Sorry to hijack this thread but I'm staying at the Holiday Inn Civic Center on 8th Street in October (going to Oracle OpenWorld) and was planning on walking to/from the Moscone Center where the conference is taking place.
Looking at some websites it seems the area I am staying is viewed as a bit dodgy.
Is this the case or would I be ok walking to/from the hotel early morning/early evening.
There are shuttle buses to/from the conference and hotel but when I go to a new city I like to walk about a bit. In fact, I'll often walk miles in one direction with no plans to see anything in particular.
Any tips appreciated.
As somebody who walks past this hotel each evening, my opinion is it's generally safe around those times. After dark though, even I try to avoid it - although common sense often goes a long way to avoiding undesireable situations (such as not stopping to pull out a map to find directions).
As sketchy as the area can be overnight, most folks arn't looking for trouble, and it usually occurs if the opportunity presents itsself - such as when people leave laptops computers in their locked cars, then are suprised the next morning when their window has been smashed and computer stolen.