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The 307-foot Campanile bell tower on the University of California, Berkeley campus is the perfect perch to take in this cool college town, situated between the San Francisco Bay and the Berkeley Hills.
Although Berkeley is best known as home to UC’s founding campus, the city has such a long list of innovative restaurants — many inspired by chef and California cuisine queen Alice Waters — that it’s become a food capital. Berkeley also spawned the Free Speech movement, an impressive number of Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners and a steady supply of tie-dye. And, while many think of Berkeley as peace, love and flower power, it is also a place for inquiry and creative thought.
“A lot of ideas in Berkeley start on campus,” said Dan Marengo, Visit Berkeley’s marketing director. “When you meet here, you get into that vibe. There’s a tremendous amount of brain power and creativity.”
Unique and Quirky Venues
Berkeley’s personality seems to permeate everything, says Visit Berkeley’s sales director Shelbi Quintana. “Our hotels are just as unique and quirky as the city.”
Take, for example, the DoubleTree by Hilton Berkeley Marina, the city’s largest hotel with 378 rooms and 30,600 square feet of meeting space. It has the good fortune to sit next to the Berkeley Marina. “It’s an above brand-standard, resort-style hotel,” said Quintana, “and the view of San Francisco is one of the best in the Bay Area.” Another bonus? Group outings aboard City Cruises’ yachts leave from right outside the hotel.
The 330-room Residence Inn by Marriott Berkeley is another unexpected find, with a rooftop lounge and 19,000 square feet of meeting space. Meeting planners report it is far above brand standard.
Downtown, the historic 199-room Hotel Shattuck Plaza welcomes meetings in 8,000 square feet of meeting space; several blocks away, the Graduate Berkeley is decked out in UC colors and memorabilia.
Campus runs right into downtown, and so “UC Berkeley is the heart and soul of our city,” says Marengo. The campus welcomes meetings at varied venues, and the public is encouraged to tour campus and admire historic buildings and a grove of redwoods. “Some say campus is like our Central Park,” says Marengo.
After Hours
As a college town, Berkeley has no shortage of entertainment. The Downtown Arts District packs music venues, theater spaces and art museums into two blocks. Tours are especially sweet at TCHO, where 40,000 chocolate bars are churned out every 48 hours. Chocolate tastings can be chased by sake at Takara Sake, run by the largest sake producer in the U.S., or wines from the Wine Block, a city block that’s home to four all-natural wineries.
Ventures into San Francisco are easy, thanks to the Bay Area Rapid Transit system and its three Berkeley stations. BART also connects Berkeley to San Francisco Bay Oakland International Airport, 15 miles away, and San Francisco International Airport, 25 miles away, so there’s no stress in getting to this buoyant city on San Francisco Bay for some fresh air and big ideas.
For more information:
Visit Berkeley
Shelbi Quintana (Walker)
Director of Sales and Strategic Partnerships
510-549-7040
