Travel Reference
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aren't cushy or terribly up to date. This is a hotel with an antique cage elevator
and one that laughably lists “blinds” as an amenity (“Hey, we've got ceilings,
too!”), but it definitely is clean and respectable. Prices start at just $66 for a sin-
gle and $70 for a double, although in very busy periods, prices are $80 to $100.
The Adelaide hostel, around the corner, uses the Dakota for its private rooms—
that should tell you something about the luxury level. Union Square is two blocks
east; head west, as the Tenderloin can be a little dicey.
$
Everybody knows that accommodations at an American YMCA aren't going
to be plush (although the one in Hong Kong is at the level of a brand-name chain
hotel). So it won't surprise you to hear how plain the rooms are at the
Shuh Yu-
Lang Central YMCA
(220 Golden Gate Ave. at Leavenworth;
%
415/345-6700;
www.ymcasf.org; MC, V).
But because it's a nonprofit, any corner-cutting is offset
by other value, such as the right to use the on-premises fitness center with a 25m
heated pool, weight training area, sauna and steam room, and rooftop garden. Its
Tenderloin location is run-down, but happily, the management works to keep
shiftless characters away; drugs and alcohol are rigorously banned. There's also a
cafe serving free continental breakfast (cooked breakfasts are for sale for around
$5). Rates start at $44 for one with a shared bath, $62 for two with a shared
bath/$74 private. So for a week, single rates are $262 and doubles are $373. Be
warned that bathrooms are dormitory style, so bring a robe.
$-$$
At the
Hotel des Arts
555
(447 Bush St., at Grant;
%
800/956-4322
or 415/956-3232; www.sfhoteldesarts.com; AE, DC, MC, V),
each room has been
painted by an artist, and I don't mean slapped with latex—the works in each
Painted Room are distinct, detailed, intense, and surely worthy of future preser-
vation. (But so are children's eyes from some of them—if you've got young ones,
make sure your chosen room isn't, say, the punky pink one where “Lick It Up
Bitch” is dramatically painted on the wall. The fairy-tale-like landscapes of painter
Sam Flores might be better for a young 'un or a squeamish adult.) These works of
art are set in a creaky old building, with narrow stairs and small rooms, but these
things, instead of detracting from the place, make it feel like a homey harbor. I
appreciate the unnecessary touches, such as the hallway art by graffiti artist Chor
Boogie. And you can't beat the location: a few blocks east of Union Square, by the
symbolic entrance to Chinatown. Shared-bath rooms go for $49 for an extremely
teeny unit (which proprietors offer with apologies, despite the great price) to $89
for something more humane; there's also a choice of a $125 unit with a queen-
size bed and a small private bathroom, although I'd say you could find better deals
for that higher rate. During low season, the hotel often offers an “Explorer
Package” (heralded on its website) that gets you a room for a week for $294. Wi-
Fi and continental breakfast come with all deals.
$-$$
The 93-room
Adante Hotel
5
(610 Geary St.,
%
888/423-0083 or 415/
673-9221; www.adantehotel.com; AE, MC, V)
is run by C-Two Hotels, an upstart
company that's providing a low-cost alternative to self-important boutique-hotel
puffery. There's no sense in pretending that the vibe here is anything less than
weird, but it must also be said that the one-of-a-kind, but unquestionably odd,
hand-painted murals, both in the hallways and the rooms, of European pastoral
