We stayed at Hotel Bijou, which was conveniently located in the heart of Union Square. This boutique-style hotel was an ode to film and even had a mini-theater where two different movies were shown each evening. Walls were adorned with vintage movie posters of Hollywood icons. I was initially a bit leery about staying at a two-star hotel, but we found it to be exceptionally clean, and the staff was friendly and accommodating. The rooms were small, but who comes to visit a place to sit in the hotel room anyway? The only drawback was the close proximity to and occasional late-night noise of the Tenderloin, but I tended to be in such a coma every night anyway, I didn’t find it to be too disruptive.
Speaking of which, I recall the desk clerk telling me when I checked in not to wander the blocks west of the hotel because there was nothing there. He neglected to mention that indeed there is! The Tenderloin (aka the ‘Loin) is a somewhat run-down area of the city where a lot of down-and-outters hang out. It was a raw, in-your-face look at the drudgery of prostitution, poverty, drug abuse, and the mentally unstable. Imagine my reaction as I followed Darryl’s lead through the ‘Loin because he preferred to walk the eight blocks to the Fillmore shopping district. I was relieved when our seedy surroundings evolved into cafe-lined streets packed with specialty shops.