Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel

Just awful and what a missed opportunity. The bones of the place are great but the rooms, service and amenities are worse than I could have ever imagined. No parking, no room service and no food! The vending machines were out of water. When I called «room service» which was the front desk they assured me the city water was potable. We have a 3 year old who drinks milk at bed time. When I asked the front deak if there was any milk on premises for this reason I was offered coffee creamers. Another suggestion to management would be self or soft closing hinges. All night I was kept up by slamming doors. This was the worst hotel stay of my entire life. I’ve been up for 2 days now and can’t wait to get back home. They should implode this place and turn it into another surface parking lot.

My friend and I have stayed here once a year for the past 9 years. Tradition keeps us returning, but no longer.
The windows leak water, heat doesn’t work as it should. 2 of the 3 elevators broken. This is the most recent stay of course.
In past years. We have been without power for the entire stay.
I know I’m a schmuck for returning over and over. I’d rather sleep in my car, honestly.
Save your money. Don’t waste it here.

Wedding weekend. The wedding itself, 5 stars, the mashed potato bar, 5 stars! My hotel room, 2 stars. Im no fancy pants lady, give me holiday inn express with water pressure and I’ll call it a day! Unfortunately The Berk couldn’t do that. Our shower head literally had zero pressure and made showering difficult. I’m pretty sure I had shampoo remaining in my hair, it’s alright though, it was the brides day!
I received a «2^nd day follow up» email from Sam Haigh, the hotel manager on night one, asking how things were going since we were staying two nights. Pleased by this customer service I replied requesting our shower issue be addressed. Never heard back.
Our room was very drafty, one of the handles on our drawers was ripped off and our lamp looked like it fell down 6 flights of stairs 10 years ago. Yes, I’m being dramatic but this lamp was terrible and in no way presentable for any hotel room. The bathroom had no fan, so that was nice. Sarcasm.
This is a luxury hotel?! Our tube TV kept getting stuck on certain channels and the volume did what it wanted. Did I just say tube TV? While I respect its independence, this gets old when your friend is trying to sleep and all you want is to watch a little of Dual Survival. The last time I saw a tube TV in a hotel was on a road-​trip to Tennessee, where we paid under $ 40 for the room that included functional lamps and water pressure.
Beautiful wedding and my bed sheets were clean, but this hotel needs some serious renovations and attentive staff.

The exterior of this building is gorgeous, it’s close to the beach, convention center and all the restaurants.
Several warnings– there is no coffee machines in the room. Nothing. And if you’re like most people there on vacation, you may not get to the lobby by 1pm to get the only coffee option in the building until the bar opens at noon.
It’s brutal.
The staff is ok, I’ve stayed here a couple times and perhaps have always had to work with trainees or something.
Much if the renovations here seem to be quick cosmetic cover ups.
For the amenities and service I think it’s grossly overpriced, but honestly it’s almost the only game in town so they can do whatever they want.

The hotel was better than its 2-​star Unilocal rating. It was comfortable, relatively clean, and not inoffensively designed. The brown brick exterior makes it look like a large public schoolhouse, and inside it feels more like a nursing home lobby than a hotel, but the rooms are spacious and our large windows afforded a nice view of the beach. Parking and WiFi were all extra and prohibitively expensive (park at the public meters outside). In the off-​season, I would expect a much more reasonable rate, but so it goes.

Not worth the price. Run down hotel with poor air conditioning. Didn’t even have hot water. Cheap fixtures. Bad front desk service. No response from an email sent regarding my complaint.

