You don’t have to tell anyone that parking in San Francisco is terrible. There are many examples of just how terrible itis. But the good news is that a new company, Luxe Valet, is working on making it a lot better. In fact, they may even make you love parking. This free app is an entirely new way to park by taking the epic hassle out of the process. Heads up: Luxe is only available on iOS for the time being, but an Android app is in the works.
Luxe Valet is an on-demand parking service that allows you to request a professional valet to meet you where you’re going in your car with a push of a button on your smartphone. Simply enter in your destination before you leave and your Luxe Valet will meet you at your destination right as you roll up! They then park your car in one of the secure San Francisco lots that they have partnered with and will drive it back to you whenever and wherever you request it.
Luxe offers this amazing service for a maximum of $15 per day or $5 an hour and they don’t round up to the next hour. You’ll never spend more than $15 a day on this service, which is probably less than you’d spend buying apology flowers after a we’ve-been-looking-for-parking-forever-let’s-take-it-out-on-each-other fight.
The relationship-saving valets are pre-screened and trained to park your car in one of Luxe’s secure lots, never on the street. Luxe’s valets also go through rigorous background checks and get a crash course in nearly every model of car, so yes, they will be able to safely take care of your stick-shift while you enjoy brunch. Later, when you’re ready to have your car back in your life, just request it 15 minutes before you plan to leave and a valet will bring it to you — and it’s ok if it’s not where you did the first hand off. When does a day in San Francisco take place in just one setting anyway?
Luxe will even get gas for you while you’re out, wash your car, and/or park it back in your own parking space if you’d prefer to have it back at home. Pretty sweet, eh? A lot of people who move to the city find themselves having to give up a car that they love or could really use at times and Luxe makes it so that more people can have their automobiles when it’s convenient and only when it’s convenient.
Making parking better isn’t just about getting you to wherever you’re going faster. Since 30% of traffic congestion in San Francisco is from drivers looking for parking, better parking options make the roads more efficient for everyone. (Woo!) And in case you still have qualms about cost, consider the price of even one parking ticket nowadays and don’t even get us started on the horrors of being towed. It’s also interesting to compare Luxe’s rate of five bucks an hour to city parking meters, which can be as high as $5-7/hour during busy times.
Luxe Valet has been in private beta for a little over six months in San Francisco and has partnered with some very cool restaurants like Alta CA, Stones Throw, and AQ who know a good thing when they see one. Luxe is available in some of the hardest to park areas in San Francisco including SOMA, FiDi, Mission, Marina, and more. The company is growing every day and just announced it’s expanding its service to LA. The service is currently still invite-only in SF, but we know you’re excited to try this out so we hooked The Bold Italic readers up. If you're a first time customer, use the code "BOLDITALIC" now to bypass the waitlist and get $15 towards your first park.