When traveling to most cities in the world, finding discount accommodations when arriving to your destination city is always a possible. Not so in the diverse and complex city of San Francisco. From the hills of Daly City to the plains of Berkeley, the environments and people are so diverse that your vacation could with one dial of the phone a paradise made in heaven or an inferno designed in hell.



Families making their hotel reservations at the smaller hotels that dot the periphery of San Francisco might be able to land a bargain, but find they are sharing accommodations with other crawling critters that would make even the toughest among us squirm.

I did this once. I came to San Francisco on a budget and thinking to wing my accommodations; I found a phonebook and booked a motel for $59 a night. Well, the minute I saw the hotel along a dark side street I knew we were in trouble. This hotel was something I would expect to see in a nightmare, and not reality. But it was late and we thought 'just on night.' But the bed was so grimy we actually slept on the floor - and we were in their 'best room!'

The next day I called hotels in San Francisco city. You know, where the Trolley Cars roam and the street performers perform. I found a number of places, ranging from the low 100 and going up to the high 500. We got in our car to make our investigation and inspected one hotel after the other, some dark and dank and some bright and classic. We settled on the Grant Plaza Hotel at $180 a night. We had a rollaway brought for my two children and spent the rest of the day recuperating from our search.

That night, we went out to walk around the streets of San Francisco and I must tell you it was scary. There were destitute people lurking at every doorway, down every alley, sleeping above the street vents for warmth. It was both sad and a bit frightening, especially since coming from an isolated small town in Minnesota. I passed out quarters to those asking as if I were passing out flyers for a corner store.

We found a Starbuck near Union Square and quickly ducked in. After a family meeting to discuss our situation, we decided to catch a trolley car that was still running and make a dash to the famous Fisherman's Wharf and Ghirardelli's Square. We jumped on the next trolley and took a wild ride straight up and straight down what seemed like a mountain. We were screaming with joy; our first joy since coming to San Francisco. We spent an enchanting evening looking in all the tourist shops, the street performers and attractions that populate Fisherman's Wharf. We bought a big pound of fudge at a fudge shop and drank coke and champagne until late in the evening.

Our lesson from all this, at least for San Francisco, make your hotel reservations in advance. Don't waste time looking for a room when you get there, the city is just too big. Since writing this, we went to San Diego and for that trip I found a website called www.all-reservations.com which featured discount hotel reservations with pictures and prices clearly explained. This was very useful a highly recommended time save.

In any event, California is our favorite travel destination and we plan to visit there often.