I've stayed here twice in the past six months. Rooms have two queen beds, which is increasingly rare these days. Mattresses were better than average. Room was clean, comfortable and quiet. Staff was very friendly, offering us some breakfast pastries when we arrived at 10 p.m. Complimentary breakfast includes omlettes (pre-packaged, but ...

This HIExpress is in one of the worst areas of Berkeley. There are homeless people sleeping within feet of the front door and I recently saw the arrest of a man charged with being a "peeping Tom and burglar" in the area! All areas of the hotel smell badly of smoke since they have designated the 2nd floor (of 3) as the smoking floor. ...

...but unless you have a car, expect a bit of misery. Downtown Berkeley BART station is about a 30min walk. There are NO diners within 10 blocks. Breakfast was sub par (only ate breakfast there my first 2 of 12 days), but over on 4th street are a few diners with EXCELLENT breakfast ($15+ though)...worth the walk.

I'll stay at the Shattuck, ...

This was a typical (for me) Holiday Inn Express. It was convenient but not so close to heavy traffic that there was a lot of noise. Lots of free parking, well lit lot. Room was large and comfortable, and very clean. The bathroom fan didn't work. The neighborhood seemed a little dicey- my wife who is familiar with Berkeley seemed a bit surprised when I told her the address, but there were no problems.

The only thing that I didn't like about the hotel was the location. During the afternoon, it was awful trying to get out of the parking lot! University Ave. was jam packed with vehicles. When the light at San Pablo Ave was red, the traffic was backed up. Otherwise, our stay was excellent.

The breakfast was minimal and the bathrooms were not as clean as I would have liked. The shampoos had been recycled because the safety seals were gone.