GO TO ALMOST ANY TRAVEL WEBSITE AND PUNCH IN THAT YOU WANT A HOTEL SEARCH OF "SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, USA", AND YOU WILL NOTICE THAT MANY WEBSITES, LIKE "HOTWIRE" AND MANY OTHERS, ARE MAKING UP A NEW NAME FOR THE NIGHTTIME- SCARY NEIGHBORHOOD THE "TENDERLOIN" OF PROSTITUTES AND DRUG DEALERS AND DAYTIME SOUP KITCHEN LONG LINES AND NEVER ENOUGH COPS WALKING THE DANGEROUS STREETS. THEY ARE CALLING IT THE "WESTERN UNION SQUARE" NEIGHBORHOOD , JUST AS SOME IN THE PAST WITH MONEY TO MAKE IN DECEPTION, CALLED IT THE "LOWER NOB HILL" NEIGHBORHOOD. DO NOT BE CONNED, HOODWINKED, TRICKED, OR DECEIVED BY THIS ALL TOO COMMON PRACTICE.
I CAN NOT TELL YOU HOW MANY FOREIGN TOURISTS I HAVE MET WHO HAVE BOOKED A HOTEL AND VACATION IN SAN FRANCISCO THROUGH ANY WEBSITE AND HAD TO SUFFER THE BASIC WEB MARKET DISHONESTY OF CHOOSING A HOTEL WITH ONLY ITS PRICE AND NUMBER OF STARS/QUALITY TO GO ON. NO ADDRESS BEFORE PURCHASE COMMITMENT AND IN MANY INSTANCES A FRAUDULENT NEIGHBORHOOD OR CITY AREA DESCRIPTION. MANY TRAVEL WEBSITE LIST MOTELS AND HOTELS IN THE NEIGHBORING COUNTY OF SAN MATEO AS BEING IN A S.F. MOTEL/HOTEL SEARCH, MAYBE BECAUSE THEY ARE NEARER TO S.F.'S SFO AIRPORT, WHICH IS OUTSIDE S.F. CITY AND COUNTY LIMITS. IMAGINE THE HORROR WHEN PEOPLE ARRIVE IN S.F. AND DISCOVER THAT MOST TRAVEL WEBSITES HAVE DECEIVED THEM EVEN FURTHER BY INTENTIONALLY MISNAMING THE BAD NEIGHBORHOOD ,THE "TENDERLOIN", AS SOME PAP EUPHEMISM LIKE
"LOWER SNOB HILL" OR " WESTERN NEEDLESS MARKUPS UNION SQUARE" ?
TRAVEL IS S.F.'S NUMBER ONE BUSINESS AND YET THERE IS NO CENTRAL RESERVATION OFFICE AS IN MANY MORE CIVILIZED WESTERN EUROPEAN CITIES. NOR IS THERE A CENTRAL CITY TAXI DISPATCH SO FINDING A CAB IN S.F. IS USUALLY VERY DIFFICULT,AS THEY PREFER LIKE IN SEATTLE TO DO THE SFO AIRPORT RUN,,,SPEEDING OR JUST DRIVING RECKLESSLY. MOST OF THE COPS IN SUCH A CITY SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN THEIR MANNERS, BUT NOT THE USUAL SCOWL AND A FEW FOUR LETTER WORDS. AND DOUBLE PARKING IS NOT JUST A TICKET BUT A MOVING VIOLATION GOING ON YOUR TRAFFIC RECORD AND AGAINST YOUR INSURANCE. AND YOU, OUR GUEST, THE TOURIST IS PAYING THROUGH THE NOSE FOR SUCH TREATMENT.
ALL TRAVELLERS SHOULD BEWARE OF MOST TRAVEL WEBSITES THAT SEEM TO THINK SUCH TRICKERY AND SLIGHT OF HAND AND COMMON BUSINESS DECEPTION AND MISREPRESENTATIONAL FRAUD ARE SOMEHOW "OK" FINE. MORE ON TRAVEL TIPS FOR S.F. IN A LATTER ARTICLE.
BUT FOR NOW, DO BEWARE OF THESE FLASHY "SALE, SALE, SALE" CAMERA STORES THAT SELL SECOND RATE CAMERA AS FIRST RATE, AND GET AWAY WITH IT FOR DECADES, EVEN THO I BELIEVE IT WAS "60 MINUTES" THAT WARNED US OF THIS NEW YORK AND SAN FRANCISCO UNSAVORY COMMON BUSINESS PRACTICE WAY BACK IN THE 1990s.
RATHER, IF YOU WERE MY RELATIONS, I WOULD RECOMMEND YOU SEARCH THE NORTHERN NEIGHBORHOOD OF "COW HOLLOW", BETWEEN RICH SELFISH BASTARDS OF PACIFIC HEIGHTS, PROBABLY MOSTLY REPUBLICANS, AND THE VERY NORTHERN EDGE, THE "MARINA DISTRICT", ANOTHER RELATIVELY SAFE NEIGHBORHOOD OF RICH SELFISH BASTARD REPUBLICANS,,, AND LOTS OF YUPPIES. YOU HAVE THE TWO SHOPPING AND DINING STREETS OF CHESTNUT AND UNION AND MANY MANY MOTELS AND HOTELS IN RELATIVE CLEAN SAFETY FOR LESS THAN $100 US /NIGHT FOR TWO. THERE ARE QUIETER STREETS IN "COW HOLLOW" BUT FOR $69-79 US/NIGHT/DOUBLE LAST SUMMER 2004, THE COMFORT INN IS ONE OF MANY GOOD BUYS IN THIS WELL POSITIONED NEIGHBORHOOD.
HAPPY TRAILS AND TRAVEL SAFE !!
