Imperial Inn

The room looked fine, and the bed seemed comfortable until I pulled back the covers. The sheets looked slept in, with several long hairs on the bottom sheet. I asked for clean ones and was told there weren’t any, so they moved me to another room. That one was worse, with what looked like fresh blood on the mattress protector. I politely asked for a refund. The young woman who said she was the general manager got sassy and told me, “you pay for what you get. Its only $100. Try marriot down street and pay a $150.” I replied that they could just provide a clean room.

The bed was comfortable, and the location made a handy base for Oakland and Berkeley, with BART into San Francisco. That was about all I liked. The room felt drab and worn, cluttered with tired furniture I didn’t need. The heater was unpleasant, the Wi-Fi didn’t work, and staff couldn’t help get it going.

We got back from our concert around 11pm and found beds that had clearly been slept in, with dirt and goat head stickers in the sheets. It took more than 20 minutes to get replacement bedding, and all they brought was one sheet. In the morning, a staff member came into our room without warning or knocking while my 16-year-old brother was changing. When I complained to the owner, the answer was, “you shouldve locked your door”. A really unpleasant stay, and we won’t return.

This place is simple and clean, and one of the cleanest motels of this kind I’ve seen. It’s a decent option for a quick road trip night, or to hang out in the room with a couple friends. The sound blocking is okay and it was fairly quiet. The building has 3 or 4 floors, with recently redone hard floors instead of carpet. Ask for extra pillows, sheets, or towels if you need them. The lot is gated, and a late walk to the car felt pretty safe, though it’s still not a great part of town, so be careful. It has a come-and-go, don’t-ask-don’t-tell feel. You can pay cash, and if you’re not ready to leave on checkout day, the cleaning lady will collect another night’s charge, around $80.