Hillside Club

My student organization at Cal had their end of semester banquet at Hillside Club, and we couldn't ask for anything better. Not only is the venue beautiful and spacious, but the organizer is super nice and accommodating. There are high ceilings, great audio, a nice stage, and lots of useful equipment. We pretty much didn't have to decorate at all on our end because when we got there, it was already beautifully adorned with holiday decorations and a huge Christmas tree! For such an amazing venue, it's amazing how inexpensive the total cost was!Aside from the venue itself, the planning involved to secure the venue and set everything up was made incredibly easy by the manager. She was very responsive by email and helpful in suggestions for what can be done with the event. She also owns a super cute doggo that's Instagram famous!All in all, great experience and couldn't ask for more.

Our youth choir, Kairos, produces a musical theater/opera performance every season. This year, our usual venue was closed for renovation and we were faced with the need to find a new theater. We knew about the Berkeley Hillside's affinity for classical music, so we thought our program would be a good match. The Hillside Club's manager Araceli was very responsive and informative about their availability, requirements and willingness to accommodate us. Not only did Araceli understand our needs but she was extremely supportive and volunteered to help us with anything we might need in order to offer a highly successful and professional production. We recommend this venue, not only for the amazing architecture and splendid acoustics, but also for the great communication of our hosts; their openness and their flexibility to accommodate our very specific needs. The venue has a beautiful stage, with ample backstage (a green room upstairs and one downstairs - with access to a bathroom) and it is great for small productions such as ours, or small chamber music concerts that they host often. If you do visit the Berkeley Hillside, be sure to make the acquaintance of Bella - the Boston Terrier of the club whom we adopted as our mascot. She is a real drama queen and will definitely brighten your day

This is such a beautiful and special space, and when we were looking to have a catered private family event, this space was absolutely at the top of the list. It has a warm feeling, but plenty of natural light, a highly functional kitchen and most importantly, the friendliest, most helpful and most responsive event planning staff you can imagine.With all our questions answered, in the most positive manner, we booked the venue in January for our November 2020 event. Well, quite obviously and sadly, we didn't have the event in person. Rather than postpone the event, we decided to go forward and do it online.The request to cancel and get a full refund was met with kindness and no questions asked, we had our refund in days. Thanks to Araceli and the team at the Hillside Club, everything from planning our event, to not having our event, was handled expeditiously and with grace. I would highly recommend the Hillside Club for your future event.

We had a fundraising event at the Hillside Club on Sunday, April 9, 2017 and wow, this place was perfect for our event in every way:- Great location- Plenty of parking- Tables (of all sizes) and chairs were included with our rental- Kitchen big enough for our caterer- Great acoustics for instruments without needing a microphone- Pianos on site (two to choose from)- Greenroom available behind the stage for musiciansWe brought in a caterer who served paella outside as our guests entered while having trumpeters playing to welcome them in, and had a silent auction and 9 tables set up to create a warm and welcoming entrance. I would say that the best thing about this venue, aside of its character, is their wonderful general manager Araceli, who was so easy to work with and accommodating of our needs. It was obvious that she knew the space very well and was on site to help when we needed anything. It was truly a pleasure to have our event here, and our guests all left smiling!I highly recommend this location for future events, and will be using it myself for future gatherings.

I love the Hillside Club! The Club has so much fascinating history and continues to be a place to bring fresh ideas, learn and have a fabulously fun time at the dinners, lectures, musical events and other parties and activities put on by members. I'm a member and enjoy seeing old friends and meeting new ones. Araceli, our manager, brings a pizazz to the Club and we're lucky to have her!

