We celebrated my friend's 60th birthday at The Pearl Banquet Hall, and it was absolutely amazing!…read moreThe decor was beyond our expectations it was simply stunning. The staff was so cooperative and attentive, and the food was the best we ever had at any banquet! The owners, a wonderful husband-and-wife team, went above and beyond to make sure everything went perfectly. They treated every guest with such care and made us feel so special. They were very flexible with timing, let us come early to set up, and even provided a lovely room for changing and storing things. This is truly the best place to celebrate any special occasion -- the owner pours her heart into every detail and makes it feel like it's her own event. Highly recommend

I want to start by saying it's a nice place to rent but their service is really bad. My friend…read moreand I had our wedding there. The owner offered food and decoration packages with a contract that he did not keep. They had a wedding there a night before ours on the big hall, and the owner asked if we would like to use big hall since the small hall was not ready and we said ok, turns out they left the other wedding decorations and just probably cleaned place out for our wedding. The decorations was not the ones we had picked. The food was not the food we asked for or like it said on contract. The beef looked like it was a day old , all dry and like they had re warmed it. Not enough plates or food and it was suppose to be buffet. Some plates were even dirty. There were no plates for the fruit salad that was part of the menu and people had to put fruit on there food plates. Some of the servers were underdressed , wearing a crop shirt and jeans, not appropriate for a wedding. It was pretty much of a mess but couldn't do anything at the moment since it was our wedding day and the wedding had to go on. The day we went to talk to Jamal he was rude and mean he said he had incoming event and that we can come over get some of the food and take it so we can throw our own wedding again. That is not right for some who got your money to do a good job and didn't. We had read some bad reviews about this place but didn't think it was bad or even real, but we were wrong for not paying attention to the reviews.

I'll start this review by saying how over the moon I was to have hosted my daughters quinceañera at…read morethe gemstone hall (aka the peacock) last night! Habib and his staff went above and beyond to make sure that every detail went off without a hitch! We met months before to plan the event and decided for the all inclusive package and we're glad we did. You can't go wrong here... 5 stars!!! And the birria is bomb!!

If you are looking for a great venue for a wedding or any major event, I highly recommend Gemstone…read moreHall. It's a beautiful, unique space that is essentially a "blank canvas" for you to create an event with no preferred vendors. We had our wedding at this venue. Our guests had a wonderful time and everything turned out perfectly. FEATURES WE LOVE ABOUT GEMSTONE HALL: - Blank canvas to create a unique look & feel for our multicultural wedding - No preferred vendors - Ability to stock our own bar - Ability to bring in a food truck & other catering - Visually stunning to take photos - Responsive and helpful site managers - Easy load-in and load out - Straight forward pricing - Ability to hold up to 500 guests easily We were able to drop off our event items the day before, which really helped us logistically. Anything we didn't drop off ourselves were delivered by our vendors. Everyone we worked with were incredibly responsive and easy to work with. To top it off, the staff are a very helpful who seem to take pride in their work, which is a really nice energy to be around. Habib and Nathan make a remarkable team and give each event that special touch that makes all the difference. Thank you Gemstone Hall for your quick replies and endless patience with us over the last few months. Especially last minute changes (on the day of the wedding changes) our wedding venue turned out better than we ever imagined!

Great experience decorating at this venue space. The staff was professional, cordial, and easy to…read morework with throughout the entire process. My team and I had the pleasure of creating a beautiful custom backdrop for our client's special celebration, and the venue provided a wonderful setting to bring the design to life. To see more of our work and this event, visit www.fourfortyfourevents.com. -- Four Forty Four Events

We recently celebrated my daughter's 7th birthday at Sapphire Banquet Hall, and once again, it was…read moresuch a wonderful experience from start to finish! This is actually the second time we've rented the hall, and they continue to exceed our expectations. The venue is beautiful, spacious, and very clean--perfect for hosting a lively group of kids and adults. There was plenty of room for decorations, games, and dancing, and everything came together exactly how we envisioned it. Our guests had nothing but great things to say about the space and atmosphere. A special thank you to Mohammed, who was incredibly helpful throughout the entire process. He is easy to talk to, very accommodating, and always available to answer questions. He truly makes the planning process smooth and stress-free. We're so happy we chose Sapphire Banquet Hall again for such a special milestone. I highly recommend them for birthday parties and any special event--you won't be disappointed!

Came here for the first time last weekend and it was so much fun! It definitely won't be the last…read moretime either! This Dirty Bird of Paradise/'Lounge' area is downstairs. Once you enter in the bar, go to the right, they'll give you a stamp on your hand, and then you can head downstairs. There are many lounge areas, and small tables & chairs to sit and drink at. There are also pool tables to use for free! There's also a DJ that plays GOOD r&b, hip hop, pop, and even some throwbacks too! The DJ that night took song requests and even gave a shoutout to the birthday girl in our group too. The cocktails were good, and I'm sad I didn't take pictures of it (had too much fun). The waitress will come to your table and you can order there OR you can also order at the bar. When I ordered at the bar, the waitress was so nice and helped me bring the drinks over to our table. I also had a taste of the fries, and the cups and guac and it was tasty too! There's some parking right infront or a parking lot behind the bar. I will definitely come back!

