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Diana Ross. All its properties are required to be accessible to Downtown, and all
must be private or semiprivate, never just simple, bare, spare rooms that someone
wants to rent out—so you won't find the host trooping through your space on the
way to work each morning. If you share a bathroom at all, it will be with no more
than one other room. The Kreibichs are rigorous about the kind of friendly,
homey experience they want guests to have, and that carries over to judicious
screening of hosts. “If I'm asked, 'How much money will I make?' right away, that
disqualifies them from being hosts,” says Susan. “We want to hear, 'What can I
do to make their stay really nice, and what more can I add?'”
Breakfast is always provided, although at some places, you'll be given the mak-
ings in a basket each night. They promise that the price you're quoted will be the
final price; there are no extra charges. Not every place in its stable is an abject bar-
gain, but deals do begin at a paltry $65 single/$75 double. That's for a cute room,
hosted by a senior couple, in the Sunset district, which is about 20 minutes by city
bus from Union Square. Some properties are little hideaways fresh out of
Tales in
the City
—up this staircase, through this garden, until you reach a hidden door that
leads to your studio. (The agency's Red Door Studio, $125 single/$135 double, is
such a hideaway.) One property at Goldmine Hill, west of the Castro, is run by the
very lawyer who, in the 1950s, fought on the same side as local heroine Friedel
Klussmann to save the cable-car system from annihilation—and, to all of our ben-
efit, won. Now elderly, he's retired and available to offer his own tales of the city
($75 single/$85 double). He's been working with the Kreibichs for nearly 30 years,
and other hosts have been active for well over a decade. The Kreibichs also own
and operate one of their 50 city properties themselves—a sweet cottage, built in
1909, that's a block from Dolores Park in a trendy part of town between the
Mission and the Castro. Prices are more often in the low $100s, such as a “City
Vista” B&B ($115) that boasts a redwood hot tub on its outdoor deck.
In addition to this local fave are some national organizations that deal in “hos-
pitality” and offer a handful of places in the San Francisco area.
Educators Travel
(
%
800/956-4822; www.educatorstravel.com),
for teachers only, grants the right
to stay for $40 a night in another teacher's private home. As I type this, Educators
offers up 18 homes in San Francisco proper, plus another 18 in nearby Oakland
and 17 in Berkeley; other bedroom communities surrounding San Francisco are
also represented. Membership is $46 the first year, $36 for every year after, and
covers two adults and two kids under 18, plus a $5 booking fee.
Those over 50 can join the
Evergreen Club
(
%
815/456-3111; www.evergreen
club.com; single membership $60/year, couples $75/year).
Members, literally
from all walks of life, from farmers to engineers, rent out their empty guest rooms
to other members, give them advice about the area, and cook them breakfast in
the morning. Half the intention is to give people a chance to meet each other—
seniors on road trips use the service to cross the country and make friends as they
go. There are only a handful of participants in San Francisco proper, but if you're
wiling to expand your search to Oakland and to bedroom communities on the
BART line, the menu widens. Room rates are just $10 for a single or $15 for two
sharing a room.
And let's not forget free hospitality exchange programs:
CouchSurfing
(www.
couchsurfing.com)
was designed to be totally free. It's a rare organization designed
to celebrate one of the original, but forgotten, benefits of travel—namely, getting
to know people from all over the world. Members of this nonprofit site (mostly
