Want to spend a couple days at a nice hotel in the SF Pier 39 area and don't want to valet park. What are my safe options?
Valet park it. Fishermans warf/ pier 39 area actually basically the whole embarcadero is hot spot for smash and grabs.
SF has turned into a homeless hell hole. Everywhere you look you will see broken glass next to the curb, from where a smash and grab tool place. Anywhere that tourist go, the activists move in to grab what they can.
Agree Valet is safer. Any covered paid parking is better than street-side. Remove the parcel shelf - if they see nothing, they smash nothing.
Is it homeless people or activists that do the smash and grabs? Do you have any stats on this? From what I hear it is neither. There are groups of young men driving around SF and some other areas; one of them jumps out, smashes the window, grabs what he can get, and gets back into the vehicle. Off they go... Friends of mine have witnessed it. But Police is too slow and has other priorities.
We've had the same dilemma, especially after reading and hearing horror stories about smash and grab in Bay Area. Many hotels either don't have self parking or do have valet parking that takes your car to a remote location. We have settled for Holiday Inn Golden Gateway after all. There is still a surcharge for parking (additional 50 bucks per night), but you can't really escape that in downtown SF. We'll be there mid June, by the way.
How bad is it in SF? I will not park Nicki in SF unless she's inside. 7 years ago I was with a friend in his restored '62 Valiant. We parked at St Francis Yacht club, walked a bit and went to Fisherman's Wharf for lunch. When we came back someone had stolen the driver's side door - Window broken then the entire door was unbolted and taken. I can only assume someone else need a '62 Valiant door. But why didn't someone stop or report this obvious theft? SF Police said it was below their dollar threshold to investigate.
I stayed at the Marriott in the financial district and felt comfortable with the parking there last month, but it is $80 per night! I took UBER around town.
Do not park at the Anchorage Parking garage. Too many reviews on yelp about break-ins. If you are going to the Embarcadero or Chinatown, park at Golden Gateway Garage. On weekends it's $3 for the whole day with validation. There's a free Shuttle too. Goto chinatownparkandride.com for details. According to a review on yelp, they have free ev charging.
I've had good luck with Luxe valet. (luxe.com). They'll send a valet for your car anywhere in SF, park it in a garage and deliver it to you anywhere. Also less expensive than hotel parking. Use my referral code: MARK305 for $20.00 credit on your first park I've also parked at this garage which has free charging: PlugShare - Find Electric Vehicle Charging Locations Near You Don't park on the street. Look for an attended garage.
Smash+grab thieves work in teams. They are not the homeless who are also the carless and for the most part the motivationless. They are a problem but they are a different problem. You might consider leaving the car at airport parking (or Sutter Stockton) and uber into the city.
I've parked there a lot. Good, safe, attended parking (with charging). But's it's quite a ways from Pier 39.
I haven't used them in a while but AFAIK, they're still in business. They were acquired by Volvo Cars USA last Sept: The Future of Luxe – Curtis Lee – Medium Should give them some resources... unless Volvo had second thoughts and shut them down.
My solution was to move out of the Bay Area. Way way too many people in one place. Houses right next to each other. Concrete covering every inch of ground. Starbucks every five blocks for fifty miles. Traffic always insane. Not many nice people left.
