Is anyone familiar with the Redwood City area? What is it like (safe?)? I'm going on a 4 day business trip in Sept. and I need to know where a good place to stay is in that area. How far is it from San Fran? Also, I have evenings and one full day free. Any suggestions for filling the time (I am a 24 yr. old female)? Thanks in advance for suggestions!

I often go to Redwood Shores for business. There is a Hotel Sofitel that I stay at that is nice. There are a lot of hotel chains around the area especialy near the airport. Redwood City is quite safe. It's about 20 minutes (w/o traffic) from SF. If you like to shop, there is Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo and Standford Mall in Palo Alto (beautiful outdoor mall).

Redwood City is safe. As far as a hotel goes, Hotel Sofitel is nice, but there isn't much to do in the area. Palo Alto is just a few miles away, and there are some nice hotels there, such as the Stanford Park Hotel and the Sheraton Palo Alto. Both are across the street from Stanford Mall, and are just around the corner from University Avenue, which has a lot of excellent restaurants (Spago, Evvia, Palermo, Osteria, La Poisson Japonaise, etc.) and an active nightlife. I think a 24 year old would have much more fun there (I have a 22 year old daughter).

Redwood City is indeed very safe. It doesn't have a lot to offer the tourist though. The Hotel Sofitel is very nice but also isolated so unless you have a car you won't be able to leave. The suggestion to stay in the Palo Alto area is a good one if you don't want to rent a car. From downtown Palo Alto you can even catch the train to San Francisco for the day. There's plenty to do with your free evenings in downtown PA, including catching a classic old film at the beautifully restored Stanford Theatre. For lodging, the previous suggestions are nice but I'd also include the Cardinal Hotel or the Garden Court Hotel, both of which located centrally in downtown.

If you do have a car you would also be free to spend the day at the beach in Half Moon Bay, if seeing the Pacific is something you'd like to do. September on our coast is lovely.

When someone says Redwood City, I think of Home Depot! It's perfectly safe and quite commercial--big stores such as the above. You can certainly stay in Palo Alto, but I think if your business is in Redwood City, you'll need a car. Stanford Shopping Center is very upscale and a lovely place to walk around and see the pretty flowers and fountains. Lots of small restaurants that would be ideal for a single. University Ave. is and upscale/college atmosphere--very nice and good for single woman. A pretty drive is up Woodside Road to Skyline Drive and then south on Skyline to Hwy 9 and down the hill to Saratoga, another very pretty little town with a beautiful Japanese garden at Hakone. If you've never been to SF, you might like to spend your one full free day there. Above poster has good suggestion to take the CalTrain--it's about an hour from Palo Alto and then you take the Muni N line into the main part of the city. I think you'll enjoy it, but if you want to stay in Palo Alto, make reservations now--school will be starting at Stanford.

Wow, thanks to everyone so far for the information. I wasn't sure anyone would even respond, but this is great!! Thanks again!!