Trending Inn

The biggest issue for me was how little the rooms seemed set up for an actual stay. There were no tissues or spare toilet paper, no easy to reach outlets for charging devices, and no shelf in the shower for toiletries. The bed frame creaked every time I rolled over, the mattress was bottom of the barrel, and the sheets and towels were extremely thin. My floor mat had shoe prints on it, either unwashed or stained, and it seemed management was too cheap to replace it or turn it into rags. There was no interior lock, and no blackout drapes for daylight. The building is old, but the room fixtures were all new. The bathroom had stylish pieces, including a lovely sink, a gorgeous barn door entry, and lovely shower doors. Rooms are on the second floor with no elevator, so be ready to carry your things upstairs. There isn't full-time staff overnight. You check in at the wine store and get a code for evening access. This is part hotel, part AirBnB. As far as I could tell, the Trending Wine people bought a downtown Oakland building without knowing what to do with the second floor, which used to be offices. You can still see the mail slots in the door, and they apparently made the offices into rooms. Affordable downtown Oakland rooms are hard to find. Business travelers have expense limits, and during the work week there's a big gap between rooms under $200 a night and the lowest price at the Marriott Courtyard. Trending Inn helps fill it. Within two blocks, the only restaurants are Chinese, with one exception, a pizza place that was very good.

Some things management should address: the mini fridge in my room held very old Chinese food from a previous guest, and the smell filled the room. The sink pressure was bad enough that water shot onto the floor. Please add hand soap and lotion at the sink, use white linens since gray sheets feel dirty, and provide better quality towels.

The patio was inviting, though the lobby less so, and the neighborhood worked well for lunch and dinner. Breakfast options were mostly coffee shops. My room was comfortable and surprisingly quiet, but the desk wasn't ergonomic for computer use. There was room for a sitting chair and a suit case stand.

The rooms were nice and quiet, and check-in was self service. We had the basic things we needed, including a mini fridge, coffe machine, laptop desk, TV, and hair dryer. Keep in mind there's no parking place, so you'll need to leave the car somewhere else.