Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
location (835 Turk at Franklin;
%
415/922-0111) is in a nondescript area that
requires you to trudge through the awful Tenderloin to get to Union Square, so it
isn't worth the $80 you'll save over the Cosmo on a weekly rental. Because of its
Tenderloin milieu, I wouldn't recommend
O'Farrell
(580 O'Farrell St.;
%
415/
885-0111)
to women traveling alone, despite the good weekly rate of $375 single
and $400 double. If you really want to share cash, all three will pair you with a
roommate in a shared room ($225/week). To quote a famous San Francisco flick,
Dirty Harry,
“Do you feel lucky, punk?”
$$$$ Castro Suites
55
(
%
415/437-1783; www.castrosuites.com)
are color-
ful, charming, one-bedroom apartments—with fully equipped Technicolor
kitchens—in an old wood-frame building at 927 14th St., at Noe, not far from a
tram stop. Sam and Joel, a local couple, have filled the place, a one-time private
home, with bright, cheerful fabrics, and Joel himself, an artist, painted many of
the works on the walls. There's a minimum stay of two nights, and they'll knock
off the usual discounts of around 15% for stays of a week or longer. Rates start at
$200 a night for one or two guests and $220 for three or four—on the splurgey
side, but the fact that this one has full kitchens, a big-time rarity around here, may
make it worth it. Besides, it's adorable.
$$$ American Marketing Systems, Inc.
(
%
800/747-7784; www.amsires.com),
sounds like a company that might install a computer system in your office, yet
since 1970 it has dealt in both furnished and unfurnished apartments (with more
of a focus on the latter, unfortunately). Frustratingly, it's tough to get a handle on
its prices using its website; use it to see photos of places you might like, and then
call to see which ones rent daily or weekly and obtain a verbal quote. (Apartments
are brokered out by private owners, so the stable changes frequently.) Maid service
comes once every 2 weeks. Paying $1,200 to $2,000 per week is standard for a
small one-bedroom or studio in an older, wood-frame building, and prices tend to
rise the newer the building is. It's generally possible to squeeze in a few kids, too,
for that price, but if they're much over 16, you may get pressure to rent a larger
place. You'll need to lay down a $400 deposit to start, plus a one-time cleaning of
$175 for a studio or $275 for a one-bedroom. The company is in good standing
with the Better Business Bureau.
Other companies are playing the game around town, too, but require minimum
stays of at least 30 days, so I'll throw their names in quickly mostly as a resource
for you:
Oakwood Worldwide
(
%
415/658-0830; www.oakwood.com),
CitiSuites
(
%
415/292-3904; www.citisuites.com),
and
Marriott ExecuStay
(
%
800/500-
5110; www.execustay.com).
HOTELS
City hotels are completely unfriendly to smoking and they all charge 14% in
taxes. Unless otherwise noted, expect a TV and a phone. Also, every one of them
will float prices higher if they sense that availability is low, such as during major
conventions (Macworld in January sees a spike, for example—you can find
resources for learning when the conventions are held in the introduction to this
section); the prices I supply are best-case scenario rates as quoted by the hotels
