Staying near the Civic Center
 

I'll be staying near the Civic Center on my visit.... will have a rental car although the hotel advised that limited parking is available.


Are most sights within walking distance or is it more recommended to drive/take BART or cable cars?


--Russ

Can you move? You don't want to stay near Civic Center. The neighborhood sucks.

that would explain the LOW prices....

you think its worth the savings to just spend the night and venture out into the "good" parts of town during the day? or is it just not safe to stay there at any cost?

--Russ

^take it from rjqu he is from california..:)

What hotel? Civic Center is seriously convenient to pretty much everything in SF but it is just not a good neighborhood. I lived at 7th and Market for two years and I would never put visitors in any hotel in the area. I never felt terribly unsafe but I'm 6'4" and know which sections of street to avoid. I parked my used, beat up and older car on the street and it was only vandalized once. A nice rental might not be so lucky. Depending on the location of your hotel, you can expect to be panhandled four or more times in a half block walk, hop over a used needle here and there and avoid the lovely piles of human feces that tend to dot certain sidewalks. I managed to witness several people producing those piles of feces in my two years there but you may not be so lucky for a short stay.

If you are looking for a budget place, consider one of the smaller places in Hayes Valley. It will be a much better experience than Civic Center and is still walking distance to Bart and Muni.

well as an infrequent traveler I've managed to collect enough points with my choice visa to redeem for a free night (did I mention this is an ultra budget trip?) so I was looking at one of two Rodeway Inn's near Civic Center.


similarly I'll be picking up a rental from an Enterprise just a few blocks away from the hotel and will basically use the rental to drive up to Willows, Ca for a day, I'll have it parked at the hotel lot overnight and return it in the morning as I won't make the 6pm deadline before the place closes.


speaking of the Enterprise, I've never picked up cars from a Neighborhood location, and after checking the MSN Live Bird's Eye views I fail to see a parking lot at the buildings for which the address comes up.... there's no obvious parking garage either so I'm a bit worried what kind of vehicle I'll be stuck with.... although at $17 a day (for a pick up truck) I can't really go wrong as everything else is nearly double that even for an econobox. Plus a "pick-up" rental might be less conspicuous and a little more redneck to get vandalized (as a shiny new sedan rental car would... but what do I know?)



I have contemplated booking one of the higher star ranking hotels, with bargain rates on Kayak... but i'm turned off by both the reviews of them and the idea of "european style" rooms with shared bath, etc. I'd rather have my own shower at rodeway.... although if that place has a reputation for bed bugs I'd rather spend the money and stay at a more reputable place so I don't "bring" anything home...



I was going to try Priceline for a possible Marriott or a Hilton booking, but I'm afraid the star ratings are deceiving and I'll end up at one of the Kayak places I mentioned above.


Oh the joys of planing a budget trip!

--Russ :D

Is this the one?
http://www.rodewayinnsf.com/

That neighborhood as not as bad as right near civic center. It's more industrial. The question is how much tolerance do you have for graffiti, closed businesses and homeless people? It's not the safest neighborhood, but you can walk around there at night if you are aware and keep your eyes open. It's in Soma and there are some nice, relatively new loft-style condos on the side streets. I used to live in the area and would walk around at night. I used to live near 6th street which is MUCH sketchier. But, I grew up in NYC so I have a higher tolerance for grittiness than a lot of people. I see you're in the NY area so maybe you do too.

I think someone needs to make clear that "unsafe" in SF (at least the parts we're talking about here) is not quite the same as "unsafe" in urban Jersey.

Right, as I mentioned above, I never really felt unsafe in that hood, but the neighborhood is not a good place for tourists under any circumstances.

If the hotel is the Rodeway listed below I would personally avoid it. 9th and Mission isn't as bad as 7th (or 6th) but it is certainly not interesting for someone from out of town. I love how the hotel's website says it is "walking distance" from places like Moscone Center and Union Square without mentioning that walking to these places requires walking through two of the most dangerous blocks in SF (6th and Mission; Market between 7th and 6th).

Check Tripadvisor and see what people say. As I said above, I would avoid the place based on location alone.

I booked this one: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...alifornia.html


and reading the reviews I know I can expect no free parking, lots of homeless roaming around and having a really rude hotel manager to deal with


what would you guys recommend on a similar budget?


should I go ahead and priceline a 3* as someone suggested in a better part of town? or better yet, should I book something outside of downtown San Francisco since I won't be arriving in the area until after 7 or 8pm depending on the traffic?


I wanted to catch as many sights as I can on my short trip.

--Russ

Being on the West side of Van Ness, that location is much better than the parts of Civic Center where most hotels are located (7th-9th and Market/Mission). There are some housing projects around there but it's an easy walk to Hayes Valley, which would be a great place to spend an evening in SF if you only have a short time there. That said, the TripAdvisor reviews of this place are plain scary. If you can get a three star on Priceline for the same price, I would probably do that (just make sure "Civic Center" is not part of your Priceline bid). There are also some decent shared facility B&B type places in Hayes Valley - you might want to check those out. Most get mixed reviews but pretty much anything will likely be better than that Rodeway.

Edited to add: the parking thing might be a big deal if you use Priceline. Some of the downtown hotels charge upwards of $50 a night for parking. Are you sure your rental place doesn't have an afterhours drop situation?

I assume the best priceline deals could be had closer to the date of travel?

I've tried a few lowball bids but with no success.

The rental facility (Enterprise on Ellis St) says it closes at 6pm, at 5pm I'll still be in Willows, CA which is about 2 hours away according to Google Maps.

On second though, I kind of wanted to keep the car overnight, since I'm paying for that extra day anyway, just to access some remote parts of the city for sightseeing. I like to drive around sometimes just to poke around and find something new.


In case the Rodeway (if I end up staying there) runs out of parking, besides the street parking which I'm not looking forward to, how are the parking garages in the area? (expensive? open 24 hours? etc.)


thanks,
--Russ

there are unsafe parts of Jersey??? lol I've worked in Paterson just out of high school and went to college in Newark (before the Renaissance) so I'm very much conditioned to it, lol


this is classic though: check out the homeless dude resting under the Rodeway sign, I guess he comes complimentary courtesy of choice hotels?


--Russ

Depends on your definition of "expensive." Most garages will be more than you paid for your rental car. Street parking can be had in the area but note that there are many metered streets around there and be sure to carefully read the street cleaning signs where you park. Much of the street cleaning in that area happens overnight, so watch for signs that say "no parking Tuesday/Thursday/Sunday 2-3 a.m." etc.

Funny, I look at that photo and I don't notice the homeless guy but I immediately notice the available parking spot.