Traveling with family in October...wife, two children....and trying to find hotels near union square. An aquaintance warned me away from Geary Street Hotels. Anyone have any feelings about safety with children?

thank you.

I would need the names of these Geary Street hotels before I can answer your question.

Geary is perfectly safe--it is home to some very up-scale hotels, theaters, restaurants, etc. However, there are often unsavory looking characters lurking around who create the impression that the stree isn't safe. Maybe they use the cover of night to intimidate those who are easilty intimidated.

A couple of years ago we stayed at the Savoy on Geary and liked it a lot -- small European-style hotel with small but clean and affordable rooms. It's at the end of Geary that's close to Union Square.

I recommended it to friends who stayed there last month and said they liked the hotel and the location.

I believe the Hotel Monaco, San Francisco, is on (or near) the corner of Mason and Geary. The HM is a wonderful Kimpton Group hotel.

Have stayed there twice and love it--and the area.

AL

Hi bishop_dawg, the Hotel Monaco is a well loved hotel. The problem with Geary St., when you walk west from Union Sq., is that once it is dark the panhadlers/dopers can get very aggresive. The Hotel Monaco is about two blocks west on Geary St., from Union Sq. I don't get scared on Geary St., but I have gotten very very annoyed and consequently do not walk on it (again west of Union Sq.) once it is dark.

bishop dawg, I think you can gather that the real issue here is not safety. Geary Street, in the area near Union Square where the tourist hotels are,is one of the busiest streets in San Francisco with both motor and foot traffic heavy at all hours. There are too many potential witnesses around for people to choose it as a good place to harm or rob others.

Of course, nowhere, and certainly nowhere in a big city, is perfectly safe, and especially when in a big city one should always keep alert to what is going on around you.

Because it is busy day and night, I think the hotel area on Geary is one of the safest places in town. But because it is so busy with tourists and shoppers, it has more than its share of homeless and other panhandlers, because they naturally go where they think there will be the most pedestrians who might give them money.

And it is true for a number of reasons--one of the biggest being that it is such an enjoyable place to be--that San Francisco has more homeless people and panhandlers than almost any other big city. If avoiding seeing such people, or any possibility of an unpleasant exchange of words with them, is a top priority for you, I would advise you to vacation elsewhere. But I think most people will find it well worth this very occasional irritant to experience San Francisco.

I have walked on Geary Sreet hundreds of times and have seen many panhandlers there, but I never remember any sort of unpleasantness from one there. I have experienced that elsewhere in the city, but very, very rarely.

The great majority of panhandlers and homeless
people are harmless and gentle folks who have experienced misfortune or just choose a different type of life. Many are courteous and friendly to tourists. There are exceptions, of course, which is why it is good to keep in well-travelled areas with lots of people around, but Geary Street is one of the places that's easiest to do.

He probably meant hotels/motels close to Van Ness. Union street area is OK. Check out Sutter street hotels, safer.

I'd recommend the Miyako Hotel on Post Street, one major block over from Geary. Great views and safe area.