Travelodge Berkeley

The day that I got here was already a bad experience, but know that I’m trying my very best to separate the experience of my trip from my stay here.
Firstly, I’ve slept on a queen bed for a decade, and I know how big it’s supposed to be. The queen beds that were in my room were of questionable size and resembled something closer to a full.
Secondly, the quality of the room itself was decent, but not the best. It only seemed barely clean, the hot and cold water in the shower was backwards, and half the outlets didn’t work. Not well taken care of.
Thirdly, location. Convenient walk from a lot of downtown places, but totally ugly location with extremely limited parking. They also failed to tell us that because parking is so limited, we were only allowed one car per room booked. Although we ended up finding free parking elsewhere for our extra vehicle, that detail would have been nice to know in advance.
Lastly, for all these little problems I encountered, the price was outrageous, even for a trip planned just a couple weeks ahead of time. If you’re going to pay that money, pick somewhere else that takes better care of their property.

Not a nice location and hard to see, Noisy from University ave and you can hear everything going on in the next room. Got a call at 11pm from the front desk saying there was a complaint I was being noisy. I was sleeping, with the lights off and TV off! Room was worn but seemed clean given its an old hotel.

This place has strived to make some cosmetic improvements but it needs to be torn or renovated substantially. Extremely loud and you can hear every neighbors’ footfalls upstairs. It’s fine if you’re just crashing overnight but not worth the savings if you stay longer.

Not the nicest or cleanest hotel, but it has all the basic essentials, is in a convenient location, and is relatively 3-​star worthy.
I’m currently displaced from my apartment due to a fire in another unit and I’ve been set up here. Bummed that it couldn’t have been a more swanky hotel, but this place isn’t too bad. The «lobby» or office is under construction right now so it’s basically an empty room. with a laptop and table…
The staff is nice, and are accommodating. I haven’t been making the reservations myself (my landlord is), and they’ve been nice about trying to get me the same room so I don’t have to switch rooms every morning…
Probably the best part of this hotel? It’s right by Trader Joe’s and the rooms all come stocked with microwave and fridge. So cheap/​easy dinner options are a plus.

I booked a room over the phone with my debit card I showed up to the hotel to check in the Indian guy at the desk said they only take credit cards but he already ran my debit card and will hopefully reverse the charge I now have to call my bank tomorrow I also spent $ 20 to get to the hotel by a taxi the guy told me to get the f*** out of the hotel after i told him i was going to a Unilocal review up he was very rude hot tempered and not professional and a caused a big waste of my time after a long day of work.

The cost of $ 160 total for a Saturday night, 1 queen room is just way too much for this place! Looks like Travelodge just bought-​out this grungy and out-​dated motel. What is updated? The door locks, TV, and windows… that’s it. Automatically there’s a stench in the air when you walk in, smelled like moldy carpet. The only reason I stayed here was because all other decent hotels were all booked. I would not recommend this Travelodge unless they completely update their rooms, specifically, their towels, carpet, paint, bed, shower, and furniture. I actually did the check on my body to see if I had been bitten by bedbugs! :/
The positives? The front desk guy did let us check in early at 12:30 with no extra charge, so that was great since we had driven more than 6 hours to get to Berkeley. Although it was nice staying close to campus, looking back, I would have rather stayed further away in Emeryville if everything was booked. They have free parking, wifi, and continental breakfast (didn’t try the breakfast though). It’s located in a convenient location, by gas station, Trader Joe’s, and other places to eat.

