Well, I DID read the reviews, but I wanted a real Berkeley experience, and I like Indian food, so I booked for two nights. It was the weekend of Cal Day, and when I called to make the reservation they said I had to book two nights since that would be a big weekend. No problem, we wanted Friday and Saturday night. When we called an hour prior to arrival on Friday, surprise, they had us down for only one night, Saturday. The room was not available on Friday as scheduled. A confirmation number meant nothing.

On the up side, the guy we talked to was nice and apologetic, and he got a a room (with one Murphy bed double and a very uncomfortable fold-away instead of the two beds we reserved) at the Durant. The Durant was more expensive and Beau Sky said they would return the difference to us when we checked in for Saturday night, but we decided to stay at the Durant because we were too busy with Cal Day to be trying to change hotels and parking in the middle of the day.

I wish I had booked at the Durant first, we might have had two beds instead of a Murphy double and a rollaway. My recommendation? Try Beau Sky as a walk-in, since apparently they give away rooms that way to the first people to show up each day.

The area is great, classic South Berkeley, but the Durant's just a block up and I'll bet it honors its reservations (it's currently being remodeled though, with bar and grill closed).

Really, the only good things I can say about this hotel are that it always seems to have rooms available (and now I know why), and that it accepts dogs. Oh, yes -- it's just a few doors down from the amazing Top Dog sausage stand...but that doesn't make up for the stench, the bugs, the utterly inferior plumbing, the noise, and the filth. This is just a nasty, nasty hotel. The hangers in the little armoire are a motley bunch of wire hangers from various dry cleaners; the tubs don't have slip mats; the toilets barely flush; the Indian restaurant downstairs fills the whole building with curry aromas...I'll never, ever stay there again.

The biggest problem with this place is the smell. There's an Indian restaurant in the lobby and the smell permeates the entire hotel. I was on the third floor, and it smelled like someone was frying samosas in my closet. Other than that, good location and really nice staff.

thought the Beau Sky the Ritz. An old fashioned hotel with
simple rooms but the concierges and all of the staff treat
everyone like royal guests. And the mattresses are so thick,
everything so clean. Though the rooms are simple nothing
is lacking except chocolate on the pillow which I didn't
want nor need anyway.

And downstairs is the House of Curries with excellent
cuisine and free Chai which you can take back to your
room.

And a good healthy, plain breakfast of great
granola types of cereals instead of loading you down with
fried potatoes and other greasy foods. and included are
good juice, fresh coffee or fresh chai in the free breakfast.

The concierges never treated me like just a cog in the
machine or something on an assemblyline. Their
treatment of everyone is like the Ritz in Madrid where
I have stayed. And the staff are never demanding. It
is such an interesting hotel with so much character
yet never intrusive. Just like the Ritz in Madrid.

Claire Englander