Berkeley City Club — Restaurant in Berkeley

The worst staff I’ve ever encountered – avoid this place at all costs! I honestly don’t even know where to begin with how awful our experience was. We had a reservation clearly stating check-in was at 3:00 PM. We arrived right on time, expecting a smooth check-in like any normal hotel. Instead, we were greeted with a dismissive attitude and told our room wasn’t ready, and that it would be another 30 minutes. No big deal—we figured maybe they were running a bit behind, so we agreed to wait and were told they would call us once the room was ready. Well, guess what? Thirty minutes came and went—no call, no update. So we went back to the front desk to check in, only to be met with eye-rolls and an incredibly rude tone, as if we were being unreasonable for simply asking about our room. No apology, no empathy, just cold and condescending service. They told us again that it wasn’t ready, with no timeline and no explanation. At this point, we decided to leave and walk around the area to kill some more time, thinking surely it would be ready soon. We ended up walking around for another hour and a half, still no call. That’s two full hours after our scheduled check-in time. When we returned—clearly frustrated—they said, “Oh yeah, your room is ready now.” No apology, no sense of urgency, and worst of all—no acknowledgment that they failed to notify us like they promised. When we asked why they never called, it was painfully obvious they had just forgotten. Rather than admit to it and apologize, they deflected the blame onto housekeeping, claiming they were busy and short-staffed. Still no apology for the inconvenience or the two hours of our time completely wasted. And then came the cherry on top—the manager at the front desk. Honestly, one of the rudest, most unprofessional individuals I’ve ever had to deal with in any customer service setting. When we expressed our disappointment and asked if anything could be done to make up for the inconvenience (a simple gesture of goodwill would’ve gone a long way), she was completely dismissive, condescending, and borderline hostile. Not only did she refuse to offer any kind of compensation, she acted like the entire situation was somehow our fault for expecting the service we were promised. There was zero accountability, zero understanding of how to handle guest relations, and a stunning lack of professionalism across the board. It was clear that this is not a one-off issue—this staff operates with a total lack of courtesy, organization, and customer service standards. Save yourself the headache and the frustration—book literally anywhere else. This hotel might look decent on the surface, but the way they treat their guests is completely unacceptable. If you’re expecting a smooth, respectful, and professional experience, you will be severely...

You've heard of the slow food movement. If the Slow Hotel Movement catches on, the Berkeley City Club would epitomize what it is all about. The building itself is beautiful. Designed by renown architect Julia Morgan (who also did Hearst Castle) and built in 1929, it has that old world charm with classic features such as cane chairs in the "Coffee Corner", glass doorknobs, diamond paned glass, indoor swimming pool and even a "drawing room."

No TVs exist in the charming, cozy rooms. Rather a TV sitting room is provided around the corner from the Julia Morgan historical room. No WiFi in the rooms either. There are hot spots outside the elevators at each floor but otherwise you have to use the 1st and 2nd floor public areas to get any Internet connection. What would a multi-tasking woman like myself do? I spied a box of mineral bath salts in the bathroom. So I took a long overdue soak.

Room 408 was quietly in the corner with a beautiful unobstructed view of Golden Gate, Alcatraz and SF. If you like fresh air, parents with adventurous toddlers might want a room that does not have a long drop. The waist-high windows do not have screens and open wide, right out to the breezy air.

Parking wise, there is no bellhop. In fact, the lot ($12 to park) is not close to the hotel itself. If you get here on the weekend, just be sure to park on the nearby streets after 5:00 pm and all of Sunday is free.

Breakfast is a treat. Fresh fruit, Greek yogurt, freshly-baked goods, scrambled eggs, some sort of meat hash and straight-out-of-the-oven mini fruit cobblers. The latter was to die for, served up in ramekins with walnuts, plums and apples.

Heating is by a steam radiator contraption. It started hissing around 5:00 am, but I was already awake by then. Management obviously knows this can become problematic, there were two pairs of ear plugs by our bedside.

Groupon lured me to this place, roughly half off at $80 for two including breakfast. When I was a student at Cal, this building was not a public hotel! It is still a private club, but they have a theatre and as I'm typing this they are filming a movie on the 2nd floor. With all the actors dressed up from the 1940s in their suits and fedoras, it made for...

We were married at the Berkeley City Club in November of 2021, and it was the most magical and lovely wedding anyone could hope for! We started looking for venues in January of 2020, and toured one or two before we visited the City Club. We pretty much knew it was our spot from the second we walked through the door. Julia Morgan's "Little Castle" is exactly that; romantic, elegant, intimate yet large enough for a medium-sized wedding like ours. I haven't seen architecture as beautiful anywhere else in the Bay Area, and the price was on the high end of our budget but still affordable. Our first point of contact, Heather, was incredibly helpful, knowledgeable, and accommodating. She answered all of our questions and was flexible enough to allow us to customize the packages they offered to our meet our needs. By July of 2020 it was clear we would not be able to safely hold our wedding on our original date (late November, 2020). Heather and the City Club team were so understanding, supportive, and comforting during a challenging time. They rescheduled our wedding for the same weekend of the following year and helped us feel excited even when things felt pretty bleak. By the time we got back in touch in early 2021, there had been some staff transitions, but eventually we were put in touch with Yulianna, who was an absolute rockstar throughout the final days of our wedding planning. We threw a ton of questions at her and she answered them in a kind and timely way. At the rehearsal and the day of, Yulianna was with us every step of the way and went the extra mile to make sure every detail was perfect. The serving staff at our wedding were incredible (especially Maria!), and the whole team made us feel like royalty. Overall, the Berkeley City Club made our dream wedding happen and we would recommend it to anyone looking for their fairytale...