Drinks 4 Service 4…read more Ambiance 5 Food 4 We came here on a slow Tuesday night. They were about 10-15 other guests but the places so big and spacious that it almost felt like we had a place to ourselves. There's a spot for a DJ/music and I can only imagine that they have some great shows here. The bartender was attentive, and while they weren't very personable you could tell that they knew several of the regulars. I didn't drink anything fancy, bourbon neat, but it was a fair pour. You order food separately. We are fish tacos, wings & nachos. The fish was fried and coleslaw had a touch of mayonnaise but not too much. This was my favorite dish. The wings of the nachos or what you expect, definitely flavorful and cooked well. We liked the crowd and will definitely be back to listen to some music and check out the lounge downstairs.

Great experience decorating at this venue space. The staff was professional, cordial, and easy to…read morework with throughout the entire process. My team and I had the pleasure of creating a beautiful custom backdrop for our client's special celebration, and the venue provided a wonderful setting to bring the design to life. To see more of our work and this event, visit www.fourfortyfourevents.com. -- Four Forty Four Events

Horrible experience. Layla -- the DIRECTOR OF SPECIAL EVENTS did not want to help out at all, I had…read moreasked multiple times for an extra table within the short time we were given, and she did not give us a table until 10 people later, who had to ask her. I'm not sure if miss Layla is incompetent, because she also told us to "get out" after we told her that our event is almost done, and she continue to be rude.Staff also took away PAID food that guest either wanted to pack away to go or for those who arrived late. I thought it was very unacceptable and rude of the staff to do such. Layla attitude and customer service should not qualify to be at a so call country club, if this is how you treat your guest. No hospitality, just very hostile and seemed like she did not want to be there. If you do not want to do your job nor be there, QUIT, don't make the guest feel unwelcome, when this venue is being paid for. They're are also DELETING REVIEWS! I'll be making a public post on my social media platforms as well, since the company is deleting reviews! For a venue that charges its prices--it's pretty crappy!! I hope Layla and Cynthia read this along with the staff! This doesn't even deserve a one star! No stars would be more accurate.

Great experience decorating at this venue space. The staff was professional, cordial, and easy to…read morework with throughout the entire process. My team and I had the pleasure of creating a beautiful custom backdrop for our client's special celebration, and the venue provided a wonderful setting to bring the design to life. To see more of our work and this event, visit www.fourfortyfourevents.com. -- Four Forty Four Events

Disappointed and horrible event manager. I attended a…read morecelebration of life, a very sad time. The room was set up banquet style with a buffet in the back. As guest started pouring in, including myself, the manager was yelling at guest to wait & not sit. When she opened the buffet and people walked by to take a look at it. She would yell at them to start at a certain end of the table versus asking them. The catered food provided by Mission Paradise was below average. I understand why the family chose this location due to proximity to the cemetery but the catering manager/food was horrible. On the flipside the only good thing about this place is the location/parking and they allowed the host family to bing in their cultural dishes to supplement the buffet.

Today I visited Meek Park with my doggie client as I want to take her to beautiful park hence why…read morewe were here this morning. I haven't been to Meek Park since 2017?! Oh my goodness that's so long ago. Meek Park today is still as lovely as I remembered it, but even better because they now have the water fountain flowing. The grounds are maintained well with beautiful lush grass and pretty flowers. I also saw some cute cats in their garden area. They have a parking lot with plenty of spots. The playgound looks whimsy and elegant at the same time. I'm so happy that their poop bag stations have actual poop bags! I had poop bags with me, but it's just so helpful when a park also provides poop bags as well just in case people need them. I think they have a restroom area if I remember correctly. I know there was an area with plenty of picnic tables.

A very nice park, with the Meek Mansion as the centerpiece!!…read more Meek Mansion is a historic victorian house surrounded by gardens. The whole park is fenced off, with locking gates to the parking lot. There are many paved trails here, along with picnic areas and playgrounds. There are always people here walking the trail along the outer edge of the park. I have not yet been inside of the mansion, but this park is nice enough to go to on its own. But checking out the inside of this mansion is definitely on my to do list!!!!

Five stars because it costs no yen…read more As far as Japanese gardens go, this one is my least favorite because it is rectangular, with a visible metal fence perimeter, with ugly trash and graffiti visible from across the creek and no opportunities to feed the koi fish. Three things, though, that make it special is that they have memorial plaques, stray cats, and blowtorched wood for an aged and weather-resistant finish. From 1913-1962, the site was a practice site for farming and raising livestock for Hayward Union High. It became a garden by the late 1970s, and when dedicated in 1980, focusing on botany (with plants donated by local Japanese-American nurseries) rather than religion. Every first Saturday at 1pm there's a free lecture/tour. It's not especially beautiful or big (3.5 acres) or exciting (the few people I saw there were on their phones), but it's a peaceful, clean area. I think informational displays could help people enjoy it more. Or phone chargers. Information like, many of the wooden connections (including the main entry gate) have notches instead of notches to fit together like puzzle pieces. This more authentic approach prevents rust. Or, the garden uses the Shakkei technique: when you can stand at the highest point, the surrounding trees are meant to look like distant mountains, with specific plants blended with the Japanese maples and native Oaks to make the garden feel ten timers larger than its actual 3.5 acres. Or, the hand-selected granite boulders from the Sierra Nevadas are buried one-third into the ground so it looks like they are growing, which is why I don't manicure myself often. .

I did not know this place existed until my partner found this and brought his family here…read more It's a nice, serene and scenic short walk with plenty of nice photo spots and benches to sit and take in the greenery. I loved seeing all the koi, bansai and various plants they had in the area. It is well worth a visit to come check it out!