We spent the weekend in the Bay Area and stayed in this hotel built in 1915. It’s only a few miles from where our children live and our first time venturing inside. The beauty and grandeur made me feel I had stepped back in time.
During our weekend, we spent time with our kids, our daughter-in-law and her brother. We shared meals outside along with walks. It meant so much to me to see them in person. Although we couldn’t hug due to our DIL’s chemo treatments, we gave fake hugs several feet away and shared our love.
We also joined a friend’s celebration for his 75th birthday. It was an event with people from his childhood, high school, college, business and retirement days. His adult children and friends gave moving tributes along with laughter from their memories. I’m so pleased we were included in the celebration.
I think it’s more important to spend time with those you love than where you stay, but I’m sharing photos from our historic accommodations because it stirred memories. One of my favorite places as a family growing up were weekends at the historic Empress Hotel in Victoria, B.C.
Christmas displays in the lobby of the Claremont Club and Spa.
View of the San Francisco Bay from the hotel grounds. This was taken when we arrived our first night.
I loved the festive Christmas lobby decorations.
View from the coffee shop that looks out over the bay to San Francisco. We had breakfast there on our first morning and cookies in the afternoon.
The view of the tower at night.
From the hotel’s website:
Situated on 22 acres in the East Bay with breathtaking views of San Francisco, Claremont Club & Spa, A Fairmont Hotel seamlessly blends its rich history with modern resort amenities for an unforgettable retreat. The imposing Tudor Revival-style palace nestled in the hills is a magnificent landmark that dates from 1915, but it’s the extensive wellness facilities that secure its top spot among the best hotels in Berkeley.
https://www.fairmont.com/claremont-berkeley/
A tile mosaic of the hotel in the Ladies’ Locker Room next to the jacuzzi, steam room and sauna.
Sunset from the hotel parking lot looking from Berkeley over the Bay to San Francisco.
Have you stayed in or visited historic sites? Where were they?
So happy to hear about your wonderful weekend. Thank you for sharing photos — I have fond memories of San Francisco from when my parents lived there but I didn’t know about the Claremont! I love a historic hotel. Cheers to time with family in a beautiful location. 🥰❤️🥰
That’s right. Your parents did live there. I remember their glamorous cars. The Claremont was so pretty and I felt pampered. Because it’s up on a hill, it has great views. Better in person than photos. I’m so happy to spend time with our family.
🥰❤️🥰
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Beautiful place EA, and how great to spend time with family and friends! My youngest and I stayed at another historic SF hotel- The Stanyan Park just across the street from Golden Gate Park and part of the Haight-Ashbury district just around the corner from Amoeba Records. This was part of a graduation trip we did alongside a 60’s festival in the Haight. It was so much fun and we ended up over the bridge in Sausalito for a few days as well. Great memories of SF and that time with her!
Your trip sounds fantastic. I will at least have to tour the Haight-Ashbury district. How fun with a 60’s festival. I’ve been to Sausalito and it’s such a pretty area.
We walked everywhere and took the transit system into the city and then walked all over again taking in all the traditional sights. I honestly think it was the best vacation I’ve ever had. Sausalito was fun, artsy and we hiked in one of the national forests just across Hwy 101 which was fun as well.
That sounds great. We used to take Bart into the city with the kids pre Covid. We had such a short trip we stayed in Berkeley where they live and the hotel is. Our daughter drove us to the birthday party that was across the Richmond bridge in Marin. One of my favorite places to visit in SF is Sutro Baths.
I just looked up the Stanyan Park hotel. If my son and DIL move near that area (they are looking at it for her trips to USCF for treatments) I will definitely stay there. They are considering the move with a lease coming to an end.
