Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area, 1st Edition [Paperback]

Andrew Collins (Author)

Book Description

Series: Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area | Publication Date: April 29, 1997

Personable and chatty, informative and candid, this guide with an attitude gives the complete lowdown on gay and lesbian life in San Francisco, along with extensive coverage of the greater Bay Area, from San jose, Santa Cruz and monterey to the Wine Country and the Russian River resort area. With tips on the hippest guest houses, the hottest bars, the most romantic restaurants, the gayest neighborhoods, and all the major attrations, Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area is a one-stop introduction to the best of the region.


Praise for the first edition of Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA

"Savvy and Stylish." - Travel & Leisure


"A watershed in guidebook publishing." - New York Times syndicate


"Collins quickly taps into the pulse of each destination." - Chicago Tribune


"Quite simply, if it's out there, it's in here." - Harry Taylor, Publisher, Out magazine


Other books in Fodor's Gay Guide series:

Fodor's Gay Guide to The USA (2nd ed.)

Fodor's Gay Guide to Los Angeles

Fodor's Gay Guide to New York City

Fodor's Gay Guide to The Pacific Northwest

Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco

Fodor's Gay Guide to South Florida

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

Personable and chatty, informative and candid, this guide with an attitude gives the complete lowdown on gay and lesbian life in San Francisco, along with extensive coverage of the greater Bay Area, from San jose, Santa Cruz and monterey to the Wine Country and the Russian River resort area. With tips on the hippest guest houses, the hottest bars, the most romantic restaurants, the gayest neighborhoods, and all the major attrations, Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area is a one-stop introduction to the best of the region.


Praise for the first edition of Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA

"Savvy and Stylish." - Travel & Leisure


"A watershed in guidebook publishing." - New York Times syndicate


"Collins quickly taps into the pulse of each destination." - Chicago Tribune


"Quite simply, if it's out there, it's in here." - Harry Taylor, Publisher, Out magazine


Other books in Fodor's Gay Guide series:

Fodor's Gay Guide to The USA (2nd ed.)

Fodor's Gay Guide to Los Angeles

Fodor's Gay Guide to New York City

Fodor's Gay Guide to The Pacific Northwest

Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco

Fodor's Gay Guide to South Florida

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Author's Note

Being gay or lesbian influences our choice of accommodations, nightlife, dining, shopping, and perhaps even sightseeing. This book will enable you to plan your
trip confidently. On the following pages I've tried to provide ideas for every segment of our community, giving you the skinny on everything from bars and clubs to gay beaches, from where to find a comprehensive feminist bookstore in Oakland to the
best Thai food in the Castro. You'll also find a wide selection of accommodations, from exclusively lesbian or gay resorts to mainstream hotels.


About Me

I'm a gay male in my late 20s. I grew up in  Connecticut, graduated from Wesleyan University, have lived briefly in London and Atlanta, and currently split my time between a small house in New Hampshire's Monadnock mountains and an apartment in New York City's East Village.
How I Researched This Book


I made several trips to San Francisco and the Bay Area over the past few years; most recently, I spent three months driving up and down the West Coast, crashing on friend's sofas and testing out dozens of hotels and guest houses.  At every stop, I interviewed gays and lesbians -- newspaper editors, activists, barflies, and people on the street -- to get the latest scoop.


This is an opinionated book. I don't hesitate to say what I think -- I'm prone to describe certain neighborhoods as characterless, resorts as touristy or uppity, restaurants as dumpy or over-the-top. My intention is always to relate what I've observed and what I've heard locals say. For the most part I travel without announcing myself -- the majority of the businesses in this book had no idea I was writing about
them when I visited. In the end, Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area is a service not to hotels and guest houses, or to gay bars and restaurants, or to anybody in the travel industry. It is a resource for you, the traveler.

Product Details

• Paperback: 166 pages
• Publisher: Fodor's; 1 edition (April 29, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679033777
• ISBN-13: 978-0679033776
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,168,753 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Andrew Collins is ageist, September 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area, 1st Edition (Paperback)

"Fodor's Gay Guide to the USA," written by Andrew Collins, was superb, comprehensive, and sensitively written, so when the company decided to break out some of the individual chapters into separate city guides with additional material, there was a lot of reason to be hopeful. But consider: at p. 50 of "Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco," Collins says that that many of SF's gay bars cater "mostly to old drunks." He then describes trying to meet someone at one of these bars: "You give him a quick tap on the shoulder, just to see if anybody is in there. And crash! He falls off his bar stool." Later Collins says that there's a bar stool in SF with your name on it, and "all you have to do is try not to fall off it."

It's incredible to encounter such blatant ageism. Having just spent time in SF, I can report that one of the city's most refreshing aspects is the diversity of both age and body type in its gay population, a diversity which I've never encountered in any other American city. It's possible to feel comfortable in the Castro and other neighborhoods without being a 22-year-old man with a gym body. Collins may not perceive that as being a strength.

Someone should sit Collins down, show him "The Times of Harvey Milk," and make him read "The Mayor of Castro Street." Then he may learn that those "old drunks" in some cases gave up their lives so that he'd have a bubble of tolerance to play in.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Usefull, October 15, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area, 1st Edition (Paperback)

I found this book usefull for my stay in SF.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good travel guide - Wash DC should get off PC bandwagon, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fodor's Gay Guide to San Francisco and the Bay Area, 1st Edition (Paperback)

Overall Collins' travel guides are good for quick lookups of gay/gay friendly spots. And he gives HIS OWN OPINION on these places - whether describing them as "seedy", or "uneven", or "mostly old drunks", these are his opinions and his takes on the places he's reviewed. The reader from DC needs to get off the gay PC bandwagon and realize, as an author, Collins books are not objective, and he plainly states so in the introduction. Don't like his take on a place? Then hop on the barstool with your name on it, pal.