Anonymous wrote:We stayed at the Fairmont. Perfect location to all the tourist traps you mentioned.

https://www.fairmont.com/san-francisco/

^It’s not worth it anymore.

I’ve stayed at that Fairmont twice—once in 2017 and again this past September. It was amazing in 2017, but now the quality is well below what it used to be.

Stay somewhere else, OP.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SF is less dangerous than DC.

The smash and grab thing happens everywhere in the BaY Area. You can not leave anything in the car. Don’t even try to hide things. Park your rental car at the hotel or if it’s at the end of your trip just return it. Take Uber around the city. If you want to go see Stanford or one f the tech campuses (not sure whether they are doing tours again) take Caltrain.

Best activities for kids - childrens discovery museum, fisherman’s wharf, Golden Gate Bridge park, SF zoo is actually really nice, De Young museum and gardens, Alcatraz, Angel Island

Best places to stay love the St Regis, great location!

So can you not leave your luggage in your car around Point Reyes , Santa Cruz, Monterey? Palo Alto? Berkeley?

It makes it hard to change locations if you can’t leave things in your car if you make stops along the way

No you can’t leave your luggage in the car. You absolutely can not leave anything electronic like laptops or iPads in the car even in bags.

Yeah, honestly I don’t think I’d leave luggage in the car in any major city in the US. Possibly even anywhere in the US.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:SF is less dangerous than DC.

The smash and grab thing happens everywhere in the BaY Area. You can not leave anything in the car. Don’t even try to hide things. Park your rental car at the hotel or if it’s at the end of your trip just return it. Take Uber around the city. If you want to go see Stanford or one f the tech campuses (not sure whether they are doing tours again) take Caltrain.

Best activities for kids - childrens discovery museum, fisherman’s wharf, Golden Gate Bridge park, SF zoo is actually really nice, De Young museum and gardens, Alcatraz, Angel Island

Best places to stay love the St Regis, great location!

So can you not leave your luggage in your car around Point Reyes , Santa Cruz, Monterey? Palo Alto? Berkeley?

It makes it hard to change locations if you can’t leave things in your car if you make stops along the way

No you can’t leave your luggage in the car. You absolutely can not leave anything electronic like laptops or iPads in the car even in bags.

Anonymous wrote:NP - this week, we just booked a room at the Argonaut in the Wharf for a summer trip. Seemed fun. No deposit or anything. Any feedback on that hotel?

Do Ubers and Lyfts come quickly? We grabbed the last spots for the Alcatraz behind the scenes tour for the day we wanted!

I live in SF full time. I only use Uber, and they generally come in less than ten minutes. Pack sweatshirts - don't stand out as a tourist by showing up in SF in shorts and a t-shirt and then having to buy sweatshirts in Fisherman's Wharf that are plastered with San Francisco across the chest. Since you'll be close, go to Pier 39, and walk ALL the way to the back. Nobody ever walks back that far, but there are a bunch of cool stores there. Also, North Beach is adjacent to Fisherman's Wharf, and there's a Trader Joe's right at the border where you can go in to grab healthy snacks. Better quality than 7-11.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I like staying in the Hilton Financial District, which is either in or on the edge of Chinatown. Lots of great places to eat, either in Chinatown or elsewhere, an easy walk to the Ferry Building, and not too far from Fisherman's Wharf.

Last time we stayed here a man was openly masturbating on the sidewalk.

I work in Tenleytown and there was a man openly masturbating outside our store window looking right at us. Bad stuff happens everywhere.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:NP - this week, we just booked a room at the Argonaut in the Wharf for a summer trip. Seemed fun. No deposit or anything. Any feedback on that hotel?

Do Ubers and Lyfts come quickly?

We grabbed the last spots for the Alcatraz behind the scenes tour for the day we wanted!

Was just coming to recommend this place. It’s very cute and in a great location to activities.

Good to know, thanks!

Anonymous wrote:NP - this week, we just booked a room at the Argonaut in the Wharf for a summer trip. Seemed fun. No deposit or anything. Any feedback on that hotel?

Do Ubers and Lyfts come quickly?

We grabbed the last spots for the Alcatraz behind the scenes tour for the day we wanted!

Was just coming to recommend this place. It’s very cute and in a great location to activities.

