is it a safe area round and about Orchard Hotel, has anyone stayed here whats it like.

where is the orchard hotel you speak of?

If you are talking about Orchard in San Francisco it is a nice, fairly new hotel. I felt safe (was there Feb. 2002), but others on this board might feel differently, saying the Union Square area has gotten bad.

Lynn,

I would not recommend the Orchard Hotel in SF. Union Square and downtown SF in general is not the safest part of town to be in. It is a rather dirty and run down area.

Strange on Orchard's website they don't provide the address although I clicked on location. It's not exactly Union Square as they claim, it's Bush@Powell, safe area. On a steep hill if this is important for you. Close to the China Town Gates. Cable cars are always packed so you'll have to walk a few blocks to/from buses.

Aloohaaa,
I stayed there for 3 days in Sept 2002 and found it to be quite nice. I'd stay there again. Nice large room. Good meeting facility. Good service. No "view rooms", though.

It is 2 blocks north of Un Sq. and there were some of the "usual SF suspects" walking around but not as many as right around UnSq or SOMA.

As faina mentions, it's located almost at the base of a steep Powell St. hill.

A lot of good restaurants within walking distance. The restaurant in the hotel was pretty good, too.
Like any city, as usual, always be aware of your surroundings.
Mahalo
Kal

The area around the Orchard Hotel can somewhat intimidating. Personally it would not be my first choice. Chinatown area should probably be avoided at night.

I stayed at the Orchard in September. I had no problems with the area; there were the usual SF panhandlers only. If you are averse to that then you may as well stay home because the city is blanked with them. I felt the location was actually one of the best things about the hotel-very centrally located for a typical visitor.

I did not care for the hotel itself, however.

The area around the Orchard Hotel is safe. It is in a much better area than some of the other hotels that say they are in the Union Square area when in fact, they are closer to the Tenderloin - which is very seedy and not as safe. I wouldn't worry at all.