Travel and Lodging
SORMA West 2008 welcomes you to a hotel in a unique setting and to a distinguished campus in a city like no other.
NOTE May 15: The block of rooms at the Berkeley Marina Doubletree at the steeply discounted SORMA rate is sold out. The hotel does have a limited number of rooms left at a rate of $199.00 per night. To book one of these rooms, please call the Marina Doubletree at 510-665-7133 to and mention you are with SORMA West 2008.
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Hilton Garden Inn has a limited number of rooms at the alternate government rate of $129.00 per night. Please call the Hilton Garden Inn at 1-510-658-9300 to book your reservation and mention you would like the alternate government rate.
Hotel
The Berkeley Marina Doubletree, is in a picturesque setting at the marina and Eastshore State Park
Local Transportation and Parking during the Conference
Chartered shuttle service will take you to and from the SORMA West 2008 meeting venue on the Berkeley campus at peak hours.
Parking on and near the east side of the campus, where SORMA West 2008 events will take place in Stanley Hall, Sibley Auditorium, and International House, is limited, costs approximately $15, and involves a walk of a few city blocks. If you have a rental car, or if you are on local travel and are not staying at a hotel, consider leaving it at the Doubletree and taking our shuttle service to the conference venue.
Parking on the street involves a time limit unless you have a neighborhood-resident sticker, a restriction enforced by frequent patrols.
As SORMA West 2008 draws closer, this page will be updated with suggestions on the cost, availability, and locations of University parking lots. Shuttle-bus options for Bay Area residents who choose to take BART will also be listed.
Air Travel
Two major airports serve the northern Bay Area—OAK(Oakland) and SFO (San Francisco).Ground Transportation
From the Airports to Downtown Berkeley via BART
Getting from these airports to Berkeley by public transit is reasonable because the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train system links us with both of them. Your destination is the Downtown Berkeley station. BART has an online trip planner that creates your itinerary based on date and either desired arrival time or likely boarding time.
The BART website has rider’s guides for SFO and for OAK. (The OAK trip involves a ten-minute, $3 ride on a express bus called AirBART, which runs between the middle of three transit pavilions just outside the concourse and the entrance to the Coliseum BART station.)
From Downtown Berkeley BART to the Doubletree
The Berkeley Marina Doubletree Hotel is approximately four miles from the conference venue and three miles from Downtown Berkeley BART, off the west end of University Avenue. The Doubletree has an on-demand shuttle for their guests; call 1 (510) 548-7920 when you arrive at Downtown Berkeley BART. Alternately, taxicabs wait on Center Street at the corner of Shattuck Avenue, where you come off the escalator from BART.
Shuttle Services and Rental Cars
A door-to-door shuttle is another popular option to and from SFO or OAK. (When interpreting these maps and tables, keep in mind that Berkeley is in Alameda County, part of the "East Bay" region.) BayPorter is among the popular choices.
Rental cars are available at both airports.
Driving to the Doubletree
The hotel's website has driving directions from the airports. (For those familiar with the area's freeways: take the University Avenue exit from northbound I-880, make a U-turn at Seventh Street, cross over the freeway on westbound University, and turn right on Marina.)
Weather
In early June, the Bay Area usually has clear or partly cloudy skies and pleasant temperatures (mid 60s to low 70s F, low to mid teens C) with a low chance of either rain or fog. Muir Woods weather is slightly cooler than that of Berkeley, with a greater chance of fog.