Courtyard by Marriott
- Price Range: $$
33 reviews
Neighborhood: Japantown
"What can I say that hasn't been said about Tomo? Oh yeah: request a room on the the 8th floor. The city views are spectacular! We were in…" read more »
10 Reviews for Courtyard by Marriott
Average hotel, high price! But love this location while here on biz cause you can walk to bay Street mall.
Caution: I think they are charging for parking soon!
Try the Hilton Garden Inn if you don't need to walk to Bay Street.
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I took my son here recently for a sleepover along with a few of his friends. I figured that if something when wrong, we could pack up quickly and return to Albany (California) with minimum logistical complications.
Things worked out nicely and I think we managed not to bother anybody else too much. We rented a movie in the room (after I got snacks from Trader Joe's a block away). We hung out at the pool and then went over to Fuddruckers (at Baystreet just across the street) for the birthday dinner and celebration. After a few trips up and down the elevator, more TV, then bed, the buffet breakfast was enjoyed by all. We then checked out and within 15-20 minutes we were all home. What more could a bunch of 12 year old boys and 1 adult want? Well maybe a suite to spread out more....
I often stay here just as a small getaway and it's just wonderful. The staff is indeed very friendly, and the rooms are very clean and spacious. There is free internet access for those that bring laptops, and they have a biz center where you can check your emails etc. as well. A Few things to note... one, the entire hotel is non- smoking, so if you smoke, you will be taking it outside or paying a 275.00 room recovery fee. Two, breakfast is best suited elsewhere. Overpriced buffet style that's not very good. Also, no room service delivery is available at this hotel. You can order food in the evening, but you will have to go pick it up, or you can grab something in the snack shop. There are also a host of eateries across the street. But there is a pool, a sauna and a gym and the beds are so comfortable I seriously plan to duplicate in my own apartment.
This is a no frills hotel. The rooms were clean and it's convenient to Berkeley, Oakland and SF. If you like shopping it's just across the street from Bay Street Mall.
We stayed in a suite here for our wedding weekend. Many hotels require a deposit on room blocks from the bride and groom. Since our wedding was relatively small this could have been a disaster if our full room block wasn't filled. Of the hotels we considered for guests near Berkeley that didn't follow this ridiculous policy, we chose three for room blocks for our guests: the Doubletree in Berkeley, the Hotel Durant in Berkeley, and the Courtyard Marriott. Of these, the Courtyard Marriott had a reputation as the best and has a great location across the street from the Bay Street shopping plaza.
Despite having most of our guests book rooms here, it wasn't enough for the husband and me to get a free room. Instead we got a suite at the regular room rate which was fine. However, we booked several months beforehand so we thought we'd have a better suite, higher up with a view of the Bay (especially since they knew it was our wedding night). Also, I would have thought they'd have some simple congratulatory touch in our room, but no.
The accommodations were fine if a little hotel chain sterile. The people who worked there all seemed nice, although some of our gift bags for out of town guests were misdelivered or not delivered as promised.
Still, it's the best option in Berkeley for the money (although that's actually not saying a lot). Except for maybe Gramma's Rose Garden Inn or Mary's B&B (both of which I haven't been to).
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My boyfriend and I stayed here when we were both taking the Bar exam (boo to a grueling exam only to become (tah dah) a friggin' lawyer) and it was an ideal stay. The staff was super friendly, the room was very clean, and the place was super quiet. Room service was not tasty but at least it was prompt. Overall a great place with easy accessibility to all the restaurants in the shopping center across the way.
Comfortable Beds, Check.
Nice room- Check
HBO- Check
Tired me, after travelling and driving around-- Check
Food in the area-- Check
Located in Emeryville which seems to be the Bay area capitalism capitol, think P.F. Chang's, Barnes and Noble, Abercrombie, Gap, etc etc etc etc, in the neighborhood, is the courtyard, a nice hotel with decent rooms and a little snack area for food that saved Aaron at 1:00am when he had nowhere else to get food.
Staff was kind, amusing, and amiable, at 11:00 or 1:00 AM when I rolled into town.
Only drawback might be location, its located in the Maze, that hellish section of 880, 580, 80, and god knows how many other freeways just off the bay bridge its a little confusing getting there, and part south if you are not familiar with the area, add in some traffic light camera's and its a bit of trouble.
Breakfast buffet in the morning was pedestrian and extremely overpriced.
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I stayed at this hotel soon after it opened around 2001 (if I remember correctly). and it was by far the nicest Courtyard hotel that I stayed in. It was one of the nicer hotels in that whole hotel segment (second tier business type hotels). Things are always nice once you first open so I may have a very small perspective.
There is mall just across the street with a movie theatre and it's very close to the highway. No complaints that I can remember.
This is my hotel of choice when I travel to the Bay Area (my company's headquarters is in Oakland). The proximity to public transportation (BART and Emery-Go-Round) allows me to not have to rent a car and the free internet access is a big draw to me.
They have a nice breakfast buffet, but the one time I ate there, no one told me it was a buffet and I waited for a menu. Finally, one of my co-workers arrived and pointed this out to me. Boy did I feel dumb.
The staff is super-friendly, like Andi pointed out. The hotel is across the street from the Bay Street shopping area and there are plenty of choices in restaurants, there is a cupcake bakery, a Barnes and Noble and a movie theater.
On my most recent stay, I had a two night reservation, but due to some last minute changes, I was ready to go at at 7pm on the beginning of night number two. I was fully expecting to pay for the second night, but was pleasantly surprised when I was only charged for one night!
My companies negotiated rate just increased by $40, but the service, proximity to transportation and restaurants has won me over.
Update: I've started working out when at home, and so I'm trying to carry it over on the road. The hotel's gym is kind of weak and really needs improved air circulation. On the good side, for member's of the Marriott frequent ?stayers? club, they offer day passes to a new gym down the street. I've been here enough that the staff recognized me as a frequent customer and gave me some day passes.
so i went to san francisco for work (boo to work) and i was totally like oh gosh whatever... work hotel... blah as long as i have a bed... the company paid for it (happy about that one!)... they had free internet access, nice rooms and a nice little bar next to the lobby- you better believe i took advantage of that! they even have a little market thing that is open 24 hours a day so when i got a little hungry at night i could snag a snack... the employees were all super friendly... they had breakfast but i didn't have time because i had to go to work which is seriously a bummer cause i love breakfast more than any other meal... it was a good hotel... would have liked it more if i wasn't there for work, but it was a great location and great amenities
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