# Graduate Berkeley

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"Durant Hotel" redirects here. For the former hotel (and current apartment building) in Flint, Michigan, see [The Durant](/source/The_Durant).

The **Graduate by Hilton Berkeley** is a historic [boutique hotel](/source/Boutique_hotel) located in [Berkeley, California](/source/Berkeley,_California) in the United States. It is located in downtown Berkeley, just off campus of the [University of California, Berkeley](/source/University_of_California,_Berkeley). The hotel is listed on the Berkeley [register of historic places](/source/List_of_Berkeley_Landmarks,_Structures_of_Merit,_and_Historic_Districts).

## History

The **Hotel Durant** was built, in the [Spanish Colonial style](/source/Spanish_Colonial_architecture), in 1928.[1] It was designed by [W. H. Weeks](/source/W._H._Weeks).[2] It had 140 rooms and was both fire and earthquake resistant.[1] It also had one of the first [basement](/source/Basement) garages in the area.[3]

It was named for [Henry Durant](/source/Henry_Durant).[4] The bar, Henry's Publick House, is also a tribute to him. When the hotel opened it was described as a "modern luxury hotel". [Harry Truman](/source/Harry_Truman) stayed at the hotel once.[1]

### Hostage incident

Main article: [Henry's Pub Hostage Incident](/source/Henry's_Pub_Hostage_Incident)

In 1990, 33 [hostages](/source/Hostage) were held at gun point at Henry's for seven hours by University of California, Berkeley student, Mehrdad Dashti, who had [schizophrenia](/source/Schizophrenia). The hotel bar was raided by [police](/source/Police) during the hold up. Dashti killed one hostage and an additional seven people were wounded.[5]

### Recent History

As of 2006, the hotel was owned and managed by Creative Hospitality. In 2007, the property was purchased by [Joie de Vivre Hospitality](/source/Joie_de_Vivre_Hospitality) for $14 million.[6] Joie de Vivre invested $9 million in renovating the property.[4] The hotel was in [default](/source/Default_(finance)) in 2011 and the [Royal Bank of Scotland](/source/Royal_Bank_of_Scotland) took over as owner. Joie de Vivre continued to manage the property.[7] In September 2012 it was put up for sale.[4] The property was marketed by HVS Capital Corporation. In early 2013, they sold the hotel for approximately $27.3 million to Gemstone Hotels & Resorts.[7] Upon the purchase, 98% of the staff remained from the previous ownership. The hotel is frequented by visitors to the university.[3] In September 2015 it was purchased from Gemstone Hotels and Elliott Management Co. by Chicago-based Graduate Hotels for $47.5 million and renovated extensively, particularly the lobby and restaurant.[8] Upon completion of renovations, the hotel was reopened as **Graduate Berkeley** in May 2017.[9][10]

[Hilton Worldwide](/source/Hilton_Worldwide) bought the Graduate Hotels brand in May 2024, and operates the hotel as **Graduate by Hilton Berkeley**. However, the Graduate Hotels structures are still owned by [AJ Capital Partners](/source/AJ_Capital_Partners).[11]

## Facilities

The hotel's theme is based on the University of California, Berkeley. [Lonely Planet](/source/Lonely_Planet) describes it as "cheekily" in style. A [mobile](/source/Mobile_(sculpture)) made of books hangs from the lobby ceiling. The walls of the lobby are decorated in [yearbook](/source/Yearbook) photos from the university. Hotel rooms feature "[dictionary](/source/Dictionary)-covered shower curtains and [bongs](/source/Bong) repurposed as bedside lamps."[12]

The [gastropub](/source/Gastropub) inside the hotel is Henry's Publick House.[7] In 2009, Henry's "Everything but the Kitchen Sink Bloody Mary" [Bloody Mary](/source/Bloody_Mary_(cocktail)) was voted the best in the [East Bay](/source/East_Bay_(San_Francisco_Bay_Area)) by *[East Bay Express](/source/East_Bay_Express)*. The bloody mary features [tomato juice](/source/Tomato_juice) made in-house and is topped off with a splash of [Guinness](/source/Guinness).[13]

## References

1. ["Hotel Durant"](http://berkeleyplaques.org/e-plaque/hotel-durant/). *Berkeley Historical Plaque Project*. Retrieved 14 August 2014.

