Beautiful Victorian apartment in trendy Hayes Valley district.

Three of us arrived in San Francisco for a conference at the start of December and opted for hiring an apartment for the week rather than opting for one of the hotels in the city centre. The apartment itself was nice and suited our purpose. It was spacious, clean, bright and had all the facilities we needed for the week, including a few nice extras (such as the private outdoor area) were readily available. The communications from the owner were also efficient and well detailed and everything was processed quickly and with care.

A few comments on the apartment itself - the kitchen is well equipped in terms of available appliances crockery, the 2 bathrooms were immaculate and the 3 bedrooms are all comfortable - it was extremely clean and well furnished throughout. One point of note was the noise in the main bedroom (pictured) from outside - the windows aren't double glazed and the noise from the passing traffic can be quite noisy, particular on trash collection days!

The area surrounding the apartment is a little bit mixed, despite the description as "trendy" Hayes Valley. I'd contest that the apartment is probably a couple of blocks away from being in any area which could be described as trendy. Out of the front door and to the left leads up into the Haight/Ashbury part of the city, renowned for it's 1960's legacy, though today it's as commercial as anywhere. Turn right out of the front door and it leads down onto Market Street, which is far from trendy.

The apartment is around a 25-30 minute walk into the city centre although this can be avoided via buses, the MUNI system or indeed one of the cable cars on Market. I'd almost recommend avoiding the walk, as the area between Market/Van Ness and Market/5th is very unsavoury. There are a LOT of homeless people in the area - there also appears to be a large population of drug addicts and mentally unsound individuals which populate this stretch - venturing onto one of the parallel streets to Market (such as Eddy St) should be avoided at all costs. Walking this stretch, particularly at night, can be quite intimidating. Market Street is a busy thoroughfare and is very well lit, but we still chose to avoid the walk where possible.

Also, avoid the small market across the street from the apartment - "fresh" seems to be a problem, and they were selling out of date milk and yoghurt, as well as almost rotten fruit and veg.