The Hillside Club was founded by a group of Berkeley women who wished to protect the hills of their town from "unsightly grading and the building of unsuitable and disfiguring houses."In 1905, a lot was purchased on Cedar Street, and Bernard Maybeck began designing an artistic clubhouse. The building opened to great acclaim on September 8, 1906. It was the venue for many prominent cultural and social activities. The building was destroyed in the great fire of 1923. A year later, Annie Maybeck's brother, the architect John White, designed the current clubhouse, designated a City of Berkeley Landmark in 2004.The Hillside Club now hosts various community events including author talks, a concert series, films, dancing, arts and crafts, and a Last Friday Ladies Lunch. The building is available for rental, but watch out for the relatively sparse neighbourhood parking. I've been here for this and that and I continue to be thankful for Berkeley's preservation of this building and the historical and welcoming trappings that live within the pores of this facility.

What a perfect spot for pocket opera. My first time there ... it won't be my last. the acoustics are excellent, SRO, and wonderful opera!

Last night Nina and I attended an interesting and disturbing lecture here last night on the evils of microfinance by Hugh Sinclair, author of the recently published book, "Confessions of a Microfinance Heretic: How Microlending Lost Its Way and Betrayed the Poor". I hadn't been in this building since the wedding of friends more than 25 years ago. It's a lovely building originally designed by Bernard Maybeck in 1905, burned in the Berkeley Hills fire of 1923 and rebuilt a year later according to a design by architect John White. Thanks to Eric B. for the history in his review. My primary memory of the building was the "walk-in" fireplace. My next memory will be of the ladies' room, which goes from a spacious lounge area containing an upright piano and several comfy chairs arranged on a Persian rug to the tiniest bathroom that ranks amongst the most inconvenient I've ever seen. Two tiny toilet closets on either side of the space are painted in 50's pink, w/ two small sinks in residential-looking cabinets set between them. The space is so small that when washing your hands you are blocking the entrance of others to the toilets. There must be another women's toilet that is handicapped accessible, because these two certainly aren't. The gathering space is large and gracious. The floors are a lovely hardwood wood which is about to be refinished; the exterior of the building is well aged brown shingle. Divided lite windows let in a nice amount of light while still maintaining the woodsy feel. Elegant original pendant light fixtures shed more light if needed. There is a stage complete w/ curtain and across the room opposite the stage, a balcony. The chairs were set up in semicircles facing the fireplace, which has a beautiful piece of stained glass set into the fireplace wall, a touch I'd never seen before. In front of the fireplace sat the author and his interviewer, KALW's Rose Aguilar. There's also a kitchen. The Hillside Club has an active calendar, w/ afternoon tea on Tuesdays from 3-5, Qi Gong on Wednesday mornings, Friday night concerts and myriad other activities. Parking is at a premium in the area. I was fortunate to find a spot directly across the street, but I would have misgivings about scheduling a large celebration here. It will suffice to enjoy the space as a concert, lecture or afternoon tea setting.

The interor: Old, historical, wooded, CHARMING. The club itself is over a hundred years old I think. One of those well-preserved heritage buildings in Berkeley. Lots of charm and character.The acoustic: Very good. We went for a string quartet concert and we enjoyed it very much.The atmosphere: Intimate and informal, possibly due to its limited seating capacity. Also, the staff don't put on air. We didn't encounter the rude people as described by other reviewers.The programs and events: Check out their website. They have FREE movie nights twice a month, concert series (the one we went to was a reasonably priced string Latin quartet - only $15 per head), Marketplace dinner (which is a monthly cooking class / gathering), and sometimes lecture series.The location: It's located at north Berkeley, north of UC Berkeley campus, in a quiet, tree-line, beautiful neighborhood. It's near the Berkeley Municipal Rose Garden, Live Oak Park, Codornices Park, John Hinkel Park - all of which are quiet and beautiful. Tilden Regional Park is just up on the hill, ten to fifteen minutes' drive away, while Shattuck Ave below (i.e. the Gourmet Ghetto and Downtown Berkeley) is full of shops and restaurants. Www.berkeleypaths.org would also tell you plenty of charming little paths and stairways to explore around this area.So! If you're attending an event here at the Hillside Club, use your time wisely to explore this nice north Berkeley neighborhood. Personally, I like this small, historical club very much. I enjoy its surroundings as much as the programs and activities it has to offer.

Summary based on several visits for events:--great, classic event venue--ok street parking