Ok let me preface this by saying that I’ve never stayed at a motel-​style place before. I’m used to hotels with lobbies and bell people and elevators. I think this hotel really is adequate in every way, and even though it wasn’t for me, it will probably work for other people.
Booking the hotel through Google Hotel search was easy. Checking in at 4PM on a Sunday wasn’t a problem. There was a little wait for someone to come to the front desk, but it wasn’t excessive. Since the Travelodge is small, the corner room I was put in wasn’t too far of a walk. It also isn’t too far (~10 minute walk) from the UC Berkeley campus or Shattuck Avenue where all the restaurants and shops are located. The surrounding area seems to be mostly ethnic food places, and Trader Joe’s is located conveniently across the street.
The first thing that greeted me when I walked into the room was the strong smell of cleaning supplies. I turned on the air conditioner and opened the windows but the smell was persistent. It felt like the smell was killing my braincells, or that I would pass out and die in my sleep, like when cars fill with exhaust fumes. Rather than complain immediately and switch rooms, I went for a run, hoping the smell would clear out by the time I returned. No such luck. After 3 hours away, the smell was still there, and like an idiot, I stuck with the room for the duration of my 3 day stay in Berkeley.
The rest of the room was alright, though. There was a microwave and small refrigerator, along with free Wifi, a safe and iron/​ironing board. I tried to soak in the bathtub, but the drain stopper was leaky and I kept having to turn the water on to refill it. The view was atrocious – an empty lot and two derelict houses. The bed was also «alright» but the pillows were small and lumpy.
Now, the biggest issue for me was the sense of safety. There are A LOT of homeless people in Berkeley. It seemed like there was at least one in front of every business down town! Most sit with cardboard signs, but a few were persistent and one even called me a racial slur. I never felt like I was going to get mugged in NYC or downtown LA but I felt like that kind of thing could happen in Berkeley. I was not too confident in the Travelodge because there doesn’t seem to be any security. I kept the drapes pulled on the windows the entire time because I felt like someone could look in, and the walls and floors were so thin that I could hear everything happening around me. Luckily, I was only in the room to sleep, but I kept the «do not disturb» sign up ²⁴⁄₇. It turns out, you can buy a sense of security, and I should have invested in a higher grade hotel.

An acceptable place to stay in Berkeley; fairly run down, though, especially the rugs in the rooms. The shower stalls are pretty old & they look it, plus they are a bit slippery. & my partner insists the breakfast is horrible (just cereal & pre-​packaged muffins) so I have never even checked it out. Plus breakfast is in the main office which is locked — you need to get buzzed in most of the time.
But it is fairly clean, affordable, & very well located. Each room has a fridge AND a microwave. With Trader Joe’s less than a block away, you can eat in the room pretty well, if you are on a budget. But you have lots of great food within a few blocks, so no need to reheat things if you don’t want to. I suggest Udupi Palace, even if you aren’t vegetarian.
Also, strangely enough, they have a fairly extensive satellite tv package. The wifi is also decent, & there is no limit on the number of devices you can use.
None of the rooms I have stayed in have been particularly wheelchair friendly, & the bathrooms seem impossible for a larger chair. They have two floors, so be sure to request a ground floor room if you cannot do stairs.
I will probably stay there again, just for the location & the fact I can’t walk very far. There are better hotels further south but they aren’t close enough to anywhere I want to be.

I’m very disappointed by my experience at Travelodge. I checked in yesterday, early in the day, for the purpose of getting a bunch of work done in a quiet, clean space. The room was nice, very clean. I was there for a chunk of the day and planning on working late into the night, crashing and checking out in the morning. The problem is the hotel lost power early in the evening. I came downtown to the lobby at around 5 and asked when it would be fixed. He told me around 6. 6 comes, no power. It turns out the whole block has lost power. It was some issue with PG and E. I was understanding and waited it out. At around 9, this room is feeling very cold and dark and I can’t get any more work done without power. And I’m starting to worry about my hundred bucks I’d spent on this room. I decided to tell the guy in the office I was leaving and that I wouldn’t be staying the night because I wasn’t being provided with what I needed to work and what I’d paid for, a room to spend the night in, with power, that isn’t really cold and doesn’t require me to go out and buy candles. I wasn’t saying it was his fault, I understand these things happen, but he seemed to take it that way with his defensive, unprofessional responses like ‘I don’t know what you want me to do.’
I came back today to request that they refund my money or comp me a night in the motel to make up for last night. The guy told me since it wasn’t their fault they would not refund my money or comp me a room. He made sure to tell me I’d spent the better part of yesterday in the room, which is true. But that doesn’t make up for the fact that I wasn’t able to stay the night after several hours had passed without power. I told him I wouldn’t be satisfied without the full refund or comped room, to which he essentially responded, ‘too bad, we can’t refund your money’
From a customer service standpoint, one star is too many.

