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Categories: Hotels, Coffee & Tea [Edit]
Neighborhoods: North Berkeley, Gourmet Ghetto
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Dear French Hotel,
I like your shabby cheesiness, but you really need to get an online booking system. Do you have any idea what it costs to call you from abroad?
Cheers,
me
Just meh. I understand the desire to inspire a Bohemian atmosphere, but to kowtow to the same coffee cartel that discharges coffee to the student masses of Berkeley? I'll give you guys another chance to win me over with an espresso drink.
I could see hanging out here on a sunny, lazy afternoon with a musty Lovecraft novel.
I have never stayed at the actual hotel, but based solely on the coffee? Five stars, no question.
The guys in the cafe are so sweet and will almost always remember you if you are a regular, even if you haven't seen them in years. Their ability to pull shots and foam milk is unrivaled anywhere... must be something about Espresso Romas. The pastries are so-so, and the cafe itself is a little... cold? Hard? Not sure what the right adjective is, but there *are* a lot of seats, newspapers to read, and they usually have some really great art on the walls, along with local fliers on the counter of goings-on around town. One of my favorite places to stop for an espresso drink to go, especially if you're just walking around town.
Also, there is an aquarium in the hallway on the hotel side, by the public bathroom. Fun to stare at.
So, I stayed in the hotel, and actually never drank the coffee.
It was a decent hotel to stay in, I have no huge complaints. The location was really convieient. I was attending a workshop in El Cerrito, and walked to the BART each day to commute there. The area is gorgeous, there are lots of places to eat and get supplies. The fact that it's right next door to Andronicos is awesome.
The room itself was clean, but very worn, and not at all pleasing to the eye. It's a bare-bones hotel.
Also, it was really pricey for what it was ($109 a night! $20 more than the price I saw on the internet), I suppose one is just paying for the location... But if there had been a better alternative in the area, I would have stayed there instead.
I don't regret staying there, but I wouldn't do it again.
When I lived in the neighborhood I would stroll over to French Hotel for a coffee in the evenings. I haven't tried anything but the coffee there but like the atmosphere in the evenings. It is fairly quiet and one can sit and read a book or visit at one or their tables outside. In the French tradition folks seem to enjoy lighting up and smoking at the tables outside. On a recent visit back we were again charmed by their coffee in the evening. The barista happily added cherry syrup to my children's hot chocolates which they happily enjoyed.
My advice is to stick with what is good and be happy - just enjoy this place for it's good coffee. A family member booked a room at the French Hotel and quickly changed her reservations after finding that the room was not to her standards.
My absolute favorite place to get espresso in the area. Angel and the other baristas are so incredibly friendly and sweet, and make the best cup of anything you order. Its always right on, delicious and smooth.. with extra points for the latte art.
I recently tried their almond cookies and donuts.. both yummy-delicious..so fresh, the donut just melts in your mouth.
The coffee here is excellent, and there are tons of tables, but what I really like about this place is that it's full of aging hippies. Eavesdropping on Aging Berkeley Hippies is one of my favorite daytime activities because they are so confident and yet so incorrect. Today, for example:
Hippie Man 1: The Bellagio was really classy.
Hippie Man 2: Yes, Very upscale.
Hippie Woman: Mmm. I've always wanted to go to Dubai.
Hippie Man 2: That's a lot like Vegas.
Hippie Man 1: I used to go to Dubai. I met a man there who introduced ... what's that food ... fried, with chick peas...?
Hippie Man 2: Falafel.
Hippie Man 1: He introduced falafel to the United States a few years ago. In Berkeley.
All: Mmm.
Hippie Woman: ...but... I remember eating falafel in college? At Eat a PIta.
Hippie Man 1: Well...uh...that was his place! Eat a Pita on Telegraph was the first falafel in the United States!
Hippie Woman: Ohh. It was really good.
Hippie Man 1 (apropos of nothing, as far as I can tell): I was a Fulbright Professor!
Conclusion: Don't question Hippie Man 1's authority on the history of ... whatever that fried chick pea food is called ... because he was a Fulbright Professor and you will be wrong.
