Holiday Inn Express & Suites Berkeley

Okay, not technically a five star hotel, but it deserves a higher overall rating. We were in a lovely, updated king room with a comfy bed, great shower and good cable. In town to do some exploring and this was a good jump off.
Staff is super friendly and this place is walkable to a lot of cool stuff. Bit of a hike to the college, but that wasn’t our destination. We loved the Albatross pub around the corner and the beautiful walk to the «Gourmet Ghetto.»
I would stay here again. Oh! Great coffee shop across the street. Breakfast here was totally fine and worth going to, but the coffee across the street was killer.

Travelers be ware. Dishonest front desk employee. She said they had one room left at $ 220. When I booked the room the noise in the room above me was way too loud. I could not sleep at all. I went back to the front desk to get a refund and was told by the woman that she would not give me a refund but would move me to another room. Completely dishonest! I will never stay at this hotel again.

This was a great find for us! We arrived around 9:00 on a Wednesday night and the first thing we noticed is that this location is incredibly clean and has a crazy, huge parking lot for anything in Berkeley! We stayed here for 5 days and never had any problems finding somewhere to park our car.
The check-​in process was very quick. We had a double queen suite and the room was a bit small for the size of the beds, but it was manageable. There was also a dresser, TV, desk, and a small kitchen area with a cupboard, mini fridge, and microwave.
Our room was cleaned every day and the staff seemed to have some fun re-​arranging the kiddo’s decorative pillows every day (she got a kick out of that!). The breakfast buffet was pretty average for a hotel but they have SOY MILK which means I actually had options! Granted it was corn flakes with soy milk so right now I never want to see corn flakes again, but it was nice to know that I didn’t have to worry about finding breakfast somewhere else.
I would definitely stay at this hotel again for future visits to the Bay area.

This was a really clean and pleasant hotel with great staff and a decent breakfast. Location not great for walking, but for those of us not making Google bucks, so it goes.

For price, Room was very clean & spacious. BUT bad location. Room service was third party and very limited options, menu not up to date.

HIE is my choice of hotel and this one exemplifies why. Breakfast, free parking, super friendly staff.
Really great stay. Even ate at the Thai place next door. The only drawback was the «room service» menu. They didn’t have anything available «new kitchen, new area» except wings, burgers and salads. We wanted food! Which lead us to the place next to the hotel.

Stayed here a couple weeks ago and will be staying here again soon. Room was nicely updated and clean, beds were super comfortable, and there were a lot of options at breakfast. I prefer to stay at Holiday Inn Express when I’m traveling and this location did not disappoint.

For your price & convenience this hotel is good. Friendly staff, yummy breakfast and clean and spacious rooms. This hotel is in a quiet neighborhood. Going to bed at night was not a problem. Came here for a Berkeley graduation. The drive was short to campus, probably 10 mins. If you do plan to walk the neighborhood be careful of homeless people, they didn’t bother us but they are in the neighborhood (but that has nothing to do with the hotel). The staff is very helpful too! I’d stay here again.

When I initially booked two rooms for the weekend, I expected this holiday inn express to have good to excellent service, good to excellent amenities and rooms. I was very unhappily surprised. I was in town for a class reunion and unfortunately part of the hotel stay, over shadowed what should’ve been an overwhelmingly joyous event. The service was horrific, their elevator is old and malfunctions and I would never stay here again. I booked online with my government discount about a month before and was quoted one price. Then when I checked in late at night, the hotel employee quoted a higher price. Finally when I checked out, I was quoted an even higher price and made to show my government ID again (which was quite a feat, considering it was packed away, along with having my three young children all buckled in, ready to depart) After having to do all of the leg work (times two) looking for the email that quoted the correct original rate, I was told «it’s been adjusted «but the manager refused to give me a final receipt, showing me the rate. At one point during my stay, the elevator door was closing, as my three young children were inside and my father and I were stepping onto the elevator, and the door closed on my arm. If my father had not been there to push the button and open the door, I’m afraid the elevator may have seriously injured my arm. As it was, I ended up with bruises and the inability to move my arm without soreness for several days. The hotel employee I told this to seemed alarmed however, when he shared the information with the manager, the manager came out and offered no apologies and no explanations as to why the safety mechanism to open the door, did not work. This place needs to close their doors and complete a safety overhaul, then reopen with new management or ownership.

Booked through Yahoo Travel and got stuck into a handicapped room by the hotel. The room was in dire need of renovation. Also it was adjacent to the laundry room and a mechanical room. Some kind of sonic alarm kept going off periodically throughout the night but the staff ignored my complaint. I’ll never stay at this hotel again nor will I book through Yahoo Travel.

Was concerned about the area when I drove up late at night. My car was safe and there in the morning… yes, I worried that it would be there due to the questionable people I saw the night before. The hotel room was nice and comfortable. The staff was professional and pleasant.

