Downtown Berkeley Inn

Great rooms, walking distance to everything, super friendly staff and free parking would definitely stay again.

I was pleasantly surprised at the room. Despite the location this place was actually pretty clean and comfortable. We were only about 1 mile from the Greek Amphitheatre so it was a decent walk to and from the show. This place is also pretty centrally located to downtown Berkley so you have access to a lot of bars and restaurants.
The parking lot is ridiculously small though and if you can’t find a spot in there good luck. Luckily we pulled in right when someone was leaving and there was no way we were going to leave until we were leaving for good. I am not sure where one would park if they can’t find a spot in the tiny lot. There are literally maybe 10 spots. If you have a large vehicle… forget about it, you won’t be able to get in or out of here.
The girl at the front desk was very friendly and professional. She helped us out a lot and gave us directions and advice on how to navigate the area.

a great, economical alternative to staying in SF. Easy walking distance to lots of UC Berkeley campus area restaurants and stores. Neighborhood is safe to walk around at night, too.
Great mattresses, overall very clean, and quiet. Staff was very helpful with driving/​BART directions. Had an A/​C problem, but they took care of it asap.
Only problem with the beds was the crazy platform, which stuck out 6 – 8 inches in front of the bed — way too easy to hit the platform with your feet while walking near the bed.
The only reason i didn’t give them 5 stars is parking. They do not have enough spaces for the number of units — so it’s first come/​first served. But there is a good amount of street parking in the area.

Great beds, friendly staff and a great location. Close the the best of what the city of Berkeley has to offer at half the cost of the surrounding hotels. Getting back and forth from San Francisco was a breeze because the hotel is only about 2 blocks from bart. Plan on staying there again when in the area.

This place is amazing. Very rarely do you get a hotel that is clean, quiet, comfy, and has great customer service. First, the bed is absolutely more comfortable than any I’ve ever slept in. Even more comfortable than my own, or other high-​end hotels I’ve stayed in for work or travel. Second, the staff here make you feel wanted and are so attentive it’s almost unbelievable. Lastly, this place is so quiet. I never hear anyone next door, above, below, or outside. Overall, the place is one of the most comforting hotels I’ve stayed in. Best of all, there is so much nearby in walking distance, from UC Berkeley, good restaurants, and cool nightlife downtown. Location is key in the Bay Area and this is smack dab in the middle.
I can’t imagine staying anywhere else in the Bay Area, unless the Sultan of Burma lets me
house sit his mansion with his harem at my beckoning. But wait… does he have a place near there?

Stayed here for three nights. The Downtown Berkeley Inn really is a prime location. I’ve stayed at the Golden Bear Inn for less, but I value the convenient location enough to make up for the difference. And I would say DBI is nicer overall.
Room was clean. Luckily there was none of this frayed towel or stained carpeted business mentioned in the other reviews. Yes, the staff members aren’t all about smiles and small talk, but I found that they were reasonably accommodating. I appreciated that they honored our request for a 12 p.m. checkout. Bed was surprisingly comfortable; I didn’t wake up every morning missing my own bed. The elevator was especially useful at check in and check out. There was always parking available. I do wish there was a refrigerator and microwave to save and reheat the food from all the surrounding good eats. But of course that’s not a deal breaker. And as expected, there was a consistent handful of unhoused people along the block.
It’s not a four star hotel, not really a hotel type place at all. I’ll just say that I am a fairly particular and frugal person, and I would definitely come back.

Stained carpet, dirty room, hair on the toilet seat, mold on the wall. Give this place a PASS! Apparently they have wifi, but I wasn’t given the password (and no one was EVER at the front desk.) The TV in my room was nice and huge, but didn’t work. I wouldn’t stay here again, nor would I recommend it. For the same price you can stay somewhere much nicer, and closer to campus. The only good thing I can say about this dump is that parking is free. And yeah… the carpet it my room was even worse than these pictures!

We stayed for Homecoming/Parent’s weekend at Cal. It’s a small hotel on the west end of campus. The rooms are clean, beds are comfortable. Nothing special but I gave it 4 stars because of the locale and the price. Parking is very limited, and you aren’t guaranteed a spot, so come early if it is a busy weekend. It’s also different in that you reserve on line, and there isn’t someone answering the phones ²⁴⁄₇. We will definitely go back.

