We were in Berkeley for a week to drop our son to university and had lots of conflicting advice about where to stay. I am really glad we picked Shattuck Plaza because it was perfect. The hotel is small but the newly renovated rooms were very nice and the staff was super-friendly.

What really gives this hotel its edge is the location. You can walk everywhere - from the campus to the many (excellent) little restaurants on and around Shattuck Avenue. In fact, avoid the acclaimed but over-priced restaurant called 'Five' in the lobby and just venture out and try a new place everyday. The BART station is across the road so you are just 30 minutes and 8 dollars away from San Francisco.

We stayed one night while visiting the university campus. The hotel is amazing. Loved the decor and the attention to detail in the design. The room was a little snug but had every amenity you could desire in an upscale boutique hotel. The access to your floor was controlled by key card so we felt safe and secure. The front desk personnel were very helpful and attentive. We felt very welcomed. Parking is less than a half a block away in a non hotel controlled parking garage. Wish we could have stayed longer.

We stayed here two nights for a family wedding in Piedmont. This seemed a better spot than the Claremont Hotel, as we wanted to walk around Berkeley and have a trip into the City for dim sum the morning of the wedding.

The hotel has obviously been done over recently as the lobby and bar are sparkling. The room was a bit small, but perfectly functional. The biggest drawback was that our windows looked straight into a mass of HVAC equipment. It was cool that weekend, so it wasn't noisy, but I imagine it could have been, That was room 250, IIRC.

There was a shiny new Keurig in the room, but getting supplies replenished was a nuisance. The maid service doesn't seem to have refills, so both days we had to call the desk to get new pods. This seems like a pretty easy detail to take care of, but I've noticed other reviewers with the same complaint.

The location is great for a wander through the Cal campus and the surrounding business areas. The BART station across the street made our dim sum excursion extra easy, too.

Parking was a bit of a nuisance at first, as the garage across the street has no formal deal with the Shattuck. Street parking is free all day Sunday and before 9 AM weekdays, though. We only paid for our first few hours in the garage and were able to find street spots close by. Weekdays are probably a bigger hassle.

I would stay here again, I would just ask to face Shattuck rather than machinery.

I recently spent a weekend in the area sailing, and found that Hotel Shattuck was very nice compared to the whole of Berkeley. The rooms were very clean, and had plenty of room. There were three of us staying and so we needed to get a pull-out bed in our room as well. The first room we were given was way to small, and so we asked them and they helped us to a larger room and were so helpfull about it. The only thing I would say is that parking was very expensive. They have you park at a parking garage across from the hotel and don't provide anywhere for their guests.