A three-story mansion in its previous life, Beau Sky Hotel stands now as a converted hotel at the edge of UC Berkeley campus, on top of a fantastic Indian/Pakistani restaurant.

Travelers looking for the sheen of a conventional high-end hotel would be wise to go down the street to Hotel Durant; Beau Sky's charms are more subtle for those who can appreciate a quirky, owner-run hotels that is nonetheless clean and professional. Would definitely stay again.

I recently stayed at the Beau Sky Hotel in Berkeley. I heard about it from a family friend who goes to Cal (UC Berkeley). I couldn’t have been happier – I thought the price was right, the rooms were comfortable and I loved coming and going and being able to drink this great chai all the time. I’m a real history buff so I really enjoyed staying in a historic place and hearing the story of the various incarnations of the building, which is a Berkeley landmark. Also I’m into supporting the idea of doing everything local – so the fact that this place is family owned is a real plus for me. I loved tripping around Berkeley and enjoyed the fact that the hotel is one block from Cal. I had great conversations with the owners about the entire Berkeley local scene – even went to the Farmer’s Market while I was there – I walked over on a Saturday. I’m doing a bunch of supporting the local scene in NYC so I say forget all the big chains/corporations and support local family run businesses!!!

I loved this place. Arrived in the wee hours of the night after a long drive from Park City, Utah. Keys left for me. Slept till one because of the great mattress. Missed the continental breakfast. Woke up hungry and was able to use the gift certificate and get a pastry and coffee across the street at the best donut place in Berkeley. Staff was friendly and room was just my style of eclectic with Mexican tile sinks and rugs that reminded me of fancy hotels in Europe. Walked over to Cal one block away and came back to drink the fee chai tea and spoke to a friendly man at the front desk about my long drive to Berkeley. Got to eat chicken marsala and naan at a discount. Go Beau Sky Hotel!

Have stayed at the Beau Sky Hotel close to 50 times, and it is such a great place to relax. Also what a luxury to be able to walk to campus (one
block) esp in the downpours of Winter.

If you like the Left Bank of Paris or the smaller hotels of Madrid, I think you will like the Beau Sky. And it is impeccably clean and neat. I remember the Left Bank of Paris in the 1960s and they often didn't
have elevators in the hotels nor did the hotels in Madrid. I still
can't believe the person who criticized the Beau Sky for not
having closets. It has a luggage stand, and I travel light.

In addition, for curries at an affordable cost, the House of Curries
downstairs is remarkable. It is always jammed with students
who know a bargain. The House of Curries also is impeccably
clean and the food is delicious.
And I never smelled the food except on the stairs on the first
floor. I certainly never smelled the curries in my room.

And the beds have the thickest mattresses I have ever slept
on, and Rosa, somehow can make the beds every day with
old fashioned flat sheets, yet the sheets are so clean
and tight you could
bounce a penny on them, and they never came out any night that
I stayed there. Sheets and bed making the way they did it
on the Left Bank in Paris in the 1960s. I don't see how anyone
could call the sheets dirty, they were bleached, ironed
flat sheets perfectly clean so tightly made up that I could
have bounced a penny on them any of the 50 nights that I stayed there.

And what is broken down? I stairwells, halls, and rooms are
cleanly, nicely painted. There is nice clean tile work and
nice clean rugs. The nearly 50 times that I have
stayed at the Beau Sky all of the plumbing
always worked. Maybe that person wanted 1950s shag rugs
in puce or a hot tub in a 1900s bldg? And there are at least two sets of stairs in the
hotel. As the Fiddler on the Rood would have said, he
felt like a rich man with one set of stairs leading up, and one
set leading down.

I have never stayed in such a cleaner hotel in all of my life
and I am older.

Claire E.