My sister and I stayed here for three nights. The only good things about this place are the mattress and the location — those are the only reasons this place gets two stars and not one.
First, the website severely misrepresents this place as an «inn.» It’s more like a motel than a hotel. The doors open out into a courtyard that’s just a parking lot. There’s no lobby, just a little booth in the front where there’s never anyone there. You have to ring the bell for anyone to show up. And when they do show up, it’s always with a big frown like you’re bothering them.
The rooms themselves are dingy. The paint is peeling, there was some sort of stain running down the wall where the air conditioner was hanging. It looks like it had been there for a long time. Very odd assortment of amenities — tall thin glasses instead of the usual glass tumblers, for example.
The worst part was the ants. My sister noticed a couple roaming around the first evening. Then we were at the Ferry Building and my sister purchased a box of macaroons to give as a gift. We go back to the hotel, go to bed. Next morning, I look at the box sitting on the dresser and see a stray ant wandering around on it. To our horror, we open the box and it’s infested. So I bring the box to the little booth and ring the bell. I show the lady at the desk the box. She gives me a confused look like it’s strange that I would be upset about the presence of vermin in a room where I’m sleeping. «Well, we can have housekeeping spray the room…»
When I checked out, the woman who I presume to be the owner and I had some words about the ants. Her reasoning is that our box of macaroons was what brought the ants. Because they could smell it from the street right? Like there were never any ants to begin with, but they followed us up the stairs? I replied, «If that’s the case, then why isn’t my apartment crawling with ants? You have a vermin problem.» «It’s different, food is sealed in a home.» Really? As if every single food item in everyone’s home is sealed so that no ants would ever show up. Just flabbergasted by the deliberate ignorance. All I could say is that they really need to hire an exterminator.

Ugh. Towels are frayed and mine had hole in it. I asked for one without holes and frays, and they gave me one without holes but with long threads hanging. Carpet looks funky and has lots of dark stains; platform bed and dresser are worn and chipped; bathroom door swings open and hits bed so both are scraped; looks like someone took a charcoal pencil to some of the walls; paint peeled off one wall; bathroom is cheap looking (has one of those plastic covers on the shower wall) and the tub is chipped, there is no water pressure; small square fridge is on floor instead of a table, and I had to move it under sink /​vanity so we wouldn’t trip over, but we still have to get on floor to look into it; Fluorescent lighting; The carpet bothers me most so I won’t take off my socks. Ick.

Great place to stay! The location is unbeatable. Just a block or two away from Shattuck, and not far from UC Berkeley, the Greek Theatre, Telegraph and College streets. Super clean rooms and good parking. The lady at the front desk even let us leave the car parked in the lot for the day after we checked out.

August ’14
We stayed for 2 nights (~ $ 130/​night) to show my parents my alma mater (UC Berkeley). This was the second time we stayed here.
One thing we loved the most about this hotel is the location. It’s very close to the bart entrance, bus stop, north east side of Berkeley campus (mostly life science area), and variety of great food.
Room was clean and bed was very comfortable. We did not have problem finding parking at this property. Although, I saw that the parking lot was full at the end of the day. WiFi was decent… though it may be a little bit slow for playing online game. Bathroom was clean, and we had no problem adjusting the water temperature.
One minor inconvenience we had was that the trash can was too small.
Overall, it was a nice stay, and we would love to stay at this hotel again whenever we visit Cal. =D

Location location location! Such great access to the BART and theater and UC Berkeley… Hotel was clean, seemed a little pricey for what it was, internet slow, but the tempurpedic bed was heaven. Try Venus restaurant on Shattuck too. Went to Berkeley Rep Theater and Aurora Theater. All walking distance. Free parking!

Came into Berkeley for business and wanted to be downtown so I could experience the city. This was a perfect location for me; walking distance to downtown and all the food, drinks, etc. So if you are looking for a place to stay that puts you in the heart of the city, this is it.
The room was comfortable. Nothing special. Spacious and clean enough. There was a large television but they have little selection as far as stations. The water pressure is pretty bad so if you like a strong shower, you won’t get it here.
My 2 biggest pet peeves. Their Wi-​Fi DOES NOT work. I came in for business and needed wifi for many reasons. They say they have wifi. They even give you a password for it when you check in and then they pretend it does not work… «Oh, I’m not sure why it’s not working. I’ll restart the router. come down to the office and let’s check the error you’re receiving… etc.» Oh, shut up. You know it doesn’t work and you are telling people it does. Get it fixed knuckleheads.
The other peeve is that there was about a ½ inch gap between my door and the floor and this is a motel style place with the doors going straight outside from the room. Gross.
They redeemed themselves slightly by making sure I had a taxi cab waiting to take me to a meeting. That was really cool and I was thankful.