Oh god. Please, please STAY AWAY FROM THIS PLACE. My friend and I just stayed here this past weekend for a wedding (not at the Berkeley), and the following happened (Friday — Sunday
–Check in. We were excited to treat ourselves to a nice hotel with an ocean view room, despite the storm.
–Room is freezing cold due to the storm, go to lower shade to block the windows, the whole shade came down on me
–While repairing the shade, maintenance man said the windows were left open and not closing correctly and he repaired them.
–When we got back from rehearsal dinner around 11PM, the room was cold and OUR STUFF WAS WET. the windows were never fixed and rain got in the room all night!
–We were switched to another room on the same floor. We had to pack up, go downstairs to get our keys and move our luggage ourselves (we’re capable girls, but this is unacceptable for a ‘luxury’ hotel)
–Around 4AM, my friend woke me up. The ceiling of our replacement room was LEAKING WATER on her, the bed and the floor. Once again we had to go through the process of changing rooms. The front desk made a notation on our account of this and for the manager to follow up in the morning.
–The new room we changed to at 4AM was a deluxe suite on a different floor. The deluxe suite had a heat lamp with a broken switch, a tub that would not plug to take a bath, no cups for drinks, and no washcloths. We were informed the hotel was out of washcloths (???) and sent a bag of hand towels in lieu of this.
–Saturday morning, the manager had conveniently called out that day, but offered us 40% off our stay, which we were told was the maximum corporate would allow her to compensate us. We agreed at this point to wait for her to return to work Sunday to discuss our issues.
–Sunday morning, as we were getting dressed and packing to leave, we discovered room service had never been to our room the day before AT ALL and we had no clean towels to shower with. Disgusted, we packed up and left ASAP.
–Once downstairs, we went to the desk and requested to speak with Agnes prior to check out. The woman working at the desk went into a back room. She came out and stated that Agnes said the best the hotel could do was 40% off, as was told to us yesterday. Fed up, we told the girl we wanted half off our stay as compensation. The woman at the desk then WENT BACK into the office and consulted with Agnes. Not once did Agnes come out of the office to apologize, try to make it right, or even seem to care about our plight the last two days.
The Berkeley Oceanfront is suffering equally from ramshackle facilities and poor management and customer service. A lot of the issues we had could have been mitigated and smoothed over if the manager of the hotel chose to care. Nobody does, and I don’t see this place lasting much longer.

I have never felt less valued as a guest than my recent stay at the Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel. Upon arrival in the morning, we were informed that if we were not there for the wedding at the hotel, we would not be able to use the valet parking. I was informed just to find nearby street parking.
Which I did. I was not informed that, despite all signs stating parking could run until midnight, the maximum number of hours you could park on the street was 3. The city of Asbury Park was more than happy to correct my unknowing mistake ($ 36 parking ticket).
The Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel, however, could care less. When I informed the front desk person regarding the ticket I received because of the front desk staff’s directions, she said «we don’t really do anything about parking tickets.»
So thanks Berkeley Oceanfront Hotel for making it clear how much you care about your non-​wedding guests. I have experienced better customer service at a Hampton Inn.

Ugh! I can’t believe I did this again.
The service here is worse than last year, I didn’t think it was possible.
No parking for guests upon check in because there was an all day memorial service.
No ice in any ice machine in the entire hotel.
2 umbrellas total at the pool, no towels
No glasses in the room
The AC had a faulty thermostat and kept shutting itself off
The furniture is very worn.
The bath tub was so plugged up we were ankle deep in sludge while showering. GROSS
You can’t beat the location though. This in the only positive.
I understand a new hotel is going up nearby, I’ll be looking into it for next year.

