Post Punk Kitchen Forum

(Posted this in the general Square forum, but seeing as there's a whole sub forum dedicated to one of our stops...)

We've booked our honeymoon (!) in August and we're doing:

San Diego -> Greyhound to LA (to stay with friends) -> hire a car to Yosemite-> drive to San Francisco.

Too excited for words.Anyway, I think Happycow will sort us out for top eats, but I don't even know where to start with booking hotels/motels.

Can anyone recommend areas, or even hotels/motels, to stay in?

We're on a tight budget but wouldn't mind treating ourselves to an unusual/independent/boutiquey ones every so often! Would rather avoid the stereotypical chain ones if possible, Brighton is packed full of independent accomodation, so I'd like to think the rest of the world is pretty similar, right?

I'd be interested in this too if anyone has any info?
Staying in SF for a long weekend in June

What sort of place are you looking for? What's your budget like?

If you're checking out the SF area, I think the Marin Headlands hostel is really cool. If you want to see the California coast, that's a good place to do it. But you'll definitely need transportation to and from.

Oh my, I've only just noticed the atrocious spelling of San Francisco, I apologise!

Budget is generally fairly low, although we're willing to splash out for something fancy/interesting at one point along the trip!

I've always heard the Metro Hotel recommended and I think it's pretty nice/reasonable. It's not entirely close to BART but it's centrally located on Divisadero and is within walking distance to Haight-Ashbury, the Castro, Alamo Square Park, and of course is right on several bus lines (provided they ever show up). Plus they have cute dogs and were featured in the documentary Shut Up, Little Man!

Yeah, we stayed at the Metro Hotel a few years ago and it was great. It's affordable and we found the location to be pretty convenient.

I recommend Hotel Majestic on Sutter. The place is old, but clean, and has a lot of charm. Last time I stayed there I got a free upgrade to the ballet suite, which was awesome. I don't know what the rates are for the suites normally, but the regular rooms are pretty cheap. I think I only paid around $60/night.

Brilliant, thank you, will look into them!

You might want to peruse Air B&B too. http://www.airbnb.com/

A lot of hotels in SF are in the union square or tenderloin areas. These are really touristy and grody, respectively, and run into one another, so it is a spectrum with a blend of both. My biggest recommendation would be to stay away from big hotel chains that will have locations there.

Also, if you're comfortable with more of a backpacker vibe, the Green Tortoise hostel on Broadway is a great location, close to the embarcadero, north beach, chinatown, etc.