The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa

Claremont Hotel Club & Spa, an official Cal Alumni Association partner, offering CAA members special discounts!

The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa,  an official partner of the Cal Alumni Association, is pleased to offer special discounts to CAA members. Make the us your home away from home while enjoying the excitement of the games, concerts and performances!

CAA Members receive 10% off *:

    * Room rates, Sunday through Thursday, use code GOBEARS
    * Spa services and retail, except on Saturday
    * Banquet menu prices for social catering events

Wednesday Cal Alumni Happy Hour 6-10pm
    * 15% off Paragon Bar & Café Bar menu
    * Drink Specials: $4 draft beers $5 wine $6 well drinks

Athletics at Memorial Stadium - Only a mile from Memorial Stadium and with accomodations, choice of 2 restaurants, retail shop stocked with Cal Gear and a shuttle to the stadium, The Claremont Hotel, Club & Spa is perfect for those pre and post game celebrations! Don't forget the Cal Football Post-game Radio Show at the Paragon Bar & Café this Fall! The Claremont Hotel, Club & Spa is a proud Corporate Sponsor of ISP Sports and Cal Athletics. Click to view upcoming Football and Basketball schedules.

Greek Theatre - Two miles from the Claremont Hotel Club & Spa,  the William Randolph Hearst Greek Theatre is located on the UC Berkeley Campus in the foothills overlooking the San Francisco Bay. The Greek Theatre is an outdoor, very intimate venue with events scheduled May through October. Click here to view upcoming concerts.

Cal Performances - Cal Performances is the UC Berkeley-based presenting, commissioning and producing organization for world-class music, dance and theater events. The Claremont is the perfect place to dine before a show, just over a mile away; you have enough time to wine and dine before enjoying the fine arts! Click here to view upcoming performances.

Whether it's sports, concerts or performances, enjoy the priviledges of a CAA discount here at the Claremont Hotel Club & Spa. Click here to book a Cal Alumni Special rates*.

*You must present your Cal Alumni Association card to receive these specials offer.

Chef Josh Thomsen pairs with Tres Sabores Winery for an exquisite culinary & wine event - North American Tour 2010 - Outstanding in the Field!

Our own Chef Josh Thomsen will be part of the North American Tour 2010 - Outstanding in the Field event on July 3. The host will be the unique Napa Valley Tres Sabores Winery, a small artisan operation by proprietor and winemaker, Julie Johnson.

Meritage at the Claremont's Chef Josh Thomsen will be cooking up first class culinary creations to pair with any of Tres Sabores' five classic blend. His menus reflect his deep passion for fresh food and his skill at pairing each dish perfectly with the wines. It is not surprise that he was recently named a “Rising Star Chef” award winner for 2010 by StarChefs.

But if you haven't already purchased tickets for this wonderful event, you can still indulge in the exquisite cuisine of Chef Thomsen at the Meritage at Claremont in Berkeley anytime!

July 4th Fireworks at Berkeley Marina - A full day & evening of fun activities then enjoy a peaceful rest at the Claremont Hotel Club & Spa!

Only in Berkeley can you enjoy all these activities with free admission!

Come enjoy the biggest party on the South Shore of the Berkeley Marina from noon-10PM.

Then enjoy a peaceful rest at the Claremont Hotel Club & Spa. Celebrate the Red, White and Blue Berkeley style!

• Music, dancers, jugglers
• Live entertainment Noon - 9 pm
• Arts & Crafts booth
• International Food booths
• Face painting
• Giant slide
• Beautiful Beach
• Kids Adventure Playground 11 am - 8 pm
• Arts & Craft booths
• Free Sailboat rides 1 pm - 4 pm
• Dragon Boat rides 2 pm - 6 pm
• Grand Fireworks Display - starting 9:30 pm at the end of the Berkeley Pier

Free admission. Alcohol-free event. For more information, click here.

Memorial Day Weekend at the Claremont Hotel!

Memorial Day weekend marks the symbolic start of summer: the weather warms up, schools are winding down and families everywhere are taking their first trip of the season.  All cause for celebration here at the Claremont Hotel!  And celebrate we do with special offers and events.

The Claremont Hotel will host a poolside Memorial Day barbeque at our Bayview Café on Monday.  This event is a special treat for our Hotel guests and members of the Club at the Claremont.  We will have music, drinks and amazing food prepared by Executive Chef Josh Thomsen and his team.  The grill is ready to be fired up after a winter of hibernation.

If you haven’t yet made plans for your three-day weekend, we would be happy to welcome you!  We have a few rooms left and we are offering our popular Beat the Heat package over this holiday weekend.  The Beat the Heat package is remarkably affordable, and this weekend the rates start at $219 per night.  The package includes room, tax, facilities charge (regularly $24 per night), overnight parking (regularly $24 per night), and a $20 per day credit at any of our restaurants, including Meritage.