Try to find a different place to stay if you are able to in this area. We were not at all pleased with the accommidations especially having to pay for 2 nights 427.00. The window in room 304 did not open or close (broken), you have to order a ref. to use, which was o.k. and appreciated it, there is NO ice on the premises, the pillows are lumpy, the tiled bathroom floor is our room was so grungy looking you didn’t want to walk on it. But it was graduation weekend and we made reservations 6 months ahead of time because we could not find another place closer to the campus. It is located on the corner of a very busy street and was sooo noise from traffic outside especially because our broken window faced the street… This place had only a vending machine with drinks in it. I have NEVER, NEVER stayed in a place that didn’t even have ice??? Just letting you know before you stay here what you will get… ROBBED! Oh I fogot… WiFi they have, but doesn’t work in the rooms, least not ours or our friends room…

This place is more like a motel than a hotel and the rooms are simple but clean and decent sized. They have free guest parking (first come first serve) and it’s located within walking distance to restaurants, shops and university ave. There is also several nice spots for breakfast/​brunch close by (no breakfast included). The price ($ 115/​n weekend) is a steal compared to neighboring hotels and the location, free parking and nice staff make this place a good choice if you have come to see Berkley and enjoy the food and sights, but if you are looking for a comfortable «stay in the room and just relax» kind of stay recommend you to look elsewhere.

I stayed here with a
Couple of girlfriends for Willie Nelson. This place was great! It is right off Shattuck, close to university ave as well. The beds were excellent, rooms were very clean. This was also an easy walk home from the Greek. I will stay here again when I visit Berkeley! By far the best location and price I found in Berkeley.

Great location: super-​convenient to BART, the buses on Shattuck and University, and I-​80. Tons of places to eat within a short walk. UC Berkeley. Farmer’s Market. Shopping. And so on…
It IS across from the high school, so it can be noisy. The convenience of the location is worth it for me. The furnishings are on the Spartan side, but the bed is comfortable and the off-​street parking free. At around a hundred bucks a night, by far the best value in downtown Berkeley.

5 stars for the price, availability (rooms still available when all the other places sold out), location (2 – 3 blocks from the BART), modern plumbing (full size sink), and the bed. 3 stars for everything else.
This place is, hands down, the most convenient and reasonably priced place around downtown Berkeley. I also love the mostly modern plumbing. With that said, there are a few odd things about this place.
The room I was in was sparsely furnished with what looked like second-​hand high-​end furniture. There was a super narrow modern-​looking-​but-​not-​at-​all-​functional desk with an Aeron knock-​off that had a huge tear in it. There was also a dresser and a nightstand. That’s it! No table or chairs, or a luggage rack on which I can unpack! My husband had to put all of his stuff on the floor (I took the top of the small dresser; the drawers were really difficult to open so storing my stuff inside didn’t seem feasible).
There was a 40-​ish inch flat screen TV on the wall and a freaking Tempur-​Pedic mattress! Absolutely loved the bed! BUT, the clock on the nightstand didn’t work, the lotion by the sink was half empty (used) when we arrived (and wasn’t replaced until after 3 days), the newly painted room (it still faintly smelled of paint) already had dents and chips in the wall, there were holes in the carpet (cigarette burns?), patches of rust on the bathroom door frame and along the seam between the tub and the wall, and the water pressure was dismal (the room was on the second floor).
Bottom line, the place has a weird mix of great features and odd flaws, but it’s a good value simply based on location!

My boyfriend and I were desperate to find a room in Berkeley from Sunday night — Tuesday morning. We booked on line for $ 160 per night, which I thought was quite expensive but agreed to pay as they advertised that they have temperpedic beds as my back is terrible.
After our long drive from LA we arrived at the hotel which looked a little like a motel 6 but with heavier doors and no windows facing into the main courtyard. On arrival we were told that the price is actually $ 180 per night but we were tired so agreed to pay it. We got our bags and up to the room we went. For some reason we were checked into the disabled access room? The hotel seemed to be empty??? My first impression of the room was that it was trying to be expensive but honestly looked cheap. The wall paint was chipped, box of tissues by the bed… Ohhh…, a coffee maker that looked like it had been timewarped from the 60s and didn’t work, one small sink, horrible disabled bathroom (perfect romantic setting), the internet didn’t work one face cloth between the two of us. You get the picture.
But at least we get a comfy bed. Or so I thought…
I carefully peeled the sheets back to check that they were clean and although they looked washed there was clearly blood stains on them. Gross. But I dare not go down and tell the grumpy lady to change them. And on better inspection discovered that the bed wasn’t a temperpedic but a cheap memory foam knock off.
After climbing into bed we were woken at 3am by street cleaners… It sounded like the end of the world was coming.
I’m happy to be home and will not be staying there again.