Youth Hostel Central, 116 Turk, San Francisco

After all the fun we had at the Exploratorium, we headed back to the Tenderloin to check in at Youth Hostel Central. I've heard a lot of overblown warnings about "bad" neighborhoods in the past and never really felt threatened or uncomfortable in any area of Hong Kong, Seoul, Japan, London or Tijuana that I explored but perhaps I was lucky. For the most part, that was true enough of the Tenderloin, too, though I did notice some guys tried to intimidate Antho as they walked past us…

AirBnB Review

For our last two nights in the Bay Area we chose to stay in West Oakland, just across the Bay from the Embarcadero area with the Jack London Square ferry being a reasonable walk away. Having never used AirBnB we decided to give it a shot as the rates were quite a bit more reasonable than the hotels in the area and we'd heard positive things from people who had used the site. There were a lot of places to choose from but we decided to stay with Jackie and Christian in their lovely home. It takes a special kind of individual to open their own abodes and welcome travelers into their space and our hosts were exceptionally kind. They know the area quite well as proud residents and provide maps, guides, or advice. They graciously offer the use of their kitchen and laundry facilities, so if you're traveling for a long stint it's quite refreshing to have the option to prepare a home cooked meal or some freshly laundered clothes.