Elbow Room is pretty rad venue. Its small and very intimate. Most of the hotels in the area are weekly resident hotels that are pretty sketchy. The good thing about SF is that it is pretty small and you are able to get around by cab or public transit very easily. I suggest staying at the Opal hotel (
http://www.theopalsf.com/) This is were alot of my friends stay at. Its has very reasonable prices and is kinda in the thick of it. It may not be right next to the Elbow Room but its no to out of the way. Hope this helps