Gay Travel Buddy

San Francisco has some great landmark locations, one of the most visited by both locals and tourists is Union Square. The square is the clever cover of a multi-level parking garage below ground, entry to this parking garage is accessible from both Geary and Post st.

HOTELS:
When planning on staying in San Francisco and your destination is the Castro plan on staying in Union Square or SOMA “South of Market Area” The Castro only has one hotel. My Favorite hotels in San Francisco are:

The Westin St. Francis, located in the heard of Union Square.
The Westin on 3rd St with amazing views.
The Westin hotels can be booked at the following link:

Westin – Guaranteed Best Rates on Westin!

The W on 3rd St is also a personal favorite, just steps away from all the shopping in Union Square. You can book at

W San Francisco

FLIGHTS:

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Last Minute Air Deals

Union Square is home to the best shopping, hotels, restaurants, theaters, bars, clubs and apartments in San Francisco. Two of the major shopping areas are the Nordstrom shopping center and the Bloomingdales center, both are located side by side on Market st. Nestled between 3rd and 4th st. Both the MUNI underground and BART stop at the Powell st station, which has underground access to the Bloomingdales center via the food court. As well as an entry to the Nordstroms center as well.

Union Square has several cable car lines converging on the Powell St station. The Powell to Mason St. line takes you to Fisherman’s Wharf and is extremely popular with tourists, so there are extremely long lines at the Powell St location. The Powell to Mason St. line takes you to the Canery which is close to Ghirardelli Square.

Some of the hotels in the area include, the Westin St. Francis which is a historic building with tons of history and is a great place to stay! The Four Seasons, Marriot, Hyatt, Hotel Diva, The Clift, Adagio and the Hotel Monaco to name a few.

Shopping includes, Macy’s a Men’s store and Women’s store that has household items as well. Neman Marcus or Needless Markup, Sacks Fith Ave both Men’s and Women’s stores, Levis, Crate and Barrel, CB2, Apple Store, Diesel, Prada, Kenneth Cole, Ben Sherman and a Ferrari Store as a few examples.

Some Restaurants that I love: Grand Cafe at the Hotel Monaco, Honey Honey, Amber Indian, Cafe Claude, Canteen, and Le Colonial.

Union Square also has a great selection of free venues throughout the year, some of which can be a ton of fun. During the winter they setup an ice skating rink in the square.

When visiting San Francisco, especially Union Square, it is inevitable you will run into homeless. Most likely quite a few of them. At first you will feel sorry for them and you may be tempted to give them money, the stories they make up are near novel quality. This may sound cold but if you do not look them in the eyes and just say no thank you, you will have far more money to spend on other worth while things while in SF. Once you give one person money the rest of them will follow you around until you give them all money. San Francisco provides food, housing, training and counseling services as well as a monthly stipend. Most that you see are simply lazy or have serious psychological problems. A special note to young females, stay out of the Tenderloin district especially at night. They will follow you and there is a good chance that you may be hurt! The Tenderloin is basically south of Geary st to at least Mission st, most prominently from Mason to Van Ness. Ask your hotel concierge to draw a circle around this area on a map.