The hotel is on the Univ. of California's greater campus, and just a block from the traditional central campus. The room that my wife and I shared (as well as the separate room our adult son stayed in) was claustrophobic (bath room included). Temperature was fine in the rooms. Our bed was fine. Noise was not a problem when we were there. The desk workers were hit or miss. Several were as good as you'd expect, while others were duds. If you're interested in internet access, get the details ahead of time. Wi-fi, possibly included, is available, but terminal in the lobby costs extra. However, if, as we were, you're on the 6th floor, you get a free terminal in the sixth floor lounge, and can free access to the lobby computer. They put the charges on your bill, but then if you ask, will take them off (but only if you ask). The 6th floor lounge also includes a wine bar with nibbles in the late afternoon and and a "continental breakfast," which was fairly substantial. The only difficulty was the the lounge room is too small for more than a few to eat breakfast at once.

On the first floor there is a hoppin' bar, Henry's, which we liked a lot. The whole place is decorated and accessorized with Univ. of Cal. stuff. My guess is that if you were a Cal person, you'd love this place -- feel like you were at home. For the non-Cal person, the location is the best thing about it -- assuming you have business on the Cal campus. I'd have given it a "very good", four star rating, if our rooms had not been so small.

The rates for my wife and myself in a 6th floor "executive" room, with two beds, were $180.42 per night for Thurs. and Sun., and $234.22 per night for Fri. and Sat. (tax and fees included).

Compared to Bancroft hotel, this is a refreshing experience. The staff is very polite and cooperative. The room and bathroom are of reasonable size (for two people). Bed is comfortable. Comfortable working table with proper light and a lot of electric sockets. We had a room on the fifth floor but, still, the noise from the street and some storage place around was disturbing. No air condition (so the windows can not be closed to block street noise). Parking at extra price. Breakfast not included. There was some issue with water pressure which we simply did not have enough time to resolve.

As other reviewers have mentioned, the location of this hotel is fantastic - a block from campus, and half a mile or so to Shattuck with all its restaurants, shops, and less than a mile to the downtown Berkeley BART station. Our second floor room was quite small and the sink was in the room, rather than in the bathroom. The queen bed was quite comfortable and the room was very clean. We faced south, and so the room stayed very warm despite running the ceiling fan and room fan continuously on high. The building is quite old, and the place has a sort of seamy charm to it. Tje staff were all very friendly. The front desk staff made a number of good recommdendations for places to eat. We would certainly consider staying her again for a night or two, but would ask not to be put into a south facing room.

We stayed one night at this hotel while in town for a performance at Zellerbach Hall. Location was ideal, only about 4 blocks from the hall and an easy walk. We booked two rooms and one of them was quite warm, even with the room fan on in October, while the other one was fine. There's no air conditioning in the rooms, just the fan, which seemed to work well in one room but no the other. There's very little insulation to block out the noise from other rooms - went to sleep listening to someone else's TV set, which was annoying. But the rooms were clean (except one stained towel that was left as a clean one for us) and nicely appointed. The hotel has a bit of a "student" theme being in Berkeley, with a sock cut-out for the "privacy please" sign on the door; a shower curtain that had dictionary definitions on it; and a room key in the form of a student ID card. Staff responded promptly and were helpful at the front desk, although they sent us on a pointless walkabout on a street with no stores at all which was supposed to be "antique row". Very wierd! The worst part was breakfast in the hotel dining room - we ordered one egg and toast, and were brought (and charged for) the bigger breakfast plate with eggs, bacon and toast. Moreover, the eggs were clearly powdered eggs, not fresh eggs, which was really awful. I would stay here again for a night - just avoid the eggs for breakfast!!