Lodging

The Red Victorian Bed, Breakfast and Art on Haight St.

Janis and Jerry may be long gone, but the Summer of Love is still alive at the Red Victorian Inn in the Haight-Ashbury district of San Francisco.

Eighteen affordable, thematic guest rooms with names like the Flower Child Room, the Peacock Suite and the Redwood Forest Room are vibrant, colorful and individually decorated. The Sunshine room extends the solar motif from the headboard to the walls to the sink basin. Six of the rooms have private baths and five shared bathrooms accommodate the others, though all rooms have their own sink. Here’s the best part — rates range from $75-$229.

The Peace Cafe, a gift shop and art gallery make up the ground floor level. Breakfast is included and world conversation is encouraged at this friendly, funky hotel that was build in 1904 but is associated more with 60’s-era values than those of the Victorian period.

The upper Haight neighborhood is renowned for great retail — trendy boutiques, shoe stores, vintage clothing shops and Amoeba, the legendary independent music store that occupies 24,000 square feet in a former bowling alley and sells new and used music on vinyl and CD.

Vintage shop on the Haight.

Good, inexpensive food abounds here. Besides New York-style thin crust pizza and plump, juicy burritos, the span of Haight Street from Masonic to Shrader includes a wine bar, a brew pub and a Persian cocktail lounge. Cha Cha Cha offers a lively ambiance, delicious Caribbean fare and their signature sangria. At Kan Zaman, diners sit on cushions the floor while eating Mediterranean food and watching belly dancers. Or for those craving Asian flavors, the Citrus Club noodle bar is the way to go.

Golden Gate Park is mere blocks away with miles of open spaces, hiking and biking trails, three museums, botanical gardens and a fabulous children’s playground with vintage carousel.