squeakr

I like the location - a bit quieter - and it's a bit spiffier.

jerry a. laska

I would not classify the reports on the Parc 55 in this thread as dismal:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/hilto...l-us-ca-6.html

jamesteroh

I've been really happy with my stays at the Parc 55 and was my preferred hotel when it was a Renassance and when it was a Wyndham property over the SF Hilton even though I had diamond status with Hilton at the time. I love the location.

And GREAT treatment as a diamond. I always get upgraded unless they are really sold out (and the couple times that happened they really did have no upgrade rooms for sale). Breakfast is really good and they almost always waive off the upcharge fee for the full buffet for diamonds and even if they don't lots of options on the continental buffet.

MissJ

I wouldn't call Parc 55 dismal by any means. I've been fine the times I've stayed there and would stay again.

mphall

Thank you for all your kind reviews. I appreciate it. The comments I read on the Hilton website were that the hotel was not very clean and that the area around the hotel was a bad neighborhood. I didn't want to spend five nights there. So I may stay but it would be nice to do something different without a foggy view. Has anyone stayed at the Berkeley Marina Garden Inn. It would be nice to stay on the water.

Thanks so very much.

MitchR

I have stayed at the Parc 55 at least 10 times. It is a nice hotel with good service and great access to Union Square and the cable cars. Lots of restaurants. The views are not spectacular, but even the 'skyscraper' hotels in SF are hit and miss. The Hilton is just a few blocks away and some of the rooms have great views of the City and the Bay but it's hit and miss. The Crowne Plaza has some upper level rooms that have good views of Alcatraz. If you aren't hung up on points and you want an nice, quaint, European style hotel try the Carlisle. It is just a few blocks away and regularly has rooms for $150 or less when the chain hotels are > $300. Nice 'tea room' where European and Asian travelers hang out in the evening. The rooms are cramped but they have their own baths and the place is very clean.

missamo80

It and the Hilton Union Square are on the edge of the Tenderloin district. It isn't a problem, just don't stray to the west of the Union Square hotel. I've never in 10s of stays at both hotels ever felt unsafe.

The fog yesterday was the first time in recent memory my view's been fogged out, and even then it was just in the morning. Here's what my view was like at the Parc55 when I stayed there last month:


Neil

squeakr

Do you mean the Doubletree at the marina? I don't believe there's a Hilton Garden Inn in Berkeley. And the Doubletree is really horrible – hasn't been updated in forever.

smmrfld

This is outdated, incorrect information. Much of the DT has been renovated. And there is an HGI in Emeryville, essentially on the Berkeley border, near the Bay Bridge.

squeakr

While many of the rooms at the Doubletree have been renovated, not all of them have and the building itself is rather shabby. I've been there in the past eight months but not more recently, and that was my experience.

As the poster was asking specifically about staying at the marina, I don't think the HGI in Emeryville fits the bill.

mphall

I can't seem to get back to my original post to ask this question. Are there robes in the room and where would one go to dinner nearby for an evening arrival? Thanks very much and it was a lovely picture.

missamo80

For dinner just walk across the street behind the hotel to Little Delhi. Looks like a dump but the food is fantastic. It's my go-to for meals when I'm staying at the Parc55.

If you don't mind searing your face off with spice Kin Khao in the Parc55 lobby is delicious.

Honestly there are a metric ton of food options. Just go to Yelp and search for restaurants near Union Square.

As for robes, I don't remember. You could call the hotel and ask.

Neil

hsmall

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hsmall

I have found the Doubletree at the Berkeley marina very reasonable. Yes it is a bit dated and I would not say the food is magnificent. But you can get a room at the front with a balcony and a small place to sit outside and look at the water; and there are are pleasant walks to be had in the park by the shore.

The rooms can be old but there is a course of refurbishment going on and it's clean enough.

hsmall

1. I wouldn't class the Doubletree as "really horrible".

2. As to the garden Inn I think it is officially classified as "San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge", which is accurate as it seems to be at the Oakland end of said bridge.