San Francisco Hotels and Gay Clubs/Bars

This is what being gay is ALL about.

What's the SF version of WeHo? The Castro seems much grittier than WeHo...

That Folsom leather thing they have in SF is gross. I'm glad they don't have that in LA.

Castro = WeHo. But it’s SF, so people care less about appearances and it is superficial “grittier”

90% of hotels are in Mission/Union Square- really ugly neighborhoods that are the worst of SF. The intercontinental in the mission sometimes has decent prices for nice rooms.

I think Airbnb is a better option. Can find one near Castro. Otherwise it’s the Parker - which is OK- not chic but the only place in Castro.

Some info.

Isn't Union Square like ... Century City or something? Just a big mall with tall office buildings, more or less?

More like LAs downtown. Old city center with mentally ill, homeless, drug addicts and petty thieves. More like MacArthur Park maybe.

So is there a slick, huge club in SF like the Abbe.y?

2016 article...

Who's the guy in the middle?

[QUOTE]Who's the guy in the middle?

Is it Pierre Bouvier?

St. Gregory.

I don't think there's a "flagship" gay club... like the A.bbey.

Some clarity.

The Loews Hotel is the former Mandarin Oriental... I'm not sure if it changed much.

Are Miss Bouvier’s eyebrows going to metamorphose someday into lovely butterflies?

Airbnb would be the best way to go, I think. Either way, just brace yourself for an expensive holiday. I like Pilsner Inn to grab a beer, shoot pool, smoke a bowl in the courtyard :)

Is Beck's Motor Lodge still there?

Stay at whichever hotel is the closest to the Nob Hill Theater.

r4 I don't think you understand what "The Mission" (i.e., the Mission District) is.

When did the M.O. fold? I have only stayed at a Loew's hotel once(in NYC) and it was nothing I would define as luxury.

Here, R21.

Replace Mission with SOMA

San Francisco's hottest night is Crelm.

It's got everything: quadruped furry gogo gazelles, back-tracking metal grooves with Satanic messages, homeless drag makeovers in the salon, street artist signature cocktails with real spray paint, all hosted by MTF-FTM icon Miss Mister Sister Blister! Bring your eviction notice for a free bowl of destitution-flavored chips.

They don't have an A.bbey.

R22 Thanks so much for the link. It seems that both Loews and the author agreed with me about the "laggard Loews on Lexington."

I expected more from this thread.

Nob hill has great views but it is touristy and commercial so I would head the air bnb route and get something west or north of downtown and Uber/ Lyft to Castro. Bars? Just go wander around the Castro they are all within walking distance of each other. Closest to the Abbey would be The Cafe, but hi tops, the lookout, bad lands, beaux, midnight Sun are worth checking out. Oasis has good drag in a not so great neighborhood

So there's no Mandarin in either SF or LA. Jeeze.

San Francisco isn't all that gay anymore and hasn't been for several decades. The cute Castro guys are still there, only they are in their 60's, 70's and 80's. Remember, most of that generation died in the 1980's and 1990's. Young gays found other cities to migrate to, but San Francisco wasn't one of them. For gays, San Francisco became a destination for death. It will be a long time coming if ever for San Francisco to ever become the gay powerhouse it was before AIDS.

Is the Nikko hotel still famous? Michael Douglas stayed there in the movie The Game.

Phoenix Hotel. Hip, trendy hotel in a sketchy neighborhood (Tenderloin?). Reasonably priced though.

“I expected more from this thread.”

I expected more from San Francisco.

I don't think the Loews was changed much since it was a Mandarin. Looks the same.

Yes, Beck's Motor Lodge is still there. It's been remodeled. Check the yelp reviews.

R31 Yes! We used to layover at the Nikko when it was brand new. The rooms we were assigned were tiny, but very cool. I loved seeing it in The Game.

I used to sneak up the stairwell to the executive level which was 2 floors above my room for the evening sushi spread and cocktails.

OP - Here is the receipt for a gay time in San Francisco.

Hotel: Fairmont on Nob Hill

Sex: Find an over 70 old school gay. Interior decorator who survived AIDS being a top, horse hung, and not really into sex. He will have a nice sized Art Deco flat on Russian Hill or Telegraph Hill, with great views, a beautifully stocked bar, museum quality chinoiserie, and he will have noticeable but not quite ridiculous face work, and fake hair of some kind.

OMG the Nikko charges $25 to use the gym and $25 for the pool. Retarded.

I am shocked. I have stayed in every imaginable level of hotel, and I have never heard of one charging hotel guests to use the pool.

Ehhh...

The Castro doesn't seem very gay these days. I was in SF two months ago and was surprised how many straight people are in the Castro now. time did move on.

OP, if you want the Abbey, then go to L.A. Or, probably, STAY in L.A.

You go to San Francisco for all the ways it contrasts with L.A. Not for all the ways it is like L.A. Except for being three hours behind the places in the U.S. that really matter, there aren't many ways that SF and LA are alike.

Just check into the most expensive hotel in S.F. The Ritz-Carlton or the Four Seasons ought to suit you. Then go shopping at Gump's. Then go home!

Yeah, LA and San Francisco are two very different cities. Very different personalities and people.

To rely on cliches for a second, LA attracts beautiful people looking to work in entertainment industry. San Francisco attracts smart people looking to work in tech. And yes SF's gay rep is from the older generation, the young generation that has moved to San Francisco is not super gay.

What about the parc 55 Hilton hotel ?

I'll stay at the Loews if it's essentially a Mandarin

Four days to get 45 posts about nothing all that interesting. That's a good sign SF is dead as a gay capital.

No, we just don't care to be your personal valet or tour guide.

Several people posted links with info. Do you need someone to hold your hand while you endure "Abbey" withdrawal?

Silly queen.

San Francisco is a case of how even liberalism can go bad.

boom

Which is the most mainstream bathhouse? Like a Steamworks...?

Berkeley, right next door to SF, has Steamworks

I remember going to the Power Exchange sex club in San Francisco in the late 90s.

That was epic.

Now I hear it's for straight swingers?