SF Armory
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Neighbourhood: Mission District
From burritos to bicyclists, the Mission is the foundation for all things hip in the city. Cultural attractions, an independent arts community, sumptuous street murals and a high density of bars and cafes make this neighbourhood a magnet for young people. While terrific inexpensive food is abundant, its top-of-the-line restaurants now compete with the city’s best for fashionable diners. Indulge as the locals do by heading to Mission Dolores Park, buy some ice cream, and savor one of the most diverse neighbourhoods in the country.
How to get there
- 16th St Mission • 5 min walk
- Church St • 10 min walk
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4.0
41 reviews
Excellent
21
Very good
8
Average
5
Poor
3
Terrible
4
808ha'aheo
80 contributions
Jun 2014 • Couples
We signed up for the tour expecting something a little more risqué I suppose. The size of the building was impressive, as well as the set up, but the tour guide seemed to just go through the motions, and seemed a bit bored.
I think the tour would have been more entertaining with the right guide, but I guess we'll never know. We will probably not return.
I think the tour would have been more entertaining with the right guide, but I guess we'll never know. We will probably not return.
Written 24 June 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Eduardo051
Bogota, Colombia105 contributions
May 2014 • Solo
Maybe a once in life experience for anyone? This porn studio tour is a fun thing to learn about sex business, nothing else. No creepy people, only ordinary tourists, just like you or me.
If porn business or acting is your fantasy, this visit will make you understand this industry as it really is: money making, labor laws, hard work, and prearrenged paperwork for workers. Everything is very "aseptic". You will not see a single person "performing", for that you had better go somewhere else.
But if you want to learn about a decent and honest view about this industry, this is a fun adult thing to do at least once in life.
If porn business or acting is your fantasy, this visit will make you understand this industry as it really is: money making, labor laws, hard work, and prearrenged paperwork for workers. Everything is very "aseptic". You will not see a single person "performing", for that you had better go somewhere else.
But if you want to learn about a decent and honest view about this industry, this is a fun adult thing to do at least once in life.
Written 17 May 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
dcarniello
Chicago, IL59 contributions
Oct 2016 • Friends
What an awesome tour. Who would have thought that you'd get a history lesson along with a porn tour? If you're offended by anything sexual, don't go. However, the tour included quite a bit of the history of the armory itself too. The tour guide was very knowledgeable. An overall great tour that I'd definitely recommend to others.
Written 2 November 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
TraversingMe
7 contributions
Sept 2016 • Solo
Whatever has happened to The Armory experience this year? Let us hope someone reads and takes note so that 2017 can be better.
As it stands, another poor review here, again over terrible customer service.
While The Armory sure delivered in some aspects, I did not foresee leaving it in tears.
An interesting tour? Certainly something different. Customer experience? Horrendous.
Things got off to a good enough start, with an excellent introduction from our guide. She made very sure everyone was aware where they were and what it was they were about to tour momentarily.
This changed soon enough.
On one set, I was deep in my thoughts and did not hear her instruction to move on. There was one room left there when I cottoned on, and so I peered in over the guide's shoulder as she was closing the door (I did not attempt to go in and did move on). She said "don't do that".
I didn't think that I had done anything all that much but nevertheless at the next opportune moment approached the guide to apologize for any inconvenience.
Imagine my shock when, out of the blue, she turned round to me and exclaimed, in front of other attendees, how rude I was "to have done that". I was gobsmacked but it did not end there.
Somewhat shaken, I continued the tour remembering why I was here and trying hard to hold on to some enjoyment of it.
The tour continued for a while without further incident, though I was super conscious to make good progress.
In the props storage, though, I let others pass first in a tight spot and ended up at the back again, but immediately on the heels of the couple in front of me and very much with the group. The guide looked at me when existing the room and exclaimed "you want to stop being at the back"! The couple in front - close enough to be caught up in her address - looked at her confused and got "not you, her!" It was my turn to look confused... then I got told that once again and I "will be leaving the tour!"
I was again gobsmacked - twice as much in fact as I did not do anything at all to warrant the treatment. The couple, equally taken aback, asked what I had done... All I could say was "you saw... I was with you at the back". I was incredulous, as were others who witnessed the incident.
I truly considered turning on my heel and walking myself straight out.
What stopped me was disbelief that this had actually happened and I found myself processing it through the rest of the tour.
After it finished, I ended up crying in The Armory's restrooms with the shock of the experience.
As it stands, another poor review here, again over terrible customer service.
While The Armory sure delivered in some aspects, I did not foresee leaving it in tears.
An interesting tour? Certainly something different. Customer experience? Horrendous.
Things got off to a good enough start, with an excellent introduction from our guide. She made very sure everyone was aware where they were and what it was they were about to tour momentarily.
This changed soon enough.
On one set, I was deep in my thoughts and did not hear her instruction to move on. There was one room left there when I cottoned on, and so I peered in over the guide's shoulder as she was closing the door (I did not attempt to go in and did move on). She said "don't do that".
