I stayed in this hotel while attending a conference at the U of California. I must say that given the challenges of being in Berkeley, they do a great job. The hotel is right next to the main street and the Bart station and one block away from UC, so you cannot beat the location. Do keep in mind though that this location means noise: an active student community, a bunch of random Hare Krishnas, homeless people roaming around, lots of party (one of my nights there was a football game). So if you truly need quiet, stay somewhere else in the Bay Area and take the Bart. It also means there will be a lot of noisy guests and a lots of jerks acting up in the bar and the rooms (I suffered a few of those during my stay). The lobby is always packed, and definitely not for the use of guests. It rather seems to be completely subservient to the bar, which looks like a place a lot of people like to frequent every day. If you can put up with this (which is not at all the fault of the hotel) I do not think you can do better.
The accomodatiosn were the best. I stayed in a luxury king room and it was wonderful, lots of space, comfortable bed. The shower is small (and I am a tall and probably bigger guy than most people in Berkeley) but I fit just fine. Internet is free, speedy and very reliable, which is great news. The cable package is too limited, and it could be upgraded further, but most hotels of this star level tend to have limited packages. The room is equipped with a Keurig and coffee (tea would have been nice, but I bought some pods and it was OK). The toiletries are very Berkeley (labeled as to how you are saving the environment by using them, which is adorable or annoying depending on the person) but there is a Walgreen's right across the street if you want your regular, chemical-laden stuff.
Some friends stayed in the business rooms and I found them a tad too crammed, the upgrade to luxury is worth the money.
The desk staff was generally good, with one exception. During my arrival it was very courteous, but the departure day the person in the front desk was a little disinterested in me or the other guests. More importantly, the printers for boarding passes were not working and the guy did not even bother when he saw I was struggling with it. The only other complaint (and this is why I gave a four rather than a five in the rating) is that every single time I came up and down the stairs I found dirty dishes from room service. I reported it the first time (and they were promptly removed) but I just desisted afterwards.
Having said this, the restaurant and the bar in the hotel are stellar. We had food in the restaurant and it was Americana food served with local ingredients. Nothing too creative, but everything delicious. The bar serves mean cocktails. A friend of mine and I ran a 90 dollar tab with the cocktails and it was worth every penny. They make excellent pisco sours and I tell you it's packed with good reason.
So all-in-all, if you have to stay in Berkeley, this is the absolute best hotel: fun, quirky, centrally located, good services, great rooms. But Berkeley is Berkeley. Don't blame the hotel for it.

Fanatstic location in Berkley, right next to the BART, great staff/service and contemporary decor. Only reason I ddn't rate it excellent,was due to some in-room design deficiencies: the hand basin area made it impossible to shave/wash your face without either leaning your head down over the basin or alternatively, standing up and getting water all over the floor. SImilarly the internal interconnecting door (to the adjoining room) had too much of a gap at the bottom, meaning I could hear everything from the next room. Despite this, I would recommend the hotel overall.

We were bowled over by this hotel! Location was in the center of town but rooms were quiet. Only a few steps from the Bart station, so it's easy to get between San Francisco and Berkeley. Fun, upbeat, boutique interior and rooms. Staff was very helpful...especially a gentleman named Kingsley.

I booked 4 nights at the Hotel Shattuck Plaza over my wedding weekend. (Quite a number of our wedding guests also stayed over the weekend.) We booked a suite so that we'd have the extra room for getting ready and so our friends and family could visit. Before I go into the actual stay, I just want to say that this hotel wowed me when I went for a visit months earlier. I was very impressed on my visit (and again when we stayed) by the reception staff. AMAZINGLY attentive. As I was crossing the street to the entrance, they opened the door and greeted me before I'd even made it to the sidewalk. My experience with the rest of the reception staff was equally impressive. Friendly, attentive and on it.

I was then met by the sales woman who was just fantastic to work with...responsive to emails, knowledgeable about the policies and services of the hotel, and just a joy to work with. No pressure, just information. One small ding prior to our actual stay was with reservations. More than one guest seemed to have difficulty booking their room. I guess it depended on which agent you got on the phone....some folks had no troubles at all.

The actual stay at the hotel was mostly great. Again, the same friendly, quality service. Our room was nice and bright and beautifully appointed. (a bit narrow tho) Not much of a view (I think we were on 4) but we also didn't find it to be horrendously loud, given that we looked out over Shattuck. There was only one night we were serenaded by some hippies, but it's Berkeley, not New York, so folks go to be relatively early. The bed was super comfortable and everything was very attractive. Given that it was our wedding and we'd brought many guests to the hotel, some welcome flowers or prosecco would have been a nice touch.

Other good elements, which have probably already been pointed out, is how conveniently located to BART the hotel is. Also, there is a parking lot right across the street if you're worried about getting ticketed with street parking. Also tons of good places walking distance....BETA LOUNGE. The hotel was also very accommodating to our after celebratory drinking at the bar.

Okay, now for some of the less successful elements. I'll start with the minor things first. We had called ahead to determine that they had a steamer. They did but when we ordered it (and it arrived in timely manner) it leaked. We had to put it in the bathroom. They did come clean it up but there was no alternative. I sadly had to iron my wedding dress. Also, we got many flowers but there did not seem to be vases for us to use. We had to put them in the second toilet. (yup, second toilet!) And when the cleaning crew came they still didn't bring us a vase, and left the flowers in the toilet.

But the biggest, and really only, problem of our stay was the restaurant Five. (It's my understanding that Five is not operated by the hotel, but pleeeze) Where to start? Their hours. Bizarre. Breakfast ends at 10:30 and lunch starts at 11:30. But checkout is at 12. So right when you want to sit...the restaurant is closed. Secondly, we had two evenings where our wedding party wanted to socialize in the bar. But the set-up is really awkward for that. Most of us are from New York and know our way around a restaurant or two, and it was just a lack of class and business acumen not to set something up for us where we could drink and eat and spend more money and tip waiters. Instead, we huddled around a bar and ordered pizza. Lame. Additionally, when some of us wanted to sit for an actual meal, we had the distinct feeling that they didn't want us to sit. This restaurant was ENTIRELY EMPTY the whole weekend we were there, so it wasn't that they couldn't accommodate us. But it took sooooo long for them to "put something together" for us, I pulled the plug and went to bed hungry. Same sort of thing happened on the day we checked out. A small group was having tea, coffee, breakfast but they had to close out our check and cut-off orders because they had to close at 10:30. Weird. I felt bad for our waiter, and it had nothing to do with him....just stupid restaurant policy.

But overall, a very good stay. Great staff, attractive premises, well located.