The Claremont Resort & Spa, Berkeley, CA

Some dear friends recently celebrated their 10 year wedding anniversary with a stay at the Claremont Resort and Spa, an old school “Grand Hotel” in Berkeley, California. In addition to being a beautiful and historic property, it’s also where they spent their honeymoon.

Pools, Bars and Chicken Fingers

The Claremont was nice enough to offer me a room at their media rate, so my husband and I decided to join our friends with a one-night staycation of our own!

The scene of chicken fingers and greyhounds!

We spent a delightful afternoon by pools (yes, plural — one for everybody, a second for kids and a third for laps) sipping cocktails while nibbling on chicken fingers and fries, which were delicious and a bargain at $7, don’t miss ‘em!

That was followed by an hors d’oeuvres and wine-filled evening in the Paragon Cafe and Bar, home of amazing San Francisco skyline views and breathtaking sunsets over the Golden Gate Bridge. Oh, and tasty food and drink. After so much decadence, we were more than happy to stumble upstairs to our room with a partial Bay View and extremely comfortable king sized bed.

Secret Agent Hotel Reviewer Financial Services Offsite Meeting Attender

My behind remembers sitting thru 3 day meetings in those chairs

But let me back up: before I could start drinking by the pool, the Claremont’s extremely friendly and funny Senior Sales Manager, Quincy Smith, gave us a tour of the property so I could do a (relatively) informed review of the hotel. Little did he know, I’m sort of a ringer.

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