Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [66]
There are several recommendable (and non-recommendable) places in San Francisco, both HI hostels, and private hostels or “backpackers.” You can count on clean, safe and well-managed properties with a Hostelling International hostel, all of which are part of an international nonprofit that “promote international understanding of the world and its people through hostelling.” You don’t have to be a member of HI to stay, but you do get a slight discount if you are a member.
There are three HI hostels in San Francisco proper (in City Center, Downtown, and Fisherman’s Wharf), and several more within public transit or driving distance if you’re looking for a cheap overnight trip.
For information on how to join Hostelling International USA (which also gives you membership in all international HI hostels), visit www.hiusa.org. Membership is free if you’re 17 or under, $28 annually for people 18 to 54. As a member, you can make prepaid reservations at HI hostels, and you’re eligible for a lot of discounts, from long-distance calling to bus travel to organized tours.
Private hostels can be just as inexpensive, and sometimes more laid-back than HI places. You may stay in a coed dorm room, find a bar on the premises, or see a bulletin board offering rides or temp jobs. You may find a noisier, more partying crowd at a backpacker, which could be a plus or minus, depending on what you’re looking for.
You’ll find a comprehensive listing of hostels, both HI and backpacker (as well as budget hotels and guesthouses), at www.hostels.com, which claims to list “every hostel, everywhere.” The website gives properties a “satisfaction rating,” based on user reviews (which you can read). Granted, like most Internet reviews, they can be artificially inflated, but you can at least get an idea of what to expect, and if you like it, make reservations through that website, or go directly to the hostel’s site.
In addition to the hostels we list in this chapter (HI and Green Tortoise, above, as well as Elements), some of the other top-rated hostels in the San Francisco area at press time include:
• Pacific Tradewinds Backpacker Hostel, 680 Sacramento St. (www.pactradewinds.com; 888/SFHOSTEL), was selected as the number-one hostel in the USA by Hostelworld.com in 2007. Prices start at $24 per night ($23 if booked online), in coed dorms. BART: Montgomery Street; Bus: 15.
• USA Hostels San Francisco, 711 Post St. (www.usahostels.com; 877/483-2950), features an “all you can make” pancake breakfast daily, a game room, and an on-site laundry. Rates start from $25 ($24 if booked online) for single-sex and coed dorms, and they also offer private rooms with bathroom starting at $75 ($72 online). BART: Powell Street.
• The Dakota Hostel, 606 Post St. ( 415/931-7475), and the Adelaide Hostel and Hotel, 5 Isadora Duncan Lane, at Post and Taylor streets (www.adelaidehostel.com; 877/359-1915), are owned by the same management and located near each other, though the Dakota gets warmer reviews on Hostels.com. In a landmark 1914 building, the Dakota’s rooms all have private bathrooms, with rates ranging from $28 and up for a four-bed room, to $75 and up for a single room. The Adelaide offers both single-sex and coed dorm rooms from $23, and single, twin, and double en-suite rooms starting from $45 to $75. BART: Powell Street.
5
WHERE TO EAT
Discover the Pacific at the Cliff House.
For more than a decade, the readers of Bon Appétit magazine have named San Francisco their top city for dining out. And for good reason—with more than 3,500 restaurants offering cuisines from around the globe, San Francisco has more restaurants per capita than any other city