I didn't think that I had done anything all that much but nevertheless at the next opportune moment approached the guide to apologize for any inconvenience.
Imagine my shock when, out of the blue, she turned round to me and exclaimed, in front of other attendees, how rude I was "to have done that". I was gobsmacked but it did not end there.
Somewhat shaken, I continued the tour remembering why I was here and trying hard to hold on to some enjoyment of it.
The tour continued for a while without further incident, though I was super conscious to make good progress.
In the props storage, though, I let others pass first in a tight spot and ended up at the back again, but immediately on the heels of the couple in front of me and very much with the group. The guide looked at me when existing the room and exclaimed "you want to stop being at the back"! The couple in front - close enough to be caught up in her address - looked at her confused and got "not you, her!" It was my turn to look confused... then I got told that once again and I "will be leaving the tour!"
I was again gobsmacked - twice as much in fact as I did not do anything at all to warrant the treatment. The couple, equally taken aback, asked what I had done... All I could say was "you saw... I was with you at the back". I was incredulous, as were others who witnessed the incident.
I truly considered turning on my heel and walking myself straight out.
What stopped me was disbelief that this had actually happened and I found myself processing it through the rest of the tour.
After it finished, I ended up crying in The Armory's restrooms with the shock of the experience.
Written 31 December 2016
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Andrew F
San Francisco, California, United States12 contributions
Nov 2014 • Friends
The best part of the whole experience was the size of that clown, and the butcher who sprayed me silly. When he turned around and walked away my jaw dropped at what he had showed me. Truly a unique and terrifyingly sexually stimulating activity to do with your straight friends you want to see naked, your boyfriend, or your daddy.
Written 6 November 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Mitch R
Southampton, NY180 contributions
May 2014 • Solo
This is a very fun experience. Even though it is a business that makes porn, there is nothing untoward about it. There isn't even a glipse of a sex act or a scantily clad person. Rather, this is a behind the scenes look into how this industry runs. Think of the whole thing as the back lot at MGM in the 20s, only they're making porn. The building is truly fantastic. It is one of the stars of the show. The tours draw a remarkable cross section of the population. This is an only in San Francisco moment that shouldn't be missed.
Written 22 May 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
enjay0
Avon, OH60 contributions
Feb 2014 • Friends
You're not really getting a tour of an armory or a historic building. You're getting a propagandistic look at the online porn industry as it tries to make itself more sympathetic and accessible to the general "mainstream" public by aligning itself with a historic building in San Francisco. Our guide, Dean, was very complimentary toward the owner and founder of kink.com, the porn site and offshoots that now own the building and use it for its sets, tech, and offices. Trust me, there is enough erotic art to sustain anyone looking for some titillation, but the rest of the tour is boring and a little pointless other than a revenue stream for kink.com. If anything can make pornography boring, this tour is it. I feel sad that this building is not being restored because, other than the drill area floor, nothing else has really been done to make this building recapture the essence of its heyday, architecturally speaking.
Written 19 February 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Cherry_Wonderdog
New England4,745 contributions
May 2018 • Business
Nice open venue for events like my company’s concert of Weezer following Red Hat Summit 2018. It was loud, but that’s more a function of the number of people and the setting on the amplifiers. What particularly disturbed me, however, was the sticky wooden floors. I’m sure some of the thousands of attendees had spilled their drinks through the course of the evening, but these floors were stickier than ever. At times, I felt like a mouse in a glue trap. Come on, San Francisco Armory – do something about this problem!
Written 12 May 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
S M
Farragut, TN216 contributions
Mar 2017 • Couples
After getting off of the BART train we were greeted by two blocks of homeless people and urine all over the streets in order to get to the Armory facility. We arrived 10 minutes early and the tour guide Quin very rudely told us we had to leave and come back though there was space to wait safely inside. Where were we to go when the place is surrounded by trash and stinky homeless bums? Though the building was interesting, Quin was rude to other people during the tour. At the end of the tour, she had the audacity to ask for tips.
Kink needs to learn how to respect its fans and patrons.
Kink needs to learn how to respect its fans and patrons.
Written 11 March 2017
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
Christopher P
Tupelo, MS255 contributions
First, you're off put by the security presence. They treat this place like its the Fort Knox of Adult film, where everyone can't wait to break in and steal their share, or something. Skateboarders outside are not interested in entering. Once inside, You see several sets, which is interesting. Our group had abt 30 people, and you just feel rushed. It's a very 'give us your money and get out', type of vibe. Tour ended and they invited us to wait outside on the street until their bar across the street opened in 30 min - that's the kind of attitude I'm talking about here. Parts of the tour I loved: 1) the building itself is astounding. Just an amazing, imposing structure with fascinating history. 2) the creek running through the basement 3) drill field/court. It's worth $25
Written 13 November 2014
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews as part of our industry-leading trust & safety standards. Read our transparency report to learn more.
You book it online, instructions are in the voucher
Written 3 August 2017
Not sure how I can help answer this question. I do know we could take photos, but you'd need to contact the owners. I don't live there.
Written 1 January 2017
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