Residence Inn by Marriott Berkeley

We have been Marriott Bonvoy members for a very long time. We recently spent 2 nights at Residence Inn by Marriott, Berkeley for our New Years celebration.Pros: Location is on Center Street downtown within walking distance of UC Berkeley, stores, restaurants, and public transit. The hotel is only a few years old and is an all-suite property. Our suite (#623) was a double queen with a sofa bed. The suite consists of a separate living room containing the sofa bed, and a full mini kitchen including an apartment sized refrigerator, microwave, dishwasher, and 2-burner electric induction stove. There was a table for dining and 4 counter height stools. The bathroom and furnishings were clean and modern. The room and hotel were well appointed. The linen smelled amazingly clean! Cons: There is no parking lot or on-street parking (for more than an hour I believe). Parking for the hotel is valet only at $54 per night, plus tax. The mattresses were so hard it felt like sleeping on 2 box springs. The HVAC in our room did not work properly either day of our stay. The heater didn't work, and the air conditioner fans blew cold air from all vents the entire duration of our stay. The bathroom ceiling fan ran non-stop, had no separate operational control, and was loud. We had to keep the bathroom door closed in order to sleep. Two maintenance staff checked the in-room HVAC controls, and made adjustments to no avail. Outdoor temperatures were in the low 40's during our stay so we were really cold. Front desk staff seemed aloof about our problem. Their response time was extremely slow and sometimes non-existent (not answering the front desk phone, and forgetting to request maintenance come back the next morning as promised). According to Maintenance there were other rooms experiencing HVAC problems. On day 1 there were no portable heaters available for our use but we were given a $25 gift certificate for food/beverage and 1 extra blanket (even though we asked for a couple). On day 2 later in the afternoon we received 2 more blankets and 2 heaters.Perhaps the hotel should contract with an external, on-call HVAC repair service that could be called when Maintenance can't resolve issues. At check out Front Desk Assistant Manager Lilly comped our parking. In my opinion the problems experienced during this stay should have resulted in a future comped stay (since we prepaid for this one). I'm a bit disappointed that did not occur.

This hotel is great if you're looking for a place that is exactly like an apartment. Great kitchen, room, bathroom and a TON of space. The corner larger room suite was amazing. We'll equip with all cooking supplies and stuff.However, the whole time I visited- the hotels lounge, rooftop bar and restaurant were all closed due to private events so that is why they get 4 stars. The front desk did not even know it was closed- I even called the weekend before & they stated the website had wrong information and they would be open....For as much of the price they should have another eating place inside the hotel and another bar- couldn't even enjoy that. I hope to be back to the area and to visit the restaurant and rooftop bar.

We usually stay in other parts of the East Bay when visiting Berkeley for concerts and football games, but this time we chose to stay in downtown Berkeley. Being old grads at Cal we had not explored downtown Berkeley for many years and we were elated to find so many places to dine. The hotel was very good and our room was excellent. It was a very busy football weekend so the hotel seemed very full and there were big crowds at the breakfast buffet. The selection of food was good and we decided to bring our meals back to our room on the 11th floor. Service at the front desk was excellent given the number of guests and the valets were very busy moving cars to and from their garage. The valet guy were very friendly and accommodating.The public areas were very large for a Res Inn and they seemed to handle the large crowds quite well. We only ate breakfast at the hotel and had our other meals around the downtown area.We will definitely come back the next time we visit Berkeley.

They upgraded us to the Presidential Suite! It was so awesome and comfortable. We had a great view of the Cal campus. The service and location can't be beat and it was definitely an amazing, fun night. Thank you!!

I am currently staying at this hotel and have many good things to say about our stay so far! They have excellent service all around, especially during breakfast service with Maria and Anna. Maria and Anna are always there to greet us and help us. I just want to say thank you for your excellent service and attentiveness!

I haven't actually had the opportunity to stay overnight in the hotel itself, but I got to visit and experience the hotel as an event venue since my workplace had booked this hotel's space for a holiday party. Given the actual banquet/conference rooms they booked and the patio were on a different floor, I did need to be redirected by hotel staff in order to get to the correct floor.The food was decent, I didn't find the main course dishes to be particularly remarkable in terms of taste, was mostly carb-heavy dishes with some of the options being vegetarian. They did provide various drinks such as a nice selection of teas, and later on we enjoyed some sweets and desserts. They had round tables for us to sit around, and I really liked the outdoor patio space connected to the rooms that we used since it allowed us to go outside and get some fresh air and a view of Berkeley. They did have wifi that I was able to use as a visitor as well.

Thank you so much to Khalid and Jair for the awesome service! They were on point with everything from beginning to end! Swift and great vibes!!! I am an Uber driver and I appreciate the fact that they were humble enough to let me use the restroom because I really don't like peeing out in the public. So I commend them for knowing what I needed and now I am feeling refreshed! And ready to take the people that need a ride, A fun ride! I will definitely come back and recommend guests here for sure!!! Thank you so much guys and God bless!!!

Great location near BART, amazing hospitality by all staff members. I just flew in from Japan was jet lagged so asked about early checkin. Lady at front desk was welcoming, and exceeded expectations. Only problem was a glitch in their smoke detector system as I got a phone call about needing to inspect my room while I was sleeping. They knocked on door again later but realized it was an error as no beeping alarm had been activated. I was also impressed with the selection at breakfast in morning. Much better quality food than most other similar properties. Would definitely stay again when in Bay Area.

Kelly at the front desk is awesome. She is friendly, helpful, has an amazing personality and great customer service! Yuki at the rooftop restaurant is also very friendly, very efficient in service, good customer-oriented service!Overall, it was a lovely and pleasant stay and highly recommended for anyone seeking a convenient location.

If I can give negative star, I would. I will never stay at this hotel again. Extremely rude front desk staff. I stayed on the 8th floor and decide to find ice machine. I could not find any ice on my floor so I use the phone by the elevator to call front desk. They answered "Marriott, how can I help you?" I said " do you know where I can find ice machine?" the person hang up. I thought something wrong with the phone, called again. Same, they hang up as soon as I asked "where is ice machine". I was so confused, call back again " please do not hang up on me, where is ice machine?" Hang up again. I try to call house keeping, same, hang up on me as soon as I ask "where is ice machine." I could not believe what I heard. I went back the room, my husband called instead, they then said "Ice machine is on the 1, 4 7 floor." Why can't they told me that instead hang up one me 5-6 times?