I had been living in this hotel for months, literally months, and was pretty happy because I like the location until I met their manager Mirabel. It started off simple enough. Woke up early on a Saturday morning to discover a bill under my door. Oh, time to go to the front desk and inform them I’ll be staying another month and get my card reset. I happened to notice they billed me for the entire month in one charge, which is a big problem for me since I can’t submit expenses over 5k at work without my expense report requiring the signature of 3 vice presidents of my division. So I ask the counter girl to split the charge into two transactions, which they’ve done twice before, and that I’m staying another month. She begins to, pauses, and then says she’s going to double check with the manager. Enter Mirabel, the cleaning lady who got promoted to occasional manager when all the normal staff is off.
Mirabel tells me that «it’s impossible» to split up the transaction. I inform her, it’s not, and if you don’t I’m leaving and the hotel will be out thousands of dollars. She couldn’t give a fuck. So, 2.5 hours later after calling IHG corporate, which called the GM, who was incredulous that this fucking moron couldn’t do something so simple, and packing up all my shit, lo and behold – A MIRACLE!
The lil dipshit was able to do what I asked her to 2.5 hours ago, split the bill. So if they’re going to treat someone who has spent 30k+ in their hotel in the past year like this, how do you think they’re going to treat you and your family during your lil stay?

My mom was obsessed with this place and ordered me to write a review (as if I wouldn’t!) She couldn’t believe how wonderful a three star hotel could be!
Beds were super clean and extremely comfortable. Bathroom was nice and immaculate as well. Lots of light so you can work and/​or put on your make-​up with ease.
Free parking, free internet (in this day and age I can’t believe hotels charge… it’s like charging for the use of a toilet or sink.), free coffee and free breakfast. Not the healthiest food although a few okay options — fruit, Quaker instant oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, artificially-​sweetened yogurt, whole wheat toast — for the health conscious. By free I mean included in the cost of your room.
Very pleasant staff. Great prices. It’s not a luxury establishment obviously but if you are in Berkeley for some other reason than to stay at a swanky hotel (we were helping my sister move), then I don’t think you will do better for the price.

It was affordable and there was free parking, so we chose this. Finding an affordable, decent hotel in the Bay Area is very difficult. Finding one in Berkeley… was pretty much impossible, so we settled for this place yesterday.
I don’t know, the hotel just didn’t feel as nice as other Holiday Inn’s we’ve stayed at. The breakfast in the morning is exactly the same as every other Holiday Inn breakfast in the country. The pancake machine was cute and turned out decent pancakes.
Would we stay here again? Maybe… if there were no other options. To be honest, I’m kind of hoping to not have to return to Berkeley for a while. :)

Ive never had a problem here… And then with the foster freeze right next door, very awesome.

Clean. Quiet. Free breakfast. Small business office. Small lobby. Somewhat overpriced.

Stayed here for a weekend because I had to go to a conference at UC Berkeley. We thought it was going to be walking distance… but it was about a 25 minute walk! The staff here is pretty chill. we had hotel parties and didn’t get in trouble. Their breakfast is also pretty good! It’s also a pretty good selection for free breakfast. Free wifi! This place is a little bit pricier than the other hotels nearby but I liked it here.

What we expected was the usual; plastic sheets, over stuffed pillows and interiors in avocado green, goldenrod and creams. What we got was a newly renovated and modern room with a lot of space and the most comfortable bed, ever!
We have traveled allot and we can appreciate a good room at a fair price — and this was it! The owners are on site and area lovely family; proprietor was there on our way out and I complimented him and he said, «it is a labor of love!». That is the only kind of labor we look for and we understand. As small business owners we get it.
You will not be disappointed. When in Berkeley, check out this sweet spot for about $ 120.00 a night! Aloha!

It was just okay. The pictures here make it look way better than it is. I feel that it’s way overpriced. Also, while other hotels were offering discounts for Thanksgiving Weekend, Holiday Inn Express offered none.
The vibe is very low-​key, yet kind of depressing. Honestly, I was looking at the Doubletree at the Marina. Went to see it while up there to compare it to the Holiday Inn Express. It was way better, and for less money! The reason we didn’t stay there was because they couldn’t guarantee us a fridge.
That’s the bonus of the Holiday Inn Express — Fridge and Microwave in every room. Other bonus — Clean. Service was nice. People were friendly.
Heater situation was weird. It wasn’t on when we first got to the room at 8pm Thanksgiving Day. Also, while we were out, housekeeping would turn it off. The room would be freezing when we got back from the day out sightseeing. That was a bit unpleasant.
I would not stay here again.

Great rooms.
The location is two fold both though.
Should you be interested in walking around, you in for a mixed experience. The place is not very close to the university but public transportation is very acceptable.
The hotel is however conveniently located around San Pablo in which there is pretty much everything from my favorite Berkeley bar to food.
Should you decide to visit the marina, and you should you are in luck you could probably walk there, kinda.
The room was great, it was huge comfy beds and complementary breakfast.
Nice spot