STAY AWAY FROM THE BERKELEY.
this is my first Unilocal review and I feel like I NEEDED TO DO THIS. I had only wished i had read the other reviews before staying here. Complete waste for a couple that finally fit some time in this summer to relax.
This is the exact email I sent to their customer service.
To whom it may concern,
I had stayed at your hotel Monday night ⁸⁄₂₄ and checked out the next day. I really thought you may need to hear about the horrible experience I had. I had found out about the hotel through travel zoo and upon seeing the pictures posted, I was ecstatic and all for spending the money to stay. Upon my arrival, I was greeted (not really, a guest coordinator had looked at me after standing there for 5 minutes and said «yes?») I had proceeded to check in and was alerted that there was no parking if have to pay for the day. Not that big a deal, but not what I had expected for an 130 dollar stay. After we had loaded all of our bags into the trolley to take up to the room (which we had to ask THREE different people before we actually got it) we headed up the elevator. The dim lit hallway leading to the room was weird (when I got a closer look at the wall outside our room it seemed there was either food or throw up splattered on the wall. Disgusting. I had told the cleaning woman I noticed downstairs about this but it remained there even until our check out the next day.) Once we got in the room, it was ROUGHLY cleaned. There was ripped up paper on the floor, you can tell it wasn’t vacuumed. The ice bucket was broken with NO bag for ice inside. j made my way to the ice machine on the 5^th floor that we were staying and Ofcourse, it didn’t work. Nor the ones on the next two floors. Later that day after deciding to go to the beach that in the travelzoo offer said was INCLUDED the front desk said they were out of badges. Ok so? That offer was off the table and we paid 10 $ on our own for entry. Later that evening we headed back to the hotel And decided to hit the pool. ABSOLUTELY FILTHY. you couldn’t even see the bottom of the pool. We decided to just get some sun and drinks. The tiki bar was closed. So I made my way inside to find the bar. The RUDE woman and the front desk said it was closed. She said we could go across the street to wonder bar for a drink. No food or bar open in the hotel apparently in the week. What is the point of a vacation and spending the money on a hotel if NONE of the amenities that said they are available on the website aren’t?! I made my way to THREE BARS WITHIN walking distance and none would allow for drinks to be walked back to hotel book or even sell bottles of beer. So your telling me if I wanted to have a drink I’d have to leave the hotel premise that I PAID to stay and enjoy and go somewhere else? Utter disgust. The next day I called down to the front desk and asked if we could get room service for breakfast. No room service. Well ok, at this point I’m livid. This hotel was a complete waste of time and money. Horrendous customer service, filthy grounds and rooms and falsely advertised about the great amenities. I will definitely not be returning, after this first bad visit.
Frances Rufo
Room 541

This is a beautiful, old building located near the ocean in the heart of AC. It should be better, especially because many rooms were recently renovated. However, the housekeeping and maintenance staffs should be fired and replaced. The drawer to our dresser wouldn’t stay closed, you couldn’t raise or lower a shade, there were hairs on the bed, and the whole room felt dirty.
It’s a shame, because the facility is a gem, and it should be treated with more care.

Agreed with all the other reviewers that the experience this place provides is definitely not commensurate with the rates they charge. Definitely can’t beat the location, which is a block off the beach and cater-​cornered from the Convention Center. Nice enough room, though the appliances were certainly very dated. Sleek-​looking lobby.
However, for the prices you pay, especially at high season on a weekend, you deserve way better. If you’re paying Ritz-​level prices, you deserve Ritz-​level amenities and cleanliness, and that is definitely not what you’re getting here. (An «ocean view» room apparently means an obstructed view of the beach around a corner of the building.) It’s much more tolerable for the Sunday-​Thursday prices, which are fairly reasonable.

I came very close to canceling my reservation here due to all the negative reviews, but due to the location of the hotel, I decided to just deal with it. Honestly, I was expecting hell in an over priced hand basket, but walking into the lobby i I was surprised at how clean and tasteful in décor it was. The people at the front desk were helpful and kind. The room itself was clean and we had a great view of the ocean. Wi-​Fi isn’t free, so spare the luggage space and leave your laptop at home. Parking isn’t free either, and I paid the meter rather than the hotel. (They got enough of my money as it is, I wasn’t giving them a penny more). The windows were a bit dusty, some of the wallpaper was pealing off, but overall the room was nice. I would stay again, but maybe in the winter when the prices drop.

Dump
TV didn’t work
The garbage can was smaller then a beer stein
It’s 6pm the day after check in an no room service
Bar opened only to 10pm on Friday night
Sucked

For 250. A night, this place is an absolute rip off. There were no amenities. If you want a mini fridge, you pay for it. If you want wifi, you pay for it,…parking? Pay for it. No hair drier, working phone in the room or hot water! How about that?! I had to shower n give my boys baths with cold water! Never mind the employees weren’t friendly. The parking attendant was high as a kite! I would never stay nor recommend anyone to stay here again.

