Claremont Resort
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| Claremont Hotel | |
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| U.S. National Register of Historic Places | |
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| Location: | Oakland, California & Berkeley, California |
| Coordinates: | Coordinates: |
| Built/Founded: | 1906 |
| Architect: | Charles William Dickey; Walter D. Reed |
| Architectural style(s): | Tudor Revival, Classical Revival |
| Added to NRHP: | May 22, 2003 |
| NRHP Reference#: | 03000427 [1] |
| Governing body: | Private |
The Claremont Resort & Spa is a historic hotel that straddles the border between Berkeley and Oakland, California. It is located at the foot of Claremont Canyon in the Berkeley Hills, providing the resort with scenic views of San Francisco Bay. The Claremont currently has 279 guest rooms, award-winning 20,000 square foot spa, 10 tennis courts, and 22 acres of landscaped gardens. Romantic stories tell that it was once won in a checkers game.
The Claremont Resort opened in 1915 as the Claremont Hotel, named for the Claremont district in which it was situated. It was constructed by a group of real estate developers associated with the Key System who had already opened up another large hotel in Oakland at Grand Avenue and Broadway called the Key Route Inn. The Key Route Inn, which suffered a serious fire in September of 1930 and was demolished in April and May of 1932, featured the convenience of a transbay electric rail line running through it (eventually designated the "B" line: see photo link below). Similarly, a transbay line was run right to the doors of the Claremont Hotel (eventually designated the "E" line), approaching from between the tennis courts. The tennis courts still exist to this day, but the tracks were removed in 1958 when the Key System ended rail service. Thus, Claremont Hotel guests not only had a magnificent view of San Francisco, but they could also go there directly.
After the repeal of Prohibition, the Claremont Hotel continued to suffer from a state law banning the sale of alcohol within one mile of the University of California, Berkeley. In 1936, an enterprising student and her friends measured several of the possible routes, finding that the shortest distance from the school to the hotel's front steps was a few feet over a mile. The Claremont immediately opened a bar and awarded the student free drinks for life.[2]
The hotel had an unusual fire escape, a multi-story spiral slide for guests to make their escape. Many local teenagers were said to have taken the ride but the slide was eventually boarded up, and removed.
The Claremont faced destruction in the 1991 Oakland firestorm, but the flames were stopped just short of the hotel.
The main hotel building is entirely in Oakland. However, the southwestern corner of the property owned by the resort falls within the city limits of Berkeley.[3] Part of this section has been leased to the Berkeley Tennis Club since 1917.[4] The rest of it is part of the resort's gardens and parking area, and is used as the resort's mailing address (41 Tunnel Road, Berkeley CA 94705).
[edit] References
- ^ National Register Information System. National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service (2007-01-23).
- ^ The Claremont Hotel History: Free Drinks for Life
- ^ Berkeley Zoning Map
- ^ The Berkeley Tennis Club: About the Club...
[edit] External links
- Claremont Resort website
- History of Claremont Resort from the Official Website
- Photo: Key System E Train Leaving the Claremont Hotel
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