We reserved a block of rooms for wedding guests. During the reservation process, we felt confused and frustrated, and it seemed that the employees were also confused. There were some misunderstandings which resulted in too many rooms being reserved. The manager noticed this at the last minute, but was unable to cancel all the extra rooms, so we ended up being charged for a room that we hadn’t asked for and didn’t use.
After the fact, we spoke with the manager and he promised to look into it and call back by the end of the day, but didn’t. He also seemed much more concerned with covering his own ass than helping the customer get things sorted out.
I hope he will get back to us because this was an incredibly frustrating experience and we will not be patronizing this Travelodge again.
Our guests were happy with their stay, but we are very displeased with the management.

Let me start by saying that I wish she had just refunded me my money and I could have gone a n y w h e r e else.
Yesterday I booked — and paid for — this room through Hotwire (which I love) and arrived last night about 7. It was raining and a little cold and I had to push the buzzer and stand there to get let into the ‘lobby’. It tell the woman that I had booked the room through Hotwire and she asked to ‘see’ my Id and to get my credit card. I showed her my license and handed her my debit card (which has worked for every other place I’ve stayed). She tells me that they don’t accept debit cards, and looked at my wallet asking me if I had a credit card. I don’t. I reminded her that I’ve already paid for the room and tell her that it’s just me, I have my own phone and computer and that I won’t trash the place. (oy) She calls someone and tells them, while on the phone she asked me again if it was only me and if I had a pet and to tell me again that it’s a non-​smoking room. (Remember I’m wet and cold standing there)
Well she let me ‘stay even though it wasn’t their policy’, had me sign the room paperwork and TOLD ME AGAIN THAT THERE WERE NO PETS AND NO SMOKING AND I COULD NOT HAVE ANYONE THERE WITH ME, AND THEN TO TOP IT OFF, TO NOT USE THE OTHER BED. (I even was concerned about taking the pillows off the other bed.)
I got my laptop bag and umbrella out of my car and went to the room. The room was clean. The clock wasn’t reset to daylights savings time, and the alarm didn’t work. The remote for the tv only kinda worked. The heater never got warm (I was cold and wet). The window in the bathroom was open for ventilation, but the downspout for the rain gutters emptied near the window & it was loud, and did i mention cold. I closed that, but had to open it later because there was no fan in the bathroom. The shower door gets stuck (there’s a black spot on the tile) so I had to force the door open, which made me nervous because it was glass, straight out of the 50’s. The blow dryer smelled like something was burning inside of it. The bed was marginal, and since I didn’t have the do not disturb sign on the door, housekeeping was knocking on my door at 8 am!
I don’t normally have experiences like this, either with staff or the rooms, so I’m not a happy camper.

The room was OK. There were charges for things that did not make sense. The clerk would not remove them. I had to catch my plane and just gave up.

I had technical problems with on-​line booking and ended up losing $ 40. I will never stay with a Travelodge again. Their customer service essentially said «Sorry — eat it.» Whoever’s fault the website diffiuclty was, they could afford the $ 40 to keep a customer. I was highly unsatisfied.

I stayed here while my place was getting fumigated. The room was small, yet clean. The staff was pleasant. If I was a visitor to Berkeley, this would not be a bad place to stay, though I would request a room on the second floor, as the ground floor had a bit of traffic in front of it. If you are a light sleeper, and every other hotel on University may not be for you, as there is a lot of traffic.

I was pleasantly surprised by how good my experience was when I stayed here. I wasn’t expecting much for the price, but my room was really clean, cute, and well maintained, with a comfortable bed and pillows. The maid service was really kind and friendly towards us every morning and would ask when we wanted the room cleaned when we left the room every morning. The location is close to campus and downtown, and there was ample parking in the parking lot on a weekend where the hotel was booked. The continental breakfast was standard for a hotel in this price range. Still a relatively no-​frills hotel but definitely one of the best ones I’ve stayed at in the price range.

This is a pretty good hotel with small but clean and well-​maintained rooms. BART is about three blocks away. Plenty of good restaurants and stores are nearby. I heard that the walls and floors are thin, so it’s better to stay in an upstairs room if at all possible. However, I did get an upstairs room and I didn’t have anyone next door, so it wasn’t an issue.
The other reviewer is right, the owner may come off a bit surly, but she was helpful every time I needed anything. The rates were reasonable, I paid about $ 90/​night which doesn’t seem bad for the area.

Nice motel and conveniently located, if you are prepared to spend close to $ 100/​night.
The proprietor is an English woman who can be friendly or surly, depending on the hour of the day.