It's not particularly central, nor particularly good value, but the Grove Inn is light, airy, and clean. The breakfast exists in name only - you'll get coffee and a bread product. Perhaps some refrigerated fruit. The owner is friendly, but does not live permanently at the Inn. If you are arriving late (after 10) or checking out early (before 7), you'll need to make arrangements in advance. The Inn is at least fifteen minutes' walk from the parts of San Francisco a tourist might want to explore, and some of the surrounding areas are a little dodgy, but there are regular bus lines near by, and a fantastic Persian-owned coffee shop round the corner.

If you are thinking about staying at the Grove Street Inn, you should first know about the front door issue before you decide to book. The front door to the inn does not use a key; instead, you punch a code into a number pad before turning the door knob. Punching in the code is easy; turning the door knob is not. Upon my arrival, Mr. Zimmerman took me outside, showed me the code and told me to try opening the door myself. Well, I punched in the code correctly, then turned the door knob, but to no avail. When I failed the second, third, and fourth time, he annoyingly declared, "you still are not doing it correctly," to which I had to reply that I had been opening doors my whole life and so far had managed such a difficult tasks correctly, and that I also held an advanced degree, but clearly, his door knob was beyond me. It is an EXTREMELY tempermental door knob that - as far as I could tell - requires you to turn it and push in at a precise and perfect motion, or else it will not unlock. As I continued through several more attempts, I commented that perhaps he needed to get a new lock because it clearly was a problem for his guests, and to this he insisted that I "was one of the very few guests who couldn't open the door." Suspicious of this response, I nevertheless gave up trying to open the front door, and told him he was simply going to have to let me in when I came back to the inn. To this, he (again) annoyingly commented that as long as I came back before 10pm, someone would be there to let me in; otherwise, I was on my own. Well, the next afternoon, when I was standing outside, trying unsuccsessfully to open the front door, three other guests were outside waiting for a taxi, and I asked one of them if they too had trouble with the door. They told me that they did indeed have trouble, and that the evening previosly, they had stood outside for "almost fifteen minutes", trying to open the door, because it was around midnight and no-one was there to let them in. Of course, this response did not surprise me, but it DID show that Mr. Zimmerman was most definitely less than truthfull about the difficulty of the lock for the rest of his guests. Furthermore, on my last day there, I came back with a friend who also tried to open the door, but he also couldn't do it. The reason I bring this up is because I find it rather insulting that, first, I paid money to stay at an inn that essentially prevented me from freely coming and going as I chose; secondly, when confronting the owner about the difficulty of the lock, I was blatantly lied to; and third, even if SOME of the guests can open the door, the fact is that the money of ALL the guests is equally as good, and if guests are having trouble opening the door, then the door should be fixed.

Asside from the front door, the inn itself is quite clean and comfortable. It's just a shame that its proprietor is dishonest and unhelpful to all of his guests.

I agree with the first reviewer on all accounts. For a moderately-priced B&B, this one is a real find. It's not fancy, but the rooms are comfortable, clean and very adequate. Make sure you bring your own shampoo and conditioner, as only soap is provided. It is on a quiet residential street and any point of interest is very easy to get to with public transportation. We had a problem parking one night when we came home quite late on a weekend, but usually it is okay, and you are probably better off leaving your car there and taking the bus anyway. Breakfast is also simple, but adequate, and their coffee is very good. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who is looking for a budget-priced B&B in SF.

Found this little Bed and Breakfast in my travel guidebook, and whilst there seemed others that sounded nearer to the wharf area, we chose it because the parking was cheap , the write-up was good, and the hotelier, Mr Zimmerman, was so helpful when I called to discuss reservations.

We were more pleasantly surprised on arrival, as the rooms were tastely done, the hotel quiet, Mr Zimmerman a perfect and personable host, and the inn was only a bus ride away from the areas we wanted to see.

Would have liked a larger breakfast but hey, what do you expect for a reasonably-priced city B&B.