We are frequent visitors to SF, staying in neighborhoods all over the city as we consider where we might retire. We had an exceptionally wonderful visit to the Lower Haight and stay in this wonderful condo. We enjoyed the many restaurant and dining options, which range from a sausage place where you go to the bar next door to eat and order beer, so one of the City's top ramen restaurants where the lines are long by 6 PM (we arrived at 5:30 and were seated immediately). The patio/garden was truly an oasis for us. We sat outside for a couple of hours the night we arrived enjoying a bottle of wine and the babbling water sound from the small fountain buried inside an explosion of flowering plants. Friends came over our second day in the condo and we spent a couple of hours outside talking before dinner and another couple of hours after dinner.

When the weather turned cold for a couple of days, the upper floor living area was a nice, intimate spot for sharing glasses of wine with friends -- we hosted friends 4 times during our 7 day stay -- in cozy atmosphere full of interesting art objects and personal touches provided by our hosts.

One of the best aspects of the location is the proximity to all the major Metro lines. They all pass within two blocks of the condo, which means it is possible to get on the Metro and be to most areas of town in 10-15 minutes, far faster than driving and parking. I highly recommend the Muni phone app, which allows you to buy and use tickets on your phone. The Muni fares are for 90 minutes, which we generally found sufficient to get to your destination and back if that was our plan. For instance, we went to the Saturday farmer's market at the Ferry building, arriving in 10 minutes, spending an hour walking around and noshing a bit, and were still able to catch the Metro back to the neighborhood on the original fare. Lyft and Uber cars are everywhere in this area, sometimes across the street at the coffee shop, and the fares are very inexpensive because the location is right in the middle of everywhere you are likely to want to go.

On this trip we also discovered SF is a beach town. On all our visits, we never really bothered with the beach, but the Judah line is a short ride to a beach community that rivals the funkiness of a Santa Cruz with Golden Gate Park on your flank. We especially enjoyed the Pacific Coast Trail hike to the Golden Gate Bridge.

The condo is "compact and efficient." Perfect for this couple.