"When I travel for business, I try to stay away from the sterile corporate high-rise hotels and find smaller boutique properties. If nothing else, it breaks the monotony. On a recent trip to San Francisco, I booked a room at the King George. It’s on the border between the Union Square and Tenderloin districts, so depending on which way you turn when you walk out the front door you’re just as likely to find yourself in Macy’s or a knife-fight (Hint: turn left twice.) My room was small but clean and nicely decorated, the service friendly, the wife free, and the elevator relatively quick. Keep in mind that this is downtown San Francisco so you’ll walk past homeless people asking for money every time you leave the hotel, but that’s par for the course. I always carry a few one-dollar bills for such occasions. I would recommend the King George to anyone staying in San Francisco for business and trying to avoid the big corporate chains. But if I were traveling with small children, I might stay a few blocks farther away from the Tenderloin."

Read Charlie's San Francisco reviews | Comment