Oh, I’m so glad I mentioned it then! It’s not boutique and nothing fancy at all but we loved that it was just across from GGPark and everything we wanted to do in the Haight plus seeing other districts within walking distance 🙂
Thank you again. We’ve never stayed in anything fancy like the place we were this past weekend in the Bay Area visiting our kids. If it was a move-in weekend, parents weekend or football game at UC Berekely it was the same price or more at a really mediocre or way worse place. We won’t stay across the bridge in SF unless my son and DIL move there. With her every two-week treatments and five years of appointments, they are looking into the area closer to UCSF with their lease coming to an end.
That makes a lot of sense for them I think.
Oh, sounds like a great weekend, so happy for you. Beautiful shots.
It was a perfect weekend. I brought home great memories.
Wow, this looks like a very posh place to stay. The views are magnificent and I’m so glad you got to spend time with your kids and daughter in law. Nothing beats such a vacation.
It was a very posh place to stay. My son has suggested it to us for the past four years and I never looked into it until this past weekend. It turned out it was a bit more expensive than where we usually stay, but not much more at all. But so much more fun and historic.
A quiet feeling of satisfaction seeps into our holiday spirit when we reside in a nice environment.
That’s so true. The little touches of a pianist in the lobby, freshly filtered bottles of water in our room, the gorgeous views. The kids loved that we finally stayed there and they could hang out with us!
Awesome 🫶🏼👌🏼
Agreed: spending time with loved ones, experiencing great moments together, what could be better?
I like the idea of historic places that allow folks to stay: converted castles, even monasteries that have a few rooms they rent out. What spectacular glimpses of history one can get… I once read that in Versailles they had to invent the platter-cover because the palace was designed to impress, not to be practical, and in the journey from the kitchen to the diners, food would get cold 🙃
Spending time with loved ones it the best. I never heard of Versailles and the platter-cover factoid. That’s fascinating.
I read up quite a bit on Versailles when I wrote about “the allure of extremes”, it’s relatively easy for me to get sidetracked into these offshoots of the topic I intend to write about 🙃 I also read that no bathrooms were designed into the original Versailles… Yes, that had exactly the effect you think it did 🥀
Oh my! I have to look at the Allure of extremes.
If you know why we (not you and I, more of a “humanity” type “we”) are so enthralled by extremes, please share! I wrote about it, I read about it, I’m still fascinated by it!
https://endlessweekend2019.wordpress.com/2022/04/27/whats-the-allure-of-extremes/
Thank you for the link. I appreciate it!
Wow, Elizabeth – that is spectacular. I’m so glad you were able to see your kids, DIL and her brother. I’m sure that touch, even if not physical, is so healing for everyone. And fun birthday party as well. Thanks for sharing the trip!
It was a great weekend. The Claremont was the icing on the cake.
It does look like a fabulous hotel! I stayed at a Victorian hotel in San Diego once that was very nice. There were horse-drawn carriages going by in front on a cobblestone street. It sounds like you had a fun-filled trip!
Was it the Hotel Coronado or something in old town San Diego? We had a wonderful trip. I can’t believe how tired I am now.
I can’t recall the name. Say, The NYT covered the border closing story you brought up.
Thanks for letting me know. I think our governor visiting over the weekend finally got some attention to it. I’m not sure anyone is covering what is happening to the beach town without American tourists. Did it say anything about that in the NY Times article? Puerto Penasco or Rocky Point?
Mostly it was about the businesses close to the border, such as in Why and the Mexican equivalent. Did not mention tourism.
I have driven by The Claremont many times but never went inside. Next time I’ll make an effort. I think I’ve stayed in a few historic hotels over the years, including a couple on our recent trip around Arizona. The nearest one that comes to mind is the Hotel Del Coronado here in San Diego, which is gorgeous!
I haven’t stayed in the Hotel Del, but have walked through it. It’s worth walking through the Claremont and staying there if you have the chance. The rooms are super tiny! But I guess that’s part of how it used to be.
Ahhh…..if those wall could talk! Bet they have some fascinating stories!
I loved the old photos they had throughout the hallways. I wanted to stop and stare at all of them.
Nice post ✉️
Thank you!