As our guest you will be able to enjoy two heated pools, plus our Kids’ Activity pool, take a turn on our tennis courts, prepare your body, mind, and spirit for summer in one of the fitness classes or at Spa Claremont, or simply relax on the deck at Paragon.  Spa Claremont has extended its hours on Sunday and Monday so you can schedule a treatment at your convenience.

We love summer here at the Claremont.  The outdoors calls us to leave our computers and spend time with friends and family rediscovering all that the Bay Area has to offer.  So get out there and explore.  Just know we have a comfortable bed and a cozy room ready for you when you come back from your day of adventure.

Showcasing the Bay Area's vibrant world music scene - 7th Annual Berkeley World Music Festival on Telegraph Ave - June 5, Noon - 9 pm!

On June 5th from Noon to 9 you can enjoy free continuous performances by some of the finest world music artists at the 7th Annual Berkeley World Music Festival. It offers a mix of intimate performances on this music tour along Telegraph Avenue in cafes, shops as well as a featured concert in People's Park from 1- 6 pm. Click here to check out who will be performing and where. 

Along with the Music Festival there will be the International Craft Bazaar and the Berkeley Poetry Festival. After the Music Festival there will be the After-Festival Party at Askkenaz - $12 cover starts at 9:30pm.

It's a day in Berkeley that has something for everyone. Enjoy the festivities and then come relax at The Claremont Hotel Club and Spa! Visit our website for hotel information.

Berkeley Wine Festival Comes to a Close

Tonight we celebrate the successful conclusion of the first annual Berkeley Wine Festival here at the Claremont Hotel!  The Closing Reception will be a chance to taste wines from this year's participating wineries, get a sneak peek at what might be on the schedule for the 2011 Berkeley Wine Festival, and share stories of this year's highlights.

First we want to extend a huge thank you and congratulations for this year's participating vintners: Larry Maguire from Far Niente, Chris Benziger from Benziger Family Winery, John Williams from Frog's Leap, Jack Bittner from Cliff Lede Vineyards, Dan Duckhorn from Duckhorn Wine Company, Daniel Baron from Silver Oak Cellars, Dennis Cakebread from Cakebread Cellars, and Damien Parker from Joseph Phelps Vineyards, plus all the wineries who poured at both the Opening and Closing Receptions.  Each of you went above and beyond to bring your passion for wine to all the dinner attendees.  You also brought some outstanding wines!  The lucky folks who attended the dinners were delighted by the quality of the wines you provided, as well as the generosity of your hospitality.  Again, thank you!

We also cannot reflect on this year's festival without giving credit where it is due.  Executive Chef Josh Thomsen did a phenomenal job of creating and preparing amazing food for each winemaker dinner.  His menus reflected his deep passion for fresh food and his skill at pairing each dish perfectly with the wines brought in by the vintners.  Simply put, guests at every dinner were blown away by Chef Thomsen's food.  It is no wonder that Star Chefs named him a Rising Star Chef for 2010!

Tonight we will look back at what this year’s Berkeley Wine Festival has meant, but we also will be looking at how we can make the 2011 Berkeley Wine Festival even more successful.  We look forward to partnering with new vintners and to bringing more of our local community into the Festival.  It is exciting to consider that we are at the beginning of what can become the wine festival of the East Bay!

Tickets are still available for tonight’s reception at www.berkeleywinefestival.com.

Chef Thomsen at the Opening Reception

Berkeley Arts Festival - Full month of May Celebration - "in Berkeley every day is an arts festival"

Celebrating all month long, the Berkeley Arts Festival is another exciting reason to visit Berkeley in the Springtime! The first month long Berkeley Arts Festival began in 1997 and is going strong!

As they wrote on their website "in Berkeley every day is an arts festival", we couldn't agree more! May scheduled events below. Also click the link to see other events held through out the year in Berkeley.

May Schedule

5, 6,  7 — Return of John Schott's Typical Orchestra with Steve Adams, John Hanes, & Dan Seamans
7 — Pianist Jerry Kuderna lunch concert, noon
9 — India Cooke-Bill Crossman Duo, improv and compositions for violin and piano
12 — Poetry reading Peter Dale Scott, Chana Bloch, Diana O'Hehir, Sandra Gilbert, 7:30pm
13 — Luciano Chessa
14 — Kuderna lunch concert, noon
14 — Berkeley CO and War Resisters Film Night, 7:30pm
15 — Jerry Kuderna, piano and Anna Carole Dudley
19 — Dean Santomieri, multimedia with Julie Oxendale
21 — Kuderna lunch concert, noon
21 — Steve Adams-John Hanes ambient duo with video projections
25 — Graham Connah's "Ted 'Lachrymose' Brinkley's Horrnblower Cruise" big band and glee club
26 — Sarah Wilson Quintet with John Schott, Sheldon Brown, Jordan Glenn and Lisa Mezzacappa
27 — The D'Armous Boone Experience
28 — Kuderna lunch concert, noon
28 — Phillip Greenlief's Citti di vitti with John Hanes and Lisa Mezzacappa
30 — Dan Ploney's Daniel Popsickle, 7pm
31 — Arnie Passman's Take Back Gandhi's 9/11

