Frommer's San Francisco 2012 - Matthew Poole [190]
The Claremont Resort & Spa.
MODERATE
Hotel Durant It only takes walking into the lobby of Hotel Durant to get the feeling you’re living out a game of Clue—or else pursuing a degree of higher learning. The lobby mimics an old-fashioned library (with contemporary furnishings like a bright blue leather couch), and the rooms give the feeling that you might be enrolling in the neighboring University of California at Berkeley any day now. (The location is within spitting distance of the campus itself and 1 block off of bustling Telegraph Ave.) Shower curtains are emblazoned with dictionary entries, posters from classics like The Graduate adorn the walls, even the key cards are made to look like student IDs. It’s very whimsical, while being quite cool at the same time. Best of all, like other Joie de Vivre properties, Hotel Durant is pet friendly, so you can bring your furry friend along; rooms are equipped with dog beds and food bowls, and pets are given organic treats and toy footballs.
2600 Durant Ave. (at College St.), Berkeley, CA 94704. www.hoteldurant.com. 800/238-7268 or 510/845-8981. Fax 510/486-8336. 143 units. $95–$195 double. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Uncovered parking $16. Amenities: Restaurant; bar. In room: TV, DVD, hair dryer, minibar, MP3 docking station, free Wi-Fi.
Rose Garden Inn Like a Merchant Ivory movie, the accommodations within this 40-room/five-building inn range from English Country to Victorian, making it a favorite for visiting grandparents and vacationing retirees. Despite your age or design sense, the stunning and expansive garden exploding with rosebushes, hydrangeas, and an abundance of flora and fauna is sure to delight, as well as erase all memories that you’re on a characterless stretch of Telegraph Avenue a few blocks south of the student action. Rooms, many of which have fireplaces, cable TVs, and all the basic amenities, show some wear and tend to be a little dark, but they are spacious, updated, and very clean, despite the obvious age of some bathroom nooks and crannies.
2740 Telegraph Ave. (at Stuart St.), Berkeley, CA 94705. www.rosegardeninn.com. 800/992-9005 or 510/549-2145. Fax 510/549-1085. 40 units. $139–$235 double. Rates include breakfast, coffee, and afternoon cookies. AE, DC, DISC, MC, V. Free parking on a space-available basis. In room: TV, hair dryer, free Wi-Fi.
Where to Eat
East Bay dining is a relaxed alternative to San Francisco’s gourmet scene. There are plenty of ambitious Berkeley restaurants and, unlike in San Francisco, plenty of parking, provided you’re not near the campus.
If you want to dine student style, eat on campus Monday through Friday. Buy something at a sidewalk stand or in the building directly behind the Student Union. There’s also the Bear’s Lair Pub and Coffee House, the Terrace, and the Golden Bear Restaurant. All the university eateries have both indoor and outdoor seating.
Telegraph Avenue has an array of small ethnic restaurants, cafes, and sandwich shops. Follow the students: If the place is crowded, it’s good, supercheap, or both.
EXPENSIVE
Chez Panisse ★★★ CALIFORNIAN Californian cuisine is so much a product of Alice Waters’s genius that all other restaurants following in her wake should be dated A.A.W. (After Alice Waters). Most of the produce and meat comes from local farms and is organically produced, and after all these years, Alice still tends her restaurant with great integrity and innovation. In the upstairs cafe are displays of pastries and fruit and an oak bar adorned with large bouquets of fresh flowers. At lunch or dinner, the menu might feature delicately smoked gravlax or roasted eggplant soup with pesto, followed by lamb ragout garnished with apricots, onions, and spices and served with couscous.
The cozy downstairs restaurant, strewn with blossoming floral bouquets, is an appropriately warm environment in which to indulge in the fixed-price four-course gourmet dinner, which is served Tuesday through Thursday. Monday is bargain night, with a three-course dinner for