What location should I stay in San Francisco?
 

I'm going to do a Priceline Name Your Own Price room and can pick the areas I want to try and stay.

I will definitely pick Union Square and Fisherman's Wharf, but can anyone tell me if I should try or stay away from South San Francisco? I need to get to the airport in the morning and thought it might be convenient, but know nothing about the area and how I would get to the airport.

How about Cathedral Hill?

South San Francisco is a different city from San Francisco...it is actually in a different county. It's nickname is The Industrial City and it is next to Colma which has more gravesites than residents.

Yes, it is closer to the airport than downtown SF. You might save yourself 20 minutes of travel time in the morning but I would not recommend staying there.

On priceline also try the Embarcadero zone.

If you stay in the Union Square area you are just a few blocks from a direct BART connection to the airport.

Don't bet on any Union Square locations. North and East are safer.

From Union Square and Embarcadero you can take BART to the airport, how early is "morning"?

Or you can reserve a shuttle from any area of the city. Bay Shuttle is what everyone in my family is using, their hotel pick-up Internet special was $9 last time I've checked.

I don't recommend South San Francisco - too far from the city, and it's not a southern part, it's a different city.

Cathedral Hill? Is it Van Ness area? Not sure what you'll get, how they determine the borders. May be risky - too close to the shady at night Civic Center and Tenderloin.

Stay in the Union Square area.

The rooms at Cathedral Hill vary considerably from spacious and redecorated to tiny and dreary. The breakfast is good.

FYI just to give you an idea about taxis, Last week I took one from Post St. near Union Square to the airport and it was about $36+ tip...but you could take a taxi to BART (train) if you wanted to use that but don't want to walk down there with all your luggage.

My flight out is at 11:30 so it won't be too bad.
Thank you for all of the great advice.
How about Civic Center area and Union Square West (Union Sq East is Embarcadaro on their choices).

Civic Center - I wouldn't dare, some areas are really unpleasant. And with the PriceLine you don't know what you'll get, right?

Union East and/or Embarcadero - I don't think you can go wrong on that one.

Union West... hmmm... dunno... depends...

No on Civic Center. Government and bums...sometimes the same but in this instance different.

Any part of Union Square should be fine. The western part borders the 'tenderloin' which is a bit seedy but you should be fine.

You can get a shuttle to the airport for under 30 bucks easily, so perhaps you might like the embarcadero or union square. I would stay away from fisherman's wharf only because it just seems so touristy and as a local, I hardly ever venture there.

Saps - thanks for my best giggle of the day.

saps, I almost spit my ice water all over my laptop, lol! Best comment for the week and sadly so true!!

Government and bums... AND THEY SAY OPPOSITE ATTRACTS?? [(

Unfortunately in this town bums and some members of the government are codependants--neither is able to exist without the other!

The PriceLine zones are what's important here - and you 100% definitely DO NOT want Civic Center. Even Union Square West has a few iffy properties/locations.

I would try Union Sq East/Embarcadero as my first choice. Wharf second.

Ditto the lovely jj...but I'm a sucker for redheads.;)

We've always big USE and FW and have never been disappointed.
We've got the Galleria Park the past few times in USE.

And how was Italy? Huh? Huh? (are we getting a trip report :-" )

jj,
In between working, illnesses, 1000+ pix to edit and all around general confusion it should be coming soon.

Stay in Union Square.... unless you're a touristy "knick knack" junky... then Fisherman's Wharf.

h0b0: the problem here isn't whether one should stay in Union Sq1 or not. It is the way Priceline zones are set up. Union Square West does include Union Sq - but it also stretches waaaay too far west to be a safe zone to bid.

That is why we are saying Union Square East (which stretches east to the Embarcadero) . That won't guarantee U. Sq - but it <b>will</b> guarantee not getting near the Tenderloin.

If JES isn't successful w/ USE, then they should add the Wharf as a second zone . . . .

Kal: Illnesses? Hope you are getting over whatever bug you brought home . . . .

Union Square West or Embarcadero.

Union Square West on Priceline has gotten us the Hilton and the Stanford Court. Bid 4 stars and up and you can't land in the Tenderloin, where there are no 4*'s.

Thank you for all of your suggestions that were so helpful. Unfortunately my offer got rejected so I'm forced to stay at the airport:(
Now, my next question is--which area is better: Burlingame, San Mateo or Millbrae, Brisbane, or Foster City?

Also, we will be coming from San Jose, which is where my friend will be heading back at the end of the night when he drops me off so it would be nice if it is convenient for him.

Any suggestions? Or any other options anyone can give me on how to get a semi-decent room IN a safe area of San Fran for $200 or under? This is for next weekend...

You can re-bid. . . . .

It won't let me....how do I do that?

Don't stay near the airport - the area is completly different than SF &amp; you will spend $$$ &amp; time getting in/out of SF.

There are plenty of hotels on Lombard St (Marina/Cow Hollow) for less than $200 per night. Try to get one as closs to Van Ness as possible to minimize walking to public transportation &amp; sites.

I live &quot;here&quot; so I don't have much familiarity with specific hotels - except that there are a lot of them on Lombard. Most are really motels - not hotels. Free parking, if that matters.

The area is perfectly safe &amp; I actually prefer the local over the Wharf (ugh - tacky) or Downtown.

Stu Dudley

Thanks Stu--you were really helpful on my recent trip to France too.

I am in SF for only one night and am leaving the next morning (11:30 am). A friend is driving from San Jose so he can bring me wherever that night. That's the only reason I was thinking the airport would be convenient.
However, I did find a hotel called SW Hotel on the border of Chinatown &amp; North Beach that I'm considering staying. Then I may take a shuttle to the airport in the am. I'm coming from the East Coast so my time clock will probably get me up nice and early to enjoy a walk before having to get to the airport--in which case, this seems like a good spot. Is anyone familiar with this hotel?