We had lunch in the area and wanted to sit at a cafe to study/read. This place has good amounts of indoor and outdoor seating and decently made coffees. Our other option was Starbucks and that's so blah.
I particularly enjoyed the over 40 (even over 60) native Berkeley Saturday regulars crowd. UBER intellectual conversations, Birkenstocks and crocs, greying hair and unusual instruments being played with fringe musical tastes. This was definitely a fun people watching experience as you can observe everyone who walks down Shattuck on both sides of the street.
People watching: 5
Bathroom: 3
Coffee:4
Seating:4
The room at the top rocks! My parents stayed here when they visited me, back when I lived in Berkeley a couple years ago. We got ripped on beer, before taking a jaunt around the neighborhood. The rooms are totally vintage, the service is impeccable, and of course you're in the freakin' gourmet ghetto. And the price is right, very inexpensive.
They've also got great coffee -- it's nice to sit down below, chatting with your friends, on an Indian summer morning or afternoon.
I would recommend this hotel to anyone who needed a place to stay in Berkeley, that didn't need wheel chair access. That's the one thing this hotel doesn't have.
Go for the mocha, stay for... well actually you can leave after you get the mocha.
This place is well-known for great coffee, made fast and with gusto (ie lots of slapping of this and wiping of that) by the crack squad of java commandos working here. Personally, I recommend the mocha because it's going to be the most thick chocolatey (bittersweet, not hershey) espresso drink you can get in Berkeley. Fie! A POX on the other pretenders - French Hotel mocha rules them all!
There's not much else going for the place. Sure, you can sit indoor or out, and it's a pretty nice little neighborhood, but there are better spots to sit n' read or get your studying done (such as Nefeli, Brewed Awakening, or that coffeeshop up bancroft that UC students fester at.)
SMOKER INFO: although there are tables and chairs outside, be prepared for every uptight Berkeley nazi to get in your face about lighting up out there. For a long time you could drag chairs to the left of the entrance, in the dirt area next to the parting lot (and technically off the sidewalk and off their property) and have your smokes there, but I haven't done it in a couple years so who knows if you still can.
Good coffee, really nice staff, decent selection of pastries, and an amusing population of elderly permabaked hippies.
I actually heard someone say "wow, man, that's far out."
I love the place. The coffee ain't much for taste and the space is decadent - it can't hide its age or its smallness. But there's a personal characteristic: the staff know you, and they'll draw little flowers onto the top of your mocha with the whipped cream and chocolate bits. You want to meet a friend here and wile away the morning hours.
The pastries are decent and sit-ins get real dishware. An eclectic crowd of college students and intellectual multilinguals chill here. It's right next to a flower stand, so the smell of flowers and coffee linger together in the outside air.
I could be totally biased, though. I was enamoured with the French Hotel even before I first walked into it, and I come here to lose track of time while basking in the twin lights of its low-watt bulbs and my computer monitor. (Free wireless! Hell yes).
My main complaint is the intentially slow response from the front desk clerk. I came back to the hotel to help a friend, who is blind, get her scarf that she left in her room when she was checking out this morning. The front desk clerk was sitting out in front of the hotel, saw us come in, and waited for at least five minutes before coming in to the hotel desk. Earlier in the morning, my friend asked for his help and he refused to help her.
This is such a cute place! I ran into after I was getting cupcakes at Love at First Bite Bakery (overrated cupcakes).
The outside looks a lot cuter than inside. Coffee is nice and strong!
People say this is the best coffee in Berkeley. I question that, but it's worth trying. The baristas don't seem to try that hard either.
Good wifi, good coffee, a bit surly service, but you get your coffee.
The scene that really....got me....
It was last Easter, and a woman and two young demonspawn wander in dressed in their Sunday finest. The woman stops to order coffee while the two spawns run around the cafe screeching at each other.
At this point, even the laptop denizens with Eminem cranked on their headphones were getting distracted. Me, being the kind and gentle soul that I am (and a bit of an asshole), decided to put the DS out of everybody's misery. I mention to the woman that her kids were screeching, figuring she might not have noticed or something. She tells me three things.
1) They weren't her kids.
-- But you walked in here with them, they are your responsibility.
