Going to San Jose, