I live in San Francisco and have been attending HSB since 2012. The fest takes place in Golden Gate Park and the easiest access to the fest is on the north side (around 25th Ave at Fulton St) in the Richmond District. The Richmond District doesn’t have a lot of hotels but if you’re looking for closest proximity then you would want to focus on that neighborhood.
That said, SF is a relatively small city with tons of Uber/Lyft and driving to/from festival using these modes of transport is not hard at all. In addition, SF has a great bus system so that’s a less expensive and reliable option.
Most of the hotels are concentrated in the Union Square area which is a bit aways from the fest (but still very manageable) and also allow for proximity to nighttime activities (if you have any energy left).
Billy, Thanks so much for the info. I will definitely PM you with questions.
I’m out in SF on business pretty regularly but have unfortunately never been there during the Festival. Still not sure I’m going to be able to pull it off, but it looks absolutely incredible and I’m going to do my best to get there.