away. The Marina is a safe area and there are loads of great restaurants in walking distance to your hotel, plus a movie theatre, and Fisherman's Wharf is only a mile walk (or cab or muni ride) along the bay. The Hotel del Sol also offers free parking if you will have a car, though it's not necessary while staying in the city. But if you do want to venture across the Golden Gate Bridge to visit Muir Woods or other points north you might want a car for a few days.

Check out Buffalo Exchange and Three Bags Full for retro clothing. Have a look at:
http://bayarea.citysearch.com/best/results/308

for more vintage/retro shopping suggestions. Have fun!

Brooke, here's another link to some great descriptions of the best shopping areas in SF. This is from the San Francisco Chronicle's website, sfgate.com:

http://www.sfgate.com/traveler/guide/shopping/

Brooke,

I can think of many better place to spend spring break than San Francisco, especially since you will be by yourself with your daughter. SF in the past few years has had a dramatic increase in both violent and petty crime. SF now resembles areas of West Philadelphia or Baltimore. This is mostly a result of the exploding homeless population that at one time was only in the poorer areas of town, but now have even infiltrated into the nicer neighborhoods such as the Marina and Pacific Heights. I recently was in SF on business and experienced this first hand, and I was quite surprised at what I saw. Any hotel that is resonably priced will be in a dangerous part of town. Have you thought of some places along the coast such as Monterey or Carmel.

Brooke,
I think SF is a great place for you & your daughter to take a trip to! Yes, there is a problem with the homeless, but use common sense and you'll be fine!Union Square is populated with stores (Macy's, Gump's and Crocker Galleria), but also theater (and the 1/2 price ticket booth!) the Museum of Modern art is nearby. For a hotel suggestion, try the King George Hotel (their website is: http://www.kinggeorge.com/intro.html - then I would shop for the best rate on the internet). Also check out http://www.walking-tours.com/cityguides/ for some great walking tours. Have a wonderful trip!

Brooke, here are a couple of suggestions for used book stores in SF:

Green Apple Books
On Clement Street, near 6th Avenue

Aardvaark Books
On Church Street, at Market

There are also a couple of used books stores (can't remember names) on Haight Street, where a previous poster recommended clothes shopping.