All events at 8 pm unless noted otherwise.
Location: Judah L. Magnes Museum, 2121 Allston Way, Berkeley CA

Visit the Claremont Hotel Club & Spa and experience all that Berkeley has to offer!

The Berkeley Wine Festival Winemaker Dinner Series - Joseph Phelps Vineyards - May 5th and Closing Reception - May 7th!

The Berkeley Wine Festival Winemaker Dinner Series featuring :

Joseph Phelps Vineyards
May 5th, Wednesday
Seminar and Dinner, 6:30 pm, $185
Dinner only, 7:30 pm, $155

Founded in 1972, Joseph Phelps Vineyards is an independent, estate-based winery located outside St. Helena. Damian Parker, vice president and director of wine making for Joseph Phelps, will join us for a seminar featuring wines from their Freestone project. A four course dinner will follow with a full range of wines, including their famous Bordeaux blend, Insignia.

This dinner and seminar promises to be a very memorable evening for all!

The winemaker dinner will be held in the Meritage Private Dining Room.  Click here to purchase tickets.

CLOSING RECEPTION
Friday, May 7th

Concluding our First Annual Berkeley Wine Festival with a celebration of some of the year's favorite wines. There will also be a preview of wineries you can anticipate enjoying in 2011!

Click here to purchase tickets to the Closing Reception for Friday, May 7th.

Start a new wine tradition at the Claremont!

The Berkeley Wine Festival Winemaker Dinner Series - Cakebread Cellars - April 28th!

Hurry as there are only a couple of evenings left to indulge in the Berkeley First Annual Wine Festival!

Next Wednesday April 28th, Dennis Cakebread of Cakebread Cellars is hosting a dinner featuring a variety of their sauvignon blanc, merlot, and reserve wines from the Napa Valley. Thirty years after their first vintage, Cakebread Cellars continues its dedication to making the highest quality of wines. With Chef Thomsen creating dishes that flawlessly pair with these spectacular wines, it will be a night to remember.

Cakebread Cellars
Reception and Dinner
Wednesday April 28th, 6:30 pm, $130
Click here to purchase tickets.

The Festival runs through May 7th, so look for information on upcoming events on the calendar. Start a new wine tradition at the Claremont!

The Wedding Experience

Your wedding is the reason your friends and family will gather together.  They will be there to witness you publicly proclaim your love and commitment for each other, and they want to celebrate your joy!  When reading some of the wonderful wedding blogs out there, one thing that brides and grooms seem to have cherished is having the opportunity to spend time with their guests outside of the wedding day itself.  The events do not have to be elaborate or formal, just excuses for spending some quality time with the people you love.

When planning a wedding, it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the pressure to have the “perfect” wedding, to be the “perfect” hosts, and to create the “perfect” experience for your guests.  Well, we at the Claremont are here to let you in on a little secret: there is no formula for perfection.  What our wedding planners understand is that a wedding, or any related event, that is authentic to you as a couple will be far more memorable and meaningful for both you and your guests.

Before delving into that “how to plan a perfect wedding” checklist, take a step back and consider which events hold special meaning to you, and consider using one venue to host multiple events to keep things more sane.  The Claremont Hotel Club & Spa is the type of venue that can certainly help you create a wonderful wedding experience for you and your guests, with the bonus being they don’t have to drive all over town!

If your friends and family are scattered all over and have not spent much time together, then holding a fun, casual poolside barbecue at the Pool Arbor the day before your wedding might be the perfect way to facilitate some pre-wedding bonding among your two communities.  Throw in a few party games and by the end of the day your guests will have had the time of their lives and will be looking forward to spending even more time together at your wedding.

If you never get to see your best friends from college or high school, meeting up at a lounge like Paragon after the formalities of the rehearsal dinner will give you a chance to relax and catch-up in an intimate yet energetic environment.

If you want nothing more than to spend some time relaxing with those closest to you the day after the wedding, brunch at Meritage, or in one of Meritage’s private rooms, may be the best way to enjoy your guests for just a bit longer and to say your good-byes without feeling rushed.

Making your guests feel welcome, included and loved will help set the tone for your entire wedding experience.  Let us help create an experience that truly reflects you!