Hotel recommendations for Wondercon

November 8, 2007 5:25 PM

I'll be going to Wondercon in San Francisco. Any hotel recommendations?

I'm looking for an hotel near the Moscone Convention Center or in/near a Wondercon shuttle stop. I'd rather pay about $100 or less for a double, but many online reviews I have read of cheaper hotels are awful (dirty, noisy, bugs, etc). I'd hate to pay $40 less than the official convention hotel (Marriot) to end up staying in a much worse place. High speed internet would be a big plus.

I'd also appreciate any other suggestions, it's not our first convention but we've never visited San Francisco before.

Thanks!

posted by clearlydemon to travel & transportation (7 comments total)

You need to be a bit careful since many of the hotels that seem near the convention center are in the Tenderloin, which is very "block to block." It can be sketchy if you are out of town, particularly if you are female.

I think that you're going to be hard pressed to find a <>
BUT, I've stayed several times at and would recommend the Hotel Diva. It's a small hotel, clean, hip, comfortable and they're showing $129/night rates for the Wondercon dates. If I were you I'd snap this up.
posted by donovan at 7:44 PM on November 8, 2007

Crap. Should have read: "I think that you're going to be hard pressed to find a sub $100 hotel that's clean, walkable to the convention center, and not sketchy."
posted by donovan at 7:45 PM on November 8, 2007

The Moscone Center is pretty central to transportation, so I wouldn't hesitate to get a hotel in another area. I'd hate to be stuck here in the SOMA area at night anyway. It's a dead area at night, though about 4-5 blocks south you start to hit the club area, then the Castro and Mission are next door to that. I'd say aim for a hotel in one of the latter areas and take MUNI underground or bus from 4th and Market to get back from the convention center.

The Tenderloin is kind of a few neighborhoods over, but will indeed have the cheapest hotels for the reasons illustrated - though I don't find it all that bad. Detroit is bad. The Tenderloin is where the hipsters live for street cred.

I don't know much about specific hotels, sorry.
posted by kcm at 8:10 PM on November 8, 2007

Just chiming in with my two cents on the Tenderloin, as I go to school right near the heart of it; it is sketchy, pretty darn sketchy and I would NOT recommend staying within the area between Jones and Van Ness from Market to at least Geary.
posted by harrumph at 9:59 PM on November 8, 2007

Hayes Valley Inn - did not stay there myself, but it's in a nice neighborhood (reminded me of Manhattan) and rates are within your range.
posted by hobbes at 3:05 AM on November 9, 2007

Hayes Valley is not a bad place to stay, and you can take public transit (the 5/21 from Market+Montgomery or any of the underground lines to the Van Ness station from Montgomery). It's right next to a few questionable areas (the Western Addition), but I feel safe taking the routes I mentioned. There's lots of restaurants and a few bars within walking distance - plus the best coffee in the city.
posted by kcm at 8:06 AM on November 9, 2007

Thanks everybody, all your answers are very helpful.

I didn't know about the Tenderloin, that explain a lot of things about the scary reviews I read. I'll check the hotels you recommended.

I'll be sure to visit Bluebottle Coffee, thanks kcm!
posted by clearlydemon at 4:17 PM on November 9, 2007