1. Simmons, Christopher. ["Historic Hotel Durant to Be Sold: Named for Cal's First President, William Weeks Designed Boutique Opened in 1928"](https://web.archive.org/web/20140812132857/http://californianewswire.com/2012/09/04/CNW12358_235801.php/historic-hotel-durant-to-be-sold-named-for-cals-first-president-william-weeks-designed-boutique-opened-in-1928/). *California Newswire*. Archived from [the original](http://californianewswire.com/2012/09/04/CNW12358_235801.php/historic-hotel-durant-to-be-sold-named-for-cals-first-president-william-weeks-designed-boutique-opened-in-1928/) on 12 August 2014. Retrieved 14 August 2014.

1. Fowler, Carol (1 November 2002). *Insiders' Guide to Berkeley and the East Bay*. Insiders' Guides. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-7627-2373-7.

1. Dineen, J.K. & Torres, Bianca (14 Sep 2012). ["Cannae Partners pays $9.5M for Eastern Outfitting building"](http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/print-edition/2012/09/14/cannae-partners-pays-95m-for-eastern.html?page=all). *San Francisco Business Times*. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 14 August 2014.

1. Gross, Jane. ["Berkeley Gunman Kills Student Taken Hostage"](https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/28/us/berkeley-gunman-kills-student-taken-hostage.html). *The New York Times*. Retrieved 14 August 2014.

1. Tate, Ryan (5 Aug 2007). ["Hotel firm Joie de Vivre makes first East Bay foray"](http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/stories/2007/08/06/story5.html). *San Francisco Business Times*. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 14 August 2014.

1. Torres, Bianca (14 Feb 2013). ["Berkeley's Hotel Durant sells for $27.3M"](http://www.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/blog/real-estate/2013/02/berkeleys-hotel-durant-sells-for-273m.html). *San Francisco Business Times*. American City Business Journals. Retrieved 14 August 2014.

1. Pender, Kathleen (23 Mar 2017). ["After renovation, Berkeley's Hotel Durant keeps quirky charm"](https://www.sfchronicle.com/business/networth/article/After-renovation-Berkeley-s-Hotel-Durant-keeps-11021092.php). *SF Chronicle*. Retrieved 11 Nov 2018.

1. Mara, Janis (9 May 2017). ["Storied Hotel Durant reborn as revamped Graduate Berkeley"](https://www.berkeleyside.com/2017/05/09/storied-hotel-durant-reborn-revamped-graduate-berkeley). *Berkeleyside*. Retrieved 14 Nov 2018.

1. Lochner, Tom (31 Mar 2017). ["Berkeley: Former Hotel Durant to reopen as Graduate Berkeley"](https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2017/03/31/berkeley-former-hotel-durant-to-reopen-as-graduate-berkeley/). *East Bay Times*. Retrieved 14 Nov 2018.

1. Miller, Dana (3 Apr 2024). ["Americas Hotel Pulse: Hilton To Buy Graduate Hotels for $210 Million"](https://www.costar.com/article/1939406884/americas-hotel-pulse-hilton-to-buy-graduate-hotels-for-210-million). *Costar.com*. CoStar Group. Retrieved 2 Sep 2024.

1. ["Hotel Durant"](http://www.lonelyplanet.com/usa/california/berkeley/hotels/hotel-durant). *Lonely Planet*. Retrieved 4 December 2018.

1. ["Best Bloody Mary"](http://www.eastbayexpress.com/oakland/best-bloody-mary/BestOf?oid=1372225). *East Bay Express/Best Of The East Bay 2009*. Retrieved 4 December 2018.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Graduate Berkeley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_Berkeley) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graduate_Berkeley?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.