Students Traveling to CA for the 1st time...
 

I am a student flying into Oakland for 2 nights at the end of February. I plan to visit St. Helena (for school) and San Fran (for fun). I will have a rental car. I want to try to spend around 50 dollars on my hotel room, which I think I can manage on 'priceline.' However, I am not sure which areas, either Oakland or San Fran are good for someone in my situation. Any suggestions??

Thanks!!

You absolutely do not want to priceline a hotel in Oakland. And even using PL, a San Francisco hotel will be more than $50. You'd have to count on at least $65 or $70 plus the high SF hotel taxes - plus VERY high parking fees.

You can PL a very nice hotel at SFO for around $50 or less + tax, and usually + parking. But then you'd be outside of the city and have to take BART into SF.

I recently reserved a 4* hotel room in SF - Union Square West - for next month for $70/night. With the taxes and fees, it is about $85, not including parking. You might do better with the 2.5 or 3* level. Parking will sink your budget though, so you might consider turning in the rental car early.

Ditto the warning about Oakland. Ditto the suggestion of getting rid of the car for your time in SF proper.

Check Hostelling Int'l--there is a hostel in SF.

but the hostels don't have parking.

metzboms: Please clarify - is your whole trip only 2 nights and you want to use SF/Oakland as a base to visit St Helena - or do you have 2 nights in SF plus time up north in St Helena.

Having a car in SF makes no sense, and finding a hotel in SF for $50 is a very tall order. Actually, a $50 hotel anywhere in N. California (except priceline at SFO and a few other places) is pretty rare.

I stayed in a very nice hotel near Union Square in March of last year for 50 bucks via Priceline. It can be done.

writerchick: - Sorry - but what you successfully bid a year ago really doesn't help much this year. If you check biddingfortravel and betterbidding you'll see rates are quite a bit higher this year - mostly in the $65-$100 plus tax range. And adding parking will add $25-$35 more.

You might want to consider staying outside the city and taking BART in. Check the BART www site and you can find locations along the route.

You could also look up around Larkspar and San Rafael and catch the ferry over to the city. It is a great way to enter the city and you miss the traffic.

Plus that area puts you in a way better position for Napa Valley travel.

janisj - Thanks for all you advice!

to clarify - I am planning to arrive in OAK feb 29 (friday) in the am, renting a car to travel to st. helena for the day. I want a hotel in either San Fran, or the Oakland area. I will be staying until March 2 (sunday). I am currently flying out of OAK, but since its SW I could switch the flight to depart from SFO. The switch would depend on which area I stayed in.

I was thinking the berkeley, pleasanton area of Oakland, or Union Square, Fishermans and SFO for San Fran. If I ended up in San Fran I would return the car a day early.

Pleasanton is not in the right direction for your itinerary. Berkeley would be ok and even North of Berkeley.

As a student I am guessing a motel would be ok and there are lots of those between Oakland and say Pinole that would situate you between your two destinations that would not charge you for parking.

thereyet

Hi, metzboms:

The suggestion of using a hostel is an excellent one.

There is an HI hostel in the Fort Mason area although HI advertises it as "Fisherman's Wharf". Parking is free but, even better, it's one of the most beautiful hostel locations anywhere. HI hostels are safe and generally very clean.

Here's the link:
http://www.sfhostels.com/fishermans-wharf/features/

Staying there will put you right in San Francisco!

As for your flights: can you fly into San Francisco and pick up the car there? The reason is because there may be a drop off fee for your car if you pick it up in Oakland and return it in San Francisco.

Also I'm concerned about your driving from SF to Oakland Airport, the freeway near Oakland Airport is very complex. A few weeks ago, even I, a long-time resident of the Bay Area, got confused by the road signs and started down the wrong freeway.

Getting in and out of San Francisco Airport is not as difficult. Therefore, if possible, I'd recommend that you fly in and out of San Francisco Airport.

Have a safe trip! And Welcome to Calfornia! :)

metzboms,

You are NOT going to find a hotel room in the Bay Area that you would even want to enter for $50.

A hostel is the only answer. San Francisco has several which are fine.

Go to the Thorntree forum of Lonely Planet and ask about hostels in San Francisco. There are backpackers there from all over the world, especially Australia, who can give you good advice.

And after St. Helena, ditch the car and use public transportation, even to whichever airport. It can cost you $50 in San Francisco just to park your car overnight.

I am really curious...if you don't mind...you are visiting St. Helena for school? That doesn't ring true with me, unless you are doing a project on the wine country or something. Enlighten me?

There are lots of non-HI hostels, but a word of warning: you are really taking your chances with a non-HI hostel. E.g., there are some non-HI hostels in Los Angeles that one shouldn't touch with a ten foot pole.

I don't know too much about the non-HI hostels in SF since the HI runs three very fine ones in SF.

Also remember the one in Fort Mason has FREE PARKING! Can't beat that! :)

As a student, wondering about your age regarding the rental car. Be sure to check that out in advance as some agencies will not rent if you are under age 25 and those that will rent to 21-25 year olds charge a large additional fee that can almost double the cost of rental. If you are under 21 forget about renting a car, you can't.

I did your (almost) exact itinerary last year. Given your budget, I recommend staying somewhere NORTH of Berkeley on I-80. Pinole comes to mind - look at a map for more places. Pleasanton is on the 580 and completely away from the Napa area. Do not recommend.

You do not need a car for your time in/around SF and Oakland. In fact, the only time you need a car is to visit St Helena. Can you hitch a ride from someone and then completely forgo the car expense? That way, you can put more $$$ towards your hotel and stay in the City of SF and have way more fun. In fact, thats what I would do - toss about $30 per night towards a priceline'd SF hotel and forget about the car.

jtrandolph:

Thanks for the advice!

I am visiting the CIA Greystone Campus in St. Helena... Hoping to be accepted for this summer!

That's great. I didn't know there was a campus in St. Helena. Best of luck.