The location was very good for us because we were arriving and departing by train (15 minute walk to the Amtrak station) and were using BART (eight minute walk) and the ferry (10 minute walk) to get to San Francisco. While there is not much good to say about the immediate environment, Chinatown is just a couple of blocks away as are trendy bars and restaurants as well as established local haunts. The main negative was being in a food desert--the local grocery store listed on the recommended places had closed and the nearest place to buy a carton of milk was 12 blocks away at a Walgreens, which we did quite a bit of wandering to find. For Chinese vegetables, however, there is an abundance of choice. The previous reviews seemed very accurate. Alex stays right on top of things. The room was clean and comfortable. Things were quiet when during our stay. We enjoyed our time here and discovered several of the joys of Oakland, an increasingly impressive and fascinating city.