Solo traveller safe hotels

TracyW · 14 Apr 19, 09:26 PM

DS 23, wants to do a solo trip to San Francisco and LA/DLC in June, I have found a good price for flights but having a problem finding what I call "safe" and cheapish hotels (more for my peace of mind than his!). He wants to do a couple of days by the beach as well. Would be grateful for recommendations

We have been as a family but he wants to experience it on his own but with a much smaller budget now the bank of mum and dad aren't paying (we are paying for his flight but haven't told him yet!).

landandword17 · 14 Apr 19, 10:21 PM

In SF stay away from the tenderloin and the SOMA area. The HI hostel in fisherman�s wharf is a good spot for young people. The Grant hotel in Union Square is very basic but cheap by SF standards and in a better part of Union Square, just a block away from the Ritz.

daytonababe · 15 Apr 19, 04:54 AM

Disneyland he�ll be fine in any of the good neighbour hotels , all in walking distance of the parks ..always feels a safe area with lots of people about

LA is vast what does he want to do there ? That would determined better the area he stays in .

Beaches , Huntingdon Beach is lovely or does he want somewhere more just like Santa Monica ? How will he get around though ?

TracyW · 15 Apr 19, 07:24 AM

Originally Posted by daytonababe

Disneyland he�ll be fine in any of the good neighbour hotels , all in walking distance of the parks ..always feels a safe area with lots of people about

LA is vast what does he want to do there ? That would determined better the area he stays in .

Beaches , Huntingdon Beach is lovely or does he want somewhere more just like Santa Monica ? How will he get around though ?

He wants to do a couple of hikes I think in L.A., and he mentioned Santa Monica, but don't think he's bothered which beach. He plans on using buses/trains

landandword17 · 15 Apr 19, 11:24 AM

Tracy W tell him to look at Hollywood then because there�s metro link and Runyon Canyon hike is close by. The Orange Drive hostel is a non-party hostel with private rooms. Then there�s hotels that vary in price depending on dates. The area isn�t glamorous but it�s as safe as any city and probably a 23 year old man would prefer it anyway to some of the posher areas.

sky13 · 15 Apr 19, 03:32 PM

My first proper long distance solo trip was at the age of 24 when I went as a solo female to Disneyland and SF. (To be fair, the SF bit was for work, and I'd been living a 13 hour flight from home for a few years so was already used to flying long distance by myself.) Anyway, it was a perfectly safe experience and I had a good time, so hopefully your DS should be fine too!

I went on Expedia or booking.com or similar and looked up reviews of hotels near Disneyland and in SF.

Disneyland - there are plenty of decent hotels/motels that are close by DL that should be fairly safe given that most of them are catered to people visiting DL. They are definitely going to be slightly higher in price than hotels in neighbouring counties though due to the proximity to DL.

SF - some very dodgy areas like the Tenderloin - someone I know stayed in a hotel there and didn't dare to walk outside her hotel so she would only take a taxi to/from the hotel! However the hotel reviews didn't help me that much here - as a lot of hotels would have at least a few reviews mentioning the homelessness/deprivation in the area. SF is also tricky as the city itself can get really expensive especially if there are large conferences going on. One other thing to consider is also to stay a bit outside of the city, like around the airport or in Oakland - though I'm not sure what those areas are like so not sure how safe they are. (If it helps at all - that time I stayed at the Super 8 near Union Square, which was I think just inside the Tenderloin - however the walk from Union Square to the Super 8 passed right by the huge Hilton Union Square which had numerous doormen outside so that helped with the perception of safety walking on that street...)