djdave

My wife and I are planning a trip to San Francisco this summer, and we're leaning towards staying at a B&B during our seven-night stay. We've narrowed the choices down to three: the Alamo Square Inn, the Union Street Inn, and the Red Victorian. The first two look more "romantic", but the Red Vic looks very interesting and charming, and at a good price and location near Golden Gate Park.

I've seen some good write-ups on the Union Street Inn under "Hotels" on this site, but not much written about the other two. Are they all in relatively safe areas (especially at night)? We'd like a place that's clean, safe, and near interesting things to do and see(cool shops & restaurants in particular).

SAB

Of the three the Union Street Inn meets ALL of your criteria. The Union Street area is very upscale and safe, lots of restaurants and boutique shops. The Red Vic is on Haight Street and unless you want a new age experience I would not recommend it. Check their website and you will see what I mean. In addition parts of Haight Street itself can be unsettling late at night (homeless teenagers and drugs). Almo Square itself is very pretty, however it is not within walking distance of many places and it is the greatest neighborhood (some projects with gang activities nearby).

SAB

Oops make that "NOT the greatest neighborhood".

dovima

Agree with SAB's comparisions above.

Haight Street itself is not a desirable location to come "home" to, esp. at night. However, the surrounding neighborhood is perfectly safe by day and has a wealth of suberb Victorian architecture - so, make the Haight-Ashbury a day time trip and perhaps have dinner on Cole Street, a short walk away.

The Alamo Square area also has beautiful architecture (you KNOW that row of houses I'm referring to - it's in every guide book!). However, the area around Alamo Square is still in the "up and coming" stages, and a detour of just a couple of blocks, especially at night, could put you in some iffy territory. Again, perfectly safe by day and worth a daytime walk.

I think Union Street would be the best choice for a place to stay and convenient places to eat, plus the transit in that neighborhood can get you anyplace fairly quickly. Have fun!

dovima

Make that "comparison" and "superb", in case you have noticed my spelling errors! If you have any more questions, please post back.

djdave

Thanks, SAB and dovima. The new-ageiness of the Red Vic didn't really bother me; I figured, at worst, it would be a unique and entertaining visit. But both of you confirmed my suspicion of the Haight neighborhood itself after dark. We will definitely check it out, however, during the daytime.

I have yet to read anything negative about the Union Street Inn, so that's where we'll probably end up staying. Now I just need to figure out more of the usual San Francisco vacation questions--the biggest which is whether to base our entire seven days in S.F. and rent a car for day trips to Napa and coastal areas, or stay a few nights in S.F. and a couple nights somewhere else. I'm leaning towards the former, especially since learning from another thread that some car rental agencies will pick you up at your door. Obviously, for S.F.-only excursions, our feet and public transportation will do.

What do you think?

SAB

Depends on where you want to go and what you want to do outside of SF? A trip across the Golden Gate to Muir Woods, Stinson Beach, Point Reyes is a day trip. A trip to Napa or Sonoma for wine tasting IMHO is more enjoyable as an overnight trip although it can be a day trip. A trip to the Monterey Pennisula (i.e. Carmel, Big Sur) is also more enjoyable as an overnight trip.

dovima

I think a combination of day trips based in S.F. and then one side trip with an overnight or 2-night stay outside the City would be ideal. People will often tell you that Carmel or the wine country is "doable" as a day trip, but that's different from "enjoyable". I think the wine country, if you don't live out here, is more fully enjoyed if you can stay at a nice B&B and take your time touring wineries and driving the back roads (preferably NOT after ingesting your limit!) Ditto the Carmel area - if you stay overnight, you can devote a morning or afternoon to driving the Big Sur portion of the coast.

For day trips, I think either Pt. Reyes or Bodega Bay is a comfortable go-and-return limit. You can take in Muir Woods and Sausalito on the way.