Hotel Durant

, Berkeley, United States
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Hotel Durant

, Berkeley
3 star
2600 Durant Ave - Berkeley - California - 94704 - United States Hotel Website | 510 845 8981
279 Traveller

Reviews - Hotel Durant

10/10
Durant revisited
Submitted by: John in 06/10/05
  • Age Group: Select One
  • From: United States
  • Traveller type: Business Traveller
As a child I remember my father delivering dry cleaning to the back door of the Durant Hotel. That was fifty years ago. I now reside in Hawaii and needed to do some research on a book about the early life of my father. I thought what better chance than to walk in the front door of the hotel that seemed so above my station as a child.
I stepped into the past, recalling all the fine appointments of true craftsmanship that now surrounded me. The hotel is beautiful and well preserved. Our room faced the Cal campus and overlooked all the activity on the street below. The employees and food were as they should be at a first class hotel, formal, but friendly. The Durant's location is perfect for us as we wanted the ambiance of the university area of Berkeley, and could walk to most of our destinations. I was able to create two chapters on my father's time in Berkeley, and I'm sure my stay at the Durant had a lot to do with it.
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Historical Traveller Reviews of Hotel Durant

Loved the Durant!

from TakesTwo
I also was very pleasantly surprised at this hotel. It is older (built in 1927) so the room/bathroom was small, but that is much of its charm. It was very clean and pleasant and the location is great for easy access to the University. There is lots of student activity in the area, but it was not overly noisy. The staff was friendly and the restaurant breakfast was very good. I highly recommend this hotel.

Great place if you have to go to UC BERKELEY

from spanish2teacher
I just returned form the Durant Hotel . I was there because I attended a Coference at UC Berkeley during Nov 10th and 11th, 2006.
It has a great location just 2 1/2 block from the campus. The food at their restaurant is good (not cheap) and the room was good. The staff is pretty helpful and the hotel people is pretty friendly.

I just had a problem with the Shuttle service (it doesnt belong to the hotel) they were 1/2 hour behind schedule and also if you are planning to use the BART you will need to look for a taxi or walk 15 blocks to the hotel. ( I had to walk and it was not fun with a heavy suitcase)

Better than expected

from bdouty
I was pleasantly surprised after reading negative comments here. Old hotel but room was clean and fairly recently decorated. Plumbing loud. A good value for the price, great location to see Berkeley. Staff very friendly. If you want posh Fairmont type hotel you have to stay in SF but for a short visit to Berkeley this is fine. Probably the best of slim pickings in Berkeley.

Band noise, phones out, LOUD plumbing

from A TripAdvisor Member
This was one of the worst Hotel experiences I have ever had.
three times I had to get up, get dressed, and go downstairs to complain. first about the Band, then, after 11:00pm about the piped in music. They even turned it back up as I went back up the stairs. The guy at rhe front desk said the phones were out was why he wouldn't answer my complaint calls. Another person was downstairs complaining too because the phones were not being answered. I finally got to sleep at 1:00am.

I then tried to get a late checkout the next morning so I could get some sleep, but they said no they were booked and needed the room, despite my plea.

The plumbing wakes you up as soon as someone showers or the toilets flush. It sounds like someone is trying to break into your room through the bathroom with all the knocking and pounding.

Nothing was offered to me to make up for my miserable stay.

not recommended

from cmwUk
The Durant
I would not recommend this hotel where I stayed in february 05. It was hassle from beginning to end. I arrived for a week’s stay and was given a room with a radiator that sounded like Niagara Falls. On asking for another room I was told that nothing was available for any of the seven days ahead. Only after my host department at the university intervened with staff (who were surly and rude) did I get a change of room.
The first evening I ordered room service, which consisted of cold clam chowder (supposed to be hot) and tea that tasted like coffee.
When I checked out early from the second room, they tried to charge me for a rollaway, which I hadn’t asked for, and just happened to be there. Although I was on my own they expressed surprise that I didn’t want it, and said that I should have said so straightaway in order not to be charged.
This hotel has a captive market being near the university. It is expensive and poor value for money, and I would discourage anyone from staying there. Although I was supposedly in a “quiet” part of the hotel it sounded as if I had the local football team next door.

charming but lacking amenities

from A TripAdvisor Member
The hotel is historic, clean, and near campus. The problem was the small rooms and the lack of many amenities. There is no pool or fitness center.

