Graduate Berkeley

Diane Sparks

Upgrades and renovations seriously needed. Back parking lot entrance/exit has stairs and no ramp. The bedroom we were in was very small and there is no sink in the bathroom.

Alexander Ulbrich

Friendly staff, great and clean rooms, ideally located, dedicated parking space. Space for improvements: airflow in the fitness center (outdoor air would be great) and cleaning/scrubbing the dumbbells.

Thomas Bartman

There is a complete lack of customer service. A few days ago I made a reservation for 2 rooms ($500/night), for a week, a year from now over the phone. I was told that my card would be charged immediately for one night for each room, and the rest would be charged 30 days ahead of time which was the last day to cancel. Instead, my card was charged the full $7000 right away. There's no excuse for them to hold $7000 of my money for a year when the reservation is still cancel-able for the next 11 months. I called this afternoon (and waited FIFTEEN minutes to talk to someone), and the woman said she was seeing the SAME THING I had been told before, and would bump it up the chain to get the other nights taken off my card. Instead, tonight someone called me back and said that I was given the wrong information TWICE (really?), and that they would hold my $7000 for a full year before I came. She had ZERO interest in understanding my argument. I have NEVER had another hotel do this before the cancellation date. So, here's what I think of the Graduate: 1) most expensive place in Berkeley, 2) you get conflicting information repeatedly, 3) even paying $500/night, you have to wait on hold for 15 minutes to talk to someone or wait hours for someone to call you back, 4) their attitude is "tough luck - we'll do what we want with no intention of trying to listen to you." Does this sound like somewhere I really want to stay? Do you? It looks like they respond to reviews - so I'll put this question here for the eventual reply: if I can get ALL my money back 11 months from now, WHAT is the justification for the hotel to hold $7000 from now until then? What's their motive? Holding the money offers them NO protection against me cancelling more than 30 days in advance, and I doubt they'll give me interest on that money.

Sarah Morrill

I didn’t particularly enjoy my stay here. Primarily because the staff was not accommodating or helpful, and had a college student who didn’t care attitude. The hotel otherwise was fine. Beds were fine. Decor was a bit worn and water pressure low. We were provided with one set of coffee in our room and it was not refilled for the second day of our stay.