Song Fight! Live 2017 lodging
Posted: Tue Jun 27, 2017 7:58 pm
I was reading the hosting FAQ and saw a mention of advising folks about lodging. Here are my thoughts:
The venue is a short relatively safe walk from the Ashby BART station, so if you stay somewhere near BART you can probably get to the venue without too much hassle. The rehearsal space is in Oakland in Jack London Square, a short maybe not so safe walk from the West Oakland BART station. You probably would want to Lyft/Uber/etc. from that station to the rehearsal space, especially if you're carrying gear with you.
I recommend staying in Berkeley, Oakland, or Emeryville for maximum convenience to the venue and rehearsal space. If you're going to stay in SF, try to stay near a BART station, which are all on the East side of the city. If you're not near BART, I would again recommend Lyft/Uber/etc. to get you to BART. There are soooo many drivers for those services around, it's kind of ridiculous. You can take those services across the Bay too but then things get a bit expensive. Alternatively if you want to rent a car to get yourself around, that'd be fine, just beware that people here are horrible horrible drivers.
I strongly recommend checking out AirBnB, particularly if you're able to go in on a larger place with some folks. Otherwise, if you're looking for hotels, options in Berkeley are not super great. You might have better luck in Emeryville, which is a short ride/drive away from Berkeley/Oakland. If you look for hotels in Oakland I'd recommend downtown or down near the marina, although you have to watch out, some of the places down that part of town are supposed to be pretty shite. Definitely check Yelp and/or TripAdvisor reviews before you book. SF has way more options hotel of all sorts (funky, fancy, cheap, expensive, kitschy, slick, etc.).
The venue is a short relatively safe walk from the Ashby BART station, so if you stay somewhere near BART you can probably get to the venue without too much hassle. The rehearsal space is in Oakland in Jack London Square, a short maybe not so safe walk from the West Oakland BART station. You probably would want to Lyft/Uber/etc. from that station to the rehearsal space, especially if you're carrying gear with you.
I recommend staying in Berkeley, Oakland, or Emeryville for maximum convenience to the venue and rehearsal space. If you're going to stay in SF, try to stay near a BART station, which are all on the East side of the city. If you're not near BART, I would again recommend Lyft/Uber/etc. to get you to BART. There are soooo many drivers for those services around, it's kind of ridiculous. You can take those services across the Bay too but then things get a bit expensive. Alternatively if you want to rent a car to get yourself around, that'd be fine, just beware that people here are horrible horrible drivers.
I strongly recommend checking out AirBnB, particularly if you're able to go in on a larger place with some folks. Otherwise, if you're looking for hotels, options in Berkeley are not super great. You might have better luck in Emeryville, which is a short ride/drive away from Berkeley/Oakland. If you look for hotels in Oakland I'd recommend downtown or down near the marina, although you have to watch out, some of the places down that part of town are supposed to be pretty shite. Definitely check Yelp and/or TripAdvisor reviews before you book. SF has way more options hotel of all sorts (funky, fancy, cheap, expensive, kitschy, slick, etc.).