All of these 1 – 2 star reviews got me really scared to stay here.
Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised.
Let’s start with the pros:
The room we got was actually pretty nice. And it was big. It’s probably double the size of a standard hotel room, since it had a large sitting area. The bathroom looked new and it was clean. They also have a few shops right in the lobby but we got there too late, so everything was already closed.
Now the cons:
The carpet feels pretty grimy. You will definitely want to wear slippers of some sort. I definitely did not feel comfortable stepping on it barefoot. The couch also seemed a little dirty. But i feel like most hotel couches are like that, unless you stay at a 5-​star place.
There probably aren’t very many accommodation options by Asbury Park. So if you are planning to spend the night, Berkeley isn’t too bad!

I didn’t stay at the hotel. I was here for a wedding. The ceremony was on the beach. But cocktail hour was in the Oval Room on the second floor. There was an outdoor patio seating and indoor. The food during cocktail hour was pretty good. The fried rice, general tso chicken, and pasta station was good. I didn’t get to try the sushi station. The food that were being passed around were also good. Basically all the food was good. The reception room was simple yet elegant. The staff there were nice.

Disappointed in this second stay, last Fall we had gotten a deal on a deluxe room and the bed, linens, pillows and view were all awesome enough to overlook the serious multiple signs of neglect. Also we kinda thought maybe it was an end of season thing. This stay we paid full price for a standard ocean view room. View still good but from only one window. Bed not great, pillows horrible, deep filth (the crud build up on the air return disgusting and inexcusable– with a screw driver and a rag I could have cleaned it in five minutes — why, for the love of god?). Showhead broken from wall, smoke detector hanging from wires. It’s all been said in other reviews. Doesn’t management ever go in any of the rooms? Looking for somewhere else for our visit this Fall.
We parked for free in ocean grove and walked down (after spending the day on the ocean grove beach)
Three stars because the location is very sweet– beach is right there and great coffee available early from asbury park roasters right across the street in the convention center. And the Front desk staff were pleasant. And it is a historically beautiful hotel.

I’m not going to repeat what others have said about the Berkeley Home For The Criminal Insane, but most of it is accurate. Shitty desk staff, overcharged for parking and WiFi and the place just is not clean. Our room didn’t have a luggage rack and the towel hook was on backwards (really). Food was splattered on our hallway which remained there our entire 3 day stay.
The only reason I am giving the place 2 stars is because Steve from Engineering went above and beyond to help out with an bow tie issue (not his job but he came up and helped tie it).

After trying to contact management several times, via front desk and even emails I got absolutely no response until right before I was about to check out.
Here’s a copy of the email «My name is Michael. I’m currently staying in room 619. I wanted to express a few grievances in regards to my stay here. I was a little disappointed this time around, as it was my second time staying here. The first time I was a guest of someone else’s last summer, and that experience was so great that I decided to come back for my vacation this year. This time around, aside from my check in experience with Brian (who was awesome) I feel as though there was no customer service. Yesterday on 5÷24÷2015, I went down to the desk a total of 3 times to ask in person to have my room serviced, to which I was told «someone will be there right away» no one ever came to clean the room at all. I came back to my unattended to room at midnight and had to call the front desk for them to bring up towels and new bed sheets. Theres Nothing worse than having to make your own hotel room bed, especially after asking 3 times in the same day. Also, while changing the bed sheets myself, I discovered a hole in the mattress which is greatly dissapointing. I know I booked through an online booking site and got a slight discount on the room but did I really spend close to 200 and 300 a day and 20 dollars a day for parking for a holy mattress and no customer service? I had written a 4 start review on trip advisor and it would have been a five star review had we had a coffee machine and/​or working refrigerator in the room. I have since requested to have that review removed as this debacle with the lack of housekeeping and holy mattress have greatly cause my once high opinion of this hotel to diminish. I will say that today when the maid finally came around to clean, she was sweet.
Regards,
Michael
Then I meet the manager who offered to take the parking off my bill and an apology. Great, thanks. However, the person at the front desk made a mistake and doubled the charge for parking and took more money out of my account which caused a slight over draft, thanks again. I will make sure to tell all about my experience here. Attached is a picture of the lovely hole in the mattress you may be lucky enough to sleep on!