Affordable short-term accommodations in San Francisco

March 16, 2022 10:08 PM

I know SF is notoriously unaffordable, but I wanted to reach out and see if anyone had tips for less expensive places to stay in SF.

One of my partners and I are planning a road trip this summer and plan to stay in SF for 2-3 weeks around June-July.

We don't have a specific budget but are trying to lower our costs. We're open to staying in a private room to reduce costs, but not a shared room with strangers. We'd also like a kitchen (or decent kitchenette) since we don't want to eat out for every meal.

We're asking around to see if any friends will let us couchsurf with them, and have also been checking AirBNB, TrustedHousesitters, and Craiglist. We looked at some hostels but didn't find them appealing and decided we'd rather pay more for a private room in a shared house on AirBNB.

posted by dokodomo to Travel & Transportation around San Francisco, CA (9 answers total)

The Hayes Valley Inn might meet your requirements, but I'm not sure if they'd let you cook in the breakfast nook. The bathrooms are shared as well. But when I lived in Hayes Valley my family would all stay there (brothers, cousins, my mom as well) and they loved it. It's very reasonably priced (I just looked up a two-week period in July and their cheapest options looked just over $100/night). Hayes Valley is a great neighborhood: centrally located, lots of restaurants, easy access to public transit, and fantastically walkable. If you book there, make sure to request a room facing inward, because the traffic noise on Gough can be loud.

BTW, parking in the city is extremely expensive and a major hassle, and we're having a huge spate of car breakins. Avoid parking in the city. Instead, drop your stuff off and then drive out to BART long term parking, e.g. in Daly City, which is something like $6/day.
posted by kdar at 11:02 PM on March 16, 2022

You may want to stay in Oakland instead, or anywhere up and down the Peninsula within 1 hour drive of San Francisco, such as Daly city as already mentioned.
posted by kschang at 5:28 AM on March 17, 2022

Best answer: Re TrustedHousesitters, my guess is that there will absolutely be options there, but you have to be able to apply very quickly (I've seen listings go up and come down within hours because there are so many applications). If you can find an Airbnb with flexible cancellation, you could keep looking on TH and likely be able to cover most or all of the time for free.
posted by pinochiette at 7:16 AM on March 17, 2022

I stayed at the San Remo years ago and it was very affordable. There was a shared bathroom, but we had a private room.
posted by cakelite at 9:05 AM on March 17, 2022 [1 favorite]

Keep an eye on the Listings Project. You sign up and then get a weekly email with the listings segmented by geographic area. I believe there’s usually a San Francisco page, though I just checked and there were no SF listings this week.

What’s great about them is they make very clear which listings are for sublets (and for how long) and which are for longer-term leases, which ones you’d have to share, etc., and divide them up as such.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 10:00 AM on March 17, 2022

Response by poster:

I stayed at the San Remo years ago and it was very affordable. There was a shared bathroom, but we had a private room.

Unfortunately, it looks like this hotel is still closed due to COVID. 😭
posted by dokodomo at 10:04 AM on March 17, 2022

No, actually, there were a couple SF sublets listed for this week but not for the time frame you mentioned. That’s why it’s always good to check weekly when you get the email sent out on Wednesdays.
posted by SomethinsWrong at 10:05 AM on March 17, 2022

Club Quarters is typically on the lower end relative to other SF hotel costs, encourages extended stays, and is a nice clean place that puts you close to a lot of the city. The rooms can be smallish, but I think there are some that have kitchenettes.

You might also consider splitting your stay across 2 or more locations. I usually like having a single homebase and don't like hotel-switching when I'm traveling, but for 2-3 weeks you might find it nice to stay in more than one part of the city (or even a different part of the Bay Area).

Other places to consider that tend toward the more affordable end but might not all have the amenities you want:
- Parker Guest House
- The Metro Hotel
- Beck's Motor Lodge
posted by rhiannonstone at 1:53 PM on March 17, 2022

I've stayed at https://www.cornellhotel.com/ several times. Lovely boutique hotel that was very reasonably priced.
posted by Yavsy at 8:34 PM on March 17, 2022