The Faculty Club — Restaurant in Berkeley

The first thing to keep in mind is that the rooms are priced on par with the Berkeley TraveLodge and the Berkeley Super 8 motels south of campus. For the same price, you can be located smack in the middle of UC Berkeley in a Maybeck-designed Craftsmen building which is on the National Register of Historic Places.||||Having said that, it is not luxurious. My bed was not the most comfortable I have had, neither was it so awful that I could not sleep. The furniture was Craftsman in style and well worn. The shower was oddly configured with a very low head, but it worked and had good water pressure. The towels were the thin white towels you might be given in a Holiday Inn in the sixties. ||||There was a fair amount of noise - students, early morning workers and sanitation trucks, the bells of the Campanile, but it abated by about ten. Earplugs would be useful, although I did not use mine. Being in the middle of campus, I expected it to be noisy and I wanted to hear the sounds of the University. It was hot when I was there and there was no air conditioning. Normally it cooled down at night, and the fan helped.||||The wifi was tricky but it worked most of the time with small quirks, like it wouldn't let me remotely access my work system and the Gmail app didn't work (although I could sign on to gmail using Google on the internet). Overall it worked well and when it didn't I used my Iphone as a hotspot.||||I only ate breakfast in the Club. I had the continental breakfast a couple of times - it was meagre but serviceable (coffee, cereal, small pastries, juice). But more often I would order the $6 eggs/bacon/toast/potatoes breakfast, which was very good and very reasonable. I did not have lunch or dinner there given the other dining options on offer in Berkeley. There is wonderful deck that overlooks the Faculty Glade where you can have breakfast and watch the students pass by on the way to class.||||The place does have a rabbit warren quality which I enjoyed. I was always getting lost. It is very dark, as you would expect from a Craftsmen building. Not a good choice if you have mobility issues, both because it is a little hard to get to the Club itself and also because the rooms are upstairs with no elevator.||||The people who work there are friendly but not particularly helpful or effective. Since Berkeley has no hospitality major, they may not even be students. But if you ask for specifically what you need, you generally get it eventually. ||||I would stay here again. For me, its charm and location outweigh its...

The first thing to keep in mind is that the rooms are priced on par with the Berkeley TraveLodge and the Berkeley Super 8 motels south of campus. For the same price, you can be located smack in the middle of UC Berkeley in a Maybeck-designed Craftsmen building which is on the National Register of Historic Places.||||Having said that, it is not luxurious. My bed was not the most comfortable I have had, neither was it so awful that I could not sleep. The furniture was Craftsman in style and well worn. The shower was oddly configured with a very low head, but it worked and had good water pressure. The towels were the thin white towels you might be given in a Holiday Inn in the sixties. ||||There was a fair amount of noise - students, early morning workers and sanitation trucks, the bells of the Campanile, but it abated by about ten. Earplugs would be useful, although I did not use mine. Being in the middle of campus, I expected it to be noisy and I wanted to hear the sounds of the University. It was hot when I was there and there was no air conditioning. Normally it cooled down at night, and the fan helped.||||The wifi was tricky but it worked most of the time with small quirks, like it wouldn't let me remotely access my work system and the Gmail app didn't work (although I could sign on to gmail using Google on the internet). Overall it worked well and when it didn't I used my Iphone as a hotspot.||||I only ate breakfast in the Club. I had the continental breakfast a couple of times - it was meagre but serviceable (coffee, cereal, small pastries, juice). But more often I would order the $6 eggs/bacon/toast/potatoes breakfast, which was very good and very reasonable. I did not have lunch or dinner there given the other dining options on offer in Berkeley. There is wonderful deck that overlooks the Faculty Glade where you can have breakfast and watch the students pass by on the way to class.||||The place does have a rabbit warren quality which I enjoyed. I was always getting lost. It is very dark, as you would expect from a Craftsmen building. Not a good choice if you have mobility issues, both because it is a little hard to get to the Club itself and also because the rooms are upstairs with no elevator.||||The people who work there are friendly but not particularly helpful or effective. Since Berkeley has no hospitality major, they may not even be students. But if you ask for specifically what you need, you generally get it eventually. ||||I would stay here again. For me, its charm and location outweigh its...

I almost don't want to write this review, for I feel like keeping this secret for myself. The Club is very competitively priced for Berkeley. You're right in the middle of everything, if you have campus business. I spent nine years of my life next door in Wurster Hall in the 90s, but somehow I have never managed to spend any time here until now. I only knew it as the place with the best fries and breakfasts on campus. I'm not a nostalgic person, but I enjoyed my stint here despite some inconveniences. There is no cooling AC (only ceiling fans in the rooms), but my stay here during a period of almost record-breaking high temperatures somehow did not feel as uncomfortable as expected. The problem of keeping the windows open for circulation allowed swarms of mosquitoes and other bugs to fly into the room. Open windows also expose oneself to early onslaught of morning student activity, as well as the toll of bells from the Campanile, which may wake you up sooner than you may have planned. Furniture and decor have not changed since the Repeal, and the small flatscreen TV hanging from the ceiling unnecessarily intrudes upon this glorious craftsman style time capsule. Needless to say, small luxuries such as posh conditioners, high thread-count bedding, and thick towels are not part of the deal. What is in order is the sublime architecture and design of Beaux-Arts masters John Galen Howard and Bernard Maybeck. Every square-inch in here and out is accounted for. As an acolyte of design, you are not here for comfort; you are on a pilgrimage to educate yourself. That is worth more than anything you might pay for...