Anonymous wrote:I like staying in the Hilton Financial District, which is either in or on the edge of Chinatown. Lots of great places to eat, either in Chinatown or elsewhere, an easy walk to the Ferry Building, and not too far from Fisherman's Wharf.

Last time we stayed here a man was openly masturbating on the sidewalk.

NP - this week, we just booked a room at the Argonaut in the Wharf for a summer trip. Seemed fun. No deposit or anything. Any feedback on that hotel?

Do Ubers and Lyfts come quickly?

We grabbed the last spots for the Alcatraz behind the scenes tour for the day we wanted!

I live part time in SF and part time in DC. You don't need a car in the city - walk, take the cable car (so fun) and uber/lyft. I agree with PP who said stay on Nob Hill. Don't listen to the naysayers - there are so many great neighborhoods to explore. We walk all over the city and have never had any problems with crime. Explore North Beach, Pacific Heights, Cow Hollow, Japantown, Chinatown, Marina, Russian Hill. So many great little restaurants, boutiques, gourmet and wine shops (buy stuff for a picnic and go to the Presidio for spectacular views and hikes). It's still a vibrant city with residents out and about enjoying the neighborhoods, and tourists are back in droves.

Some of the best food in the country is in SF - particularly Japanese, Italian, Chinese. Mexican is good but it's better in LA.

Re crime: yes there are a lot of homeless people who are mostly harmless but there are some who are agressive. My adivce it to not engage with them. Totally avoid the Tenderloin, which is a really horrible place right now. Yes there's crime but it's way up in DC as well. Just the other day two couples were held up at gunpoint in Shaw and had their dogs kidnapped!! We drive out of the city a lot in all directions - Berkeley and Oakland, Silicon Valley and up north to the wine country or Muir Woods area for hikes. We've never had our car broken into nor have any of our friends or family who live in the area. In the city - yes it's a chronic problem and there even street signs all over warning folks to not leave anything in their cars.

Enjoy PP - SF is still a beautiful city with lots to enjoy. Book way ahead for Alcatraz - it's always booked up!

I lived in San Francisco for many years without a car. If you are doing touristy stuff at the Wharf, you won't need a car. Take the Bart train into the City and get a hotel near one of the stations, like the Embarcadero or Montgomery (Union Square.) Then Uber or take the bus or the streetcar (everyone takes the bus in SF) to Golden Gate Park and other city sites. Rent a car downtown to drive to place like Muir Woods, Sausalito, Ocean beach, Santa Cruz down Highway 1 if you have the chance.
There is a significant homeless population, but not crime

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We stayed at the Fairmont. Perfect location to all the tourist traps you mentioned.

https://www.fairmont.com/san-francisco/

+1 We really like the Fairmont and found the location to be convenient.

The regular Fairmont or the Fairmont residence Ghirardelli square

The Fairmont in Nob Hill. It was more centrally located to where we were going and what we wanted to do.

Anonymous wrote:SF is less dangerous than DC.

The smash and grab thing happens everywhere in the BaY Area. You can not leave anything in the car. Don’t even try to hide things. Park your rental car at the hotel or if it’s at the end of your trip just return it. Take Uber around the city. If you want to go see Stanford or one f the tech campuses (not sure whether they are doing tours again) take Caltrain.

Best activities for kids - childrens discovery museum, fisherman’s wharf, Golden Gate Bridge park, SF zoo is actually really nice, De Young museum and gardens, Alcatraz, Angel Island

Best places to stay love the St Regis, great location!

So can you not leave your luggage in your car around Point Reyes , Santa Cruz, Monterey? Palo Alto? Berkeley?

It makes it hard to change locations if you can’t leave things in your car if you make stops along the way

SF is less dangerous than DC.

The smash and grab thing happens everywhere in the BaY Area. You can not leave anything in the car. Don’t even try to hide things. Park your rental car at the hotel or if it’s at the end of your trip just return it. Take Uber around the city. If you want to go see Stanford or one f the tech campuses (not sure whether they are doing tours again) take Caltrain.

Best activities for kids - childrens discovery museum, fisherman’s wharf, Golden Gate Bridge park, SF zoo is actually really nice, De Young museum and gardens, Alcatraz, Angel Island

Best places to stay love the St Regis, great location!

SF is a sh*thole now. I would stay out of the city and just drive in and out. The homeless and addicts have ruined the city.