Sami Sunchild's vision led me to decide to stay at the Red Victorian but my experience was not as expected. Thou you can tell the hosts are doing efforts to make it better by investing in new beds, providing free fruit in the morning and Airbnb'ing the building, the experience feels more like a cheap 3-stars hostel than anything else. I would suggest you manage your expectations specially because the reputation of the founder's mission puts very high stakes. I will mention some pros and cons, trying to be as fair as possible and objective and based on my personal experience. I travel extensively and have stayed at hostels from Europe, the USA, Asia and Latin America. With that said, I am grateful with all the RedVic staff but would suggest paying more attention to details that end up adding up to the traveler's experience...
PRO: The history of the neighborhood is quite amazing BUT...
CON: the 1st day my new shampoo and conditioner were stolen from the bathroom. I reached out to the host and no solution was provided besides the comment "other travelers checked out today". I was disappointed at someone stealing my personal belongings in a place that has written "LOVE and RESPECT" messages all over the living room and at a place where you would expect no one to steal from you.
PRO: you can breathe freedom in the space BUT...
CON: apparently this leads to people stealing your belongings and/or not listening to guests requests. My 1st night I was staying with girls in the room. The second night it was all boys with very strong smells. I requested a change of rooms to an all girls room but one of the staff members over reacted with a lot of legalese jargon on how it is illegal to separate rooms based on genders. I get and support gender fluidity (I actually spent that day with trans friends) and I have also stayed at hotels and hostels in SF, so I know this is not illegal. Instead of taking it personally, I suggest the staff listens to requests.
PRO: the place is relatively cheap BUT...
CON: you can find better deals if you are looking at hostels. I recommend the Hostels International network. They have 3 different buildings in SF in very cool neighborhoods as well, breakfasts are free, the space is very clean, vibrant and open-minded + they are centrally located.
CON: somehow the place did not feel VIBRANT at all. I recommend this for travelers with friends but not much happening for solo travelers, thou I connected with one other guest and he shared a similar opinion.
SF is great! Maybe I was not lucky this time at the RedVic. Thank you