2) If I talk to them like real people, they'll listen to me.
-- But they aren't my responsibility. There's a reason I haven't spawned.
3) They're in their "self expressive phase."
-- But......WTF?????
Oh God, Berkeley you are great but YOU KILL ME!!!
It's called the French Hotel because it was once a french laundry...bought and developed back in the late 70's...it's sort of a destination for out of towners since it's directly across the street from Chez P...HOWEVER, the main draw is Angel Maldonado, the capo of cappuccino...he's been there over 20 years, and has been featured on local news magazine shows for his ability to create artwork on top of the foam of your latte. He uses a bent paperclip as his brush, and dips it into chocolate and creates amazing designs, some "R" rated...great bunch of guys there...many a person has volunteered to set Angel up in business by himself, he's that popular.
Ok, I feel a little bad giving this place two stars because this was my best friend's favorite neighborhod cafe. When she used to live on Rose and Henry she told me about this cute cafe that she frequented. When she finally took me there I was utterly unimpressed. The staff is nice enough and their coffee and tea are decent but it's kind of dingy inside. I don't think of myself as a cafe snob--it's just, with all the flies swarming around, the dim lighting, and the drab decor...it's like having coffee in a third world country. I would definitely recommend sitting at one of their street-side tables. I can imagine that this place would grow on you if you lived nearby (because proximity and convenience are huge factors) but to drive here and hassle with parking...it's just not worth it.
(Note: This review is for the cafe attached to the hotel, not the hotel itself.) One of my favorite coffee shops in Berkeley (of a generous selection for which I'm grateful). You know those mornings when you've woken up on the wrong side of the bed and you just KNOW the day is gonna be a toughie? Yeah, on days like those I don't usually try to make my own cup of joe where I can mess up something, I just go to places like the French Hotel to treat myself before commencing on a long day of workworkwork. Though the interior is a little dark and dingy looking, the coffee is quite good and so are the pastries, most notably the almond croissants. Sometimes, the head barista dude likes to draw pictures in the foam of your drink, so watch out and be amused.
I thought that the coffee here was good, and the location in the Gourmet Ghetto could not be more perfect. They have two wifi access points, which is also a bonus. The only problem I had with this was sitting among the swarm of flies in the back corner of the cafe, listening to the employees constantly shout obscenities in Spanish.
Great coffee, but minus points for really expensive soy (+ $0.95!) and top 40 music. It was a good thing I brought my own earphones...maybe next time I should bring my own soy....
Fabulous neighborhood coffee place. Their strong coffee will keep you going all day. Employees always greet you with a smile.
I love the coffee here. I have no idea why. Maybe it is the proximity to Cheese Board, maybe because when I'm here I'm not working. No idea. Delicious.
Would be perfect if this obnoxious family (junior-high daughter is soooo much smarter than the crunchy Berkeley parents) didn't camp out, eating sushi and making noise. But I'm just the grumpy laptop bitch in the corner.
Best coffee in town, staff always remembers your name and order.
A great place to see the farty-old left in action and don't think of smoking outside. Good coffee, better at dusk.
Coffee's good, service is decent. Nice outdoors and upstairs areas, though, especially if you like people-watching or eavesdropping on hippie dinosaurs. Sometimes I like to drop by late and observe the staffers unashamedly gawk at attractive passers-by. Nothing really special, though, just a really good location.
meh. maybe it's because i'm not really that into coffee but i REALLY don't think this place is all that fantabulous. it's niiice.. as in it's a decent little place i would go to regularly if i lived in the area but not so amazing that i would go out of my way to visit. am going to have to break the five star trend, sorry.
cheap, good coffee. nothing more to it than that, as far as i can tell. i'm new to the area, but it feels very "berkeley." hit me for saying that.
even the plain ol' house coffee was surprisingly delicious...it was a one man show....so it can be a little slow...but definitely serves up hot tasty cup of joe....
Neighborhood: Downtown Berkeley
Category: Hotels
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Venues & Event Spaces
Berkeley, CA
Category: Hotels
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Hotels
Neighborhood: UC Campus Area
Category: Hotels
I've just moved to Berkeley from San Francisco and…