Best to not stay here if possible

from A TripAdvisor Member
Very small and dingy. The bathroom was almost impossible to get in and out of. My huband could not close the bathroom door when seated on the toliet. Our room was directly over the attached bar, and that bar cranks the sound system up from Happy Hour till closing.

Upon check in, I was sent to the wrong room. I'm sorry to the couple I disturbed.

Parking was non existant, we parked in a garage somewhere, but did not bother trying to get a refund or voucher from the hotel due to what we percived as too much of a hassle. I intially parked by the People's Park, HELLO.

Breakfast in the bar/resturant had minimal service and took FOREVER. Good thing we walked down to the Peet's Coffee in a neighboring dorm prior to breakfast.

ve had worse....

from A TripAdvisor Member
The Durant Hotel has its charms and its quirks, but overall it does indeed seem a bit faded. The staff have been very pleasant and helpful, the rooms are on the quaint side, but the lack of A/C would have me stay elsewhere anytime from April thru October. The room is pretty standard (govt rate, king-sized bed, top floor) and despite other reviews, it's Tuesday night, and very quiet--double glazed windows help. I'm a bit peeved at the phone being on the desk with a short cord, no way to talk to my family lying on the bed. They advertised Wi-Fi, but that's only in the lobby--in the room you are tethered to an ethernet cable, again a short one, so no emailing and watching TV at the same time! The room service menu from the attached pub is nice, very reasonable prices, and quick delivery. And if you want a taste of a raucous college town atmosphere, just take a walk in any direction. So, not a huge disappointment, great location, but could use some upgrading.

Faded Glory

from A TripAdvisor Member
I have a soft spot for this hotel - my parents used to stay here when I was a student at CAL. And I like older hotels with more interesting rooms and designs, even if the paint isn't perfect and some fixtures are out-of-date. However, my two-night stay at the Hotel Durant in March of 2005 indicated that this hotel can no longer compete with more modern, and better-run, facilities. The most serious problem was a major noise transmission issue from adjacent rooms - worse than I have experienced in any other hotel in the world. We were kept up by our neighbors most of the night, even though they were just talking. The second problem is a lack of technology. No high-speed internet in the rooms (and the desk staff couldn't explain what I would be charged for using the data port to make local dial-up connections). The rooms also don't have individual HVAC units - just ceiling fans and controls on the steam-radiators. This also contributes to the very low noise levels in the guest rooms, exacerbating the noise transmission issue already mentioned.
Finally, there was just bad service. The beatiful Henry's restaurant, adjacent to the lobby, was being renovated. Disappointing, but understandable. What I couldn't understand is why the management thought is was approptiate to have music blasting in the (closed) restaurant, which then mixed with the music being played in the adjacent lobby, creating a hellish cacophany. I had to assume that not a single person working in the hotel that evening was thinking of the comfort of the guests, otherwise that wouldn't have continued.
Overall, I would have to say that this isn't even a tenable hotel. If you have to stay here, get a room (there are a few on the ends of the wings) that doesn't have any adjoining rooms.

Rooms too hot! No air conditioning

from A TripAdvisor Member
I have stayed at the Durant Hotel twice due to conferences I've attended in the area. Both times I have had bad stays at the hotel. The problem is not with the hotel staff or the cleanliness of the rooms. Both of those aspect were actually very good. The problem is that the rooms were very hot due to old fashioned hot water radiator heating. The was no air conditioning. When I opened the window, people outside were making so much noise I couldn't sleep. When I left the window closed I was dreadfully hot. There was a ceiling fan, but its only speed was very high. I couldn't get comfortable with a strong wind in the room. In fact, I was so uncomfortable I actually never fell asleep all night long one of my nights there.

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Other names for Hotel Durant

  • durant hotel berkeley
  • durant hotel
  • Address: 2600 Durant Ave - Berkeley - California - 94704 - United States
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