This page will be updated every time we get input from SF locals and aficionados.

Updated Thursday Oct. 16 at 6:00 pm Pacific Time:

More hotel recommendations:

Hotel Beresford, Hotel Andrews,Cornell Hotel de France, Hotel Golden Gate, Hotel Bijou, Elements Hotel, Hotel Carlton, Hotel des Arts, Hotel Adagio, Hotel Union Square, Hotel Cartwright.  Yes, having too many choices can feel oppressive.

Updated Tuesday Oct. 14 at 5:30 pm Pacific Time.

I have spent about three hours over the weekend looking for a reasonably priced place to stay in San Francisco.  I was initially sticker-shocked and paralyzed.  Then the more I read, the more I saw that there indeed are reasonably priced options:

Tripadvisor.com only provides “dates available” for some hotels, most of which are rather expensive.  However, Tripadvisor does not give the full picture of what’s actually available.  Scroll down and go to the next page, to see that the site does provide reviews for many, many decently priced, convenient and probably nice or nice enough hotels that do not pay a commission to Tripadvisor, thus, their dates available do not show as available on the website. However, you can do a separate search for the hotel’s website or phone number, and book directly.  Tripadvisor is still great and invaluable resource for reading reviews of these hotels.  Yelp has good reviews, too.

Expedia and Orbitz list many SF hotels,but my impression of San Francisco is that there are many feisty small non-chain hotels that are refusing to pay commission to be listed.   The proportion of hotels that must be individually, directly looked up seems high to me, as compared to hotels in other cities.

It’s worth looking up the rate both directly, at the hotel website, and on Expedia, Tripadvisor or similar third party site. Some hotel websites will yield a lower rate than the general travel website.

AirBnb: people rave about this.  I received more thumbs up for this option from the SF locals.  Worth looking into, particularly if you are traveling as a group. You can rent an interesting 2 or 3 bedroom. You can also rent someone’s spare bedroom for a great price. Also fun to look at photos and read reviews; some units are so copiously praised, seems like you can’t go wrong.

Berkeley has very decently priced motels in great, safe locations, $75, really.   Just budget some BART travel time in.  Some of these even have free parking included, if you are driving.  Oakland, too, has lots of lodging.

Some San Francisco “motor motels”and “motor inns” also have parking included. They often do not appear in Expedia or sites like that.  These tend to be located in the more residential parts of town.  Even if you are not driving, the rates are far, far lower.  Walk 1 or 2 miles to the conference or take MUNI.  Save some money, see how the locals live and eat. One that got stellar reviews is the Geary Parkway Motel.  $99!  Royal Pacific Motor Inn, $95!

A UC Hastings professor says “[s/he] can’t speak to their quality, but hotels near UC Hastings include the Whitcomb Hotel, the Good Hotel, the Phoenix Hotel, and the Inn at the Opera.” Thanks, prof!

San Francisco also has lots of shared bathroom hotels, such as the Mosser, for decent rates.  Like being back in college.  Meet some interesting folks, possibly.

Also look into the youth (ok, elder for some of us) hostels that dot the Civic Center environs, where UC Hastings is located.  Some have individual rooms, too.

A call out to those who know San Francisco well: do you have any hotel advice for the rebellious and thrifty?  Please email rebelliouslawyeringinstitute@gmail.com and we will post.  

Thanks for reading.

Next topic: the Rebellious, the Luxurious, and the Decadent.