Welcome to fodors. You should re-post this on the United States board. Use the Change Forum option. But under $100 in SF is tough unless you're up for a hostel (there's an HI at Fort Mason). There are a few B&Bs under as well - try the San Remo. I got the Tomo for $109 on booking.com, and you might try Priceline.

betterbidding.com for skads of 3 stars from $40 in nice areas Union Square Fisherman's Wharf Nob Hill Japantown all good for me BIDDING hotwire.com priceline.com Priceline up to 70% off usually.

Happy Hunting!

4* San Francisco (Financial District-Embarcadero) Hyatt Regency San Francisco - $92

4* San Francisco (Financial District-Embarcadero) Le Meridien San Francisco - $100

4* San Francisco (USW-Nob Hill) Parc 55 - $85

4* San Francisco (Financial District-Embarcadero) Hyatt Regency San Francisco - $80

4* San Francisco (Financial District-Embarcadero) Hyatt Regency San Francisco - $85

4* San Francisco (Financial District-Embarcadero) Le Meridien San Francisco - $102

3.5* San Francisco (Fishermans Wharf) Sheraton Fishermans Wharf - $91

But a few recent wins within your budget bidding priceline.com

Dates for those wins? Where are they listed?

Yes- re-post on the USA board. Priceline is great for SF, but a LOT depends on your dates. For instance in mid June this year nothing is being won for twice qwo's quotes. The US Open and other events are driving SF hotel rates sky high.

Also, even those $90 and $100 PL wins will be well over $100 by the time taxes and fees are added on San Francisco is not really a $100 a night sort of city (likely why your sister got such a dump).

So depending on your dates - yes, try priceline but be careful which zones you bid. Union Square west will get possibly get a neighbor of the hotel your sister stayed at

Otherwise -- a hostel is probably your best bet. There are some motels on Lombard street that will squeeze w/i your budget -- but there are hit and miss quality-wise (some a HUGE miss)

That should read 'they are hit and miss . . .'

SF is often cheaper over a weekend. SF gets a lot of business travlers.

Close to Union Square and the Theatre distict are usually fine. Tenderloin gets you hookers.

In the downtown area, south of Market St. can be iffy. That's a polite way of saying probably not a good place to be.

"Close to Union Square and the Theatre distict are usually fine. Tenderloin gets you hookers."

Even some of what you are calling the 'Theatre district' isn't so fine. Which is why one should not bid Union Square West. The USW zone includes some sketchy areas.

So, I'm planning to stay in Japantown, unless Priceline or BackBid turn up something better nearer the date. Is that a safe area? And are there neighboring areas I should avoid if I'm using public transport?

I wanted Pacific Heights or Marina or North Beach but there's nothing that sounds comfortable at a price I'm willing to pay.

janisj - if you know how far west you can go, the theatre district is more than fine. 4-5 blocks west beyond the Geary Theatre = Tenderloin = don't book hotel there.

thursdaysd - Pacific Height? Nothing to see but the outside of mansions. No places to stay, nothing to do, bus service iffy. Good news, lots of police patrols. It pays to be rich.

Marina? Not really an area to see a lot.

If you want to go to North Beach from Union Square, take the #30, Orient Express out to NB.

Rastaguy: Unfortunately the PL 'Union Square West' zone goes as far west as Leavenworth . . .

Any opinions on Japantown?

thursdaysd: We've probably already spent too much time here on the 'wrong' forum - you'll get a LOT of help if you post on the USA board. Japantown is fine but it has been years since I spent much time there so can't help w/ specifics.

janisj - why are you looking at zones? A decent map works pretty good. Personally, I'd stay closer to Union Square. If one stays on Post...not the Tenderloin.

thursdaysd - Japantown is not really close to other sites in SF. Try this to get a feeling of what's there.
http://www.sfjapantown.org/ It's a nice place for dinner, if you can find parking, but it's a bit of a stretch for convenient public transportation.

Here's a SF Newspaper article on neighborhoods in SF. Click on the ones you want. http://www.sfgate.com/neighborhoods/sf/tenderloin/