San Francisco's North Beach

Tourists visiting San Francisco tend to gravitate toward three areas for hotel accommodations:

(1) Union Square;

(2) Nob Hill;

(3) Fisherman's Wharf.

We suggest an alternative -- especially for young couples who want to really experience San Francisco:  try North Beach!

North Beach is one of the most exciting neighborhoods in San Francisco.  It was once a primarily Italian neighborhood, and it still has a "Little Italy" sort of flavor -- lots of Italian restaurants and Italian cafes.  Tour buses pass through North Beach constantly.  But, it seems like few tourists take the time to really stop and walk around.  And they just don't typically stay there because the neighborhood doesn't have large hotels.

But, North Beach DOES have hotels.  We recommend the Hotel Boheme.  The hotel is at 444 Columbus Avenue, which is right in the heart of North Beach.

The small entrance looks like a door to an apartment.  The neighborhood has an amazing night-life, people are walking around constantly, and so they keep the door locked 24/7 for security.  You seriously would not even know it was a door to a hotel unless you were looking for it.  The entrance is literally right next to Calzone, an Italian restaurant with a big neon sign and tables on the street (decent food; really more about atmosphere though).  Steps lead up to a 2nd floor landing, where the hotel makes complimentary drinks (think sherry or port) available for guests.  The front desk is down a short hall.

Rooms are on the 2nd and 3rd floor.  You can ask for a quiet room, which face inward; the interior rooms are built close together around an outdoor shaft that gives daylight to the rooms (can't call it a courtyard because it is too small).  Or, you can get a room that faces right out onto busy Columbus Avenue and get the full North Beach experience; people-watching, night-life -- you are right in the very thick of everything here.

The clean rooms themselves are pretty small.  They include queen-size beds.  They have a small television.  They are decorated with pictures from the Beat era -- North Beach is where Beat was born.

The small size of the rooms doesn't matter.  You are NOT staying in North Beach to stay in your room.  You're staying in North Beach to be a part of the City.  Take part in the nightlife.  Visit some of the epic night-spots in the neighborhood.  Visit Cafe Trieste, which is probably the best cafe in San Francisco.  Head down to the birthplace of Beat -- City Lights Bookstore.  Beat authors used to stay at the hotel in the 50s, when it was more of a boarding house.  The Hotel Boheme is right in the middle of everything.     

Here's a view of the Hotel Boheme from across the street.  You can see the name at the top of the building.  If you're walking past the hotel, you probably wouldn't notice that it was a hotel at all:

 Photo of Alan Ginsberg, Neal Cassady, and others, hanging in the bathroom of our room:

Lampshade by the bed:

Hallway leading to the front desk:

Stairs leading to 3rd floor (we stayed over New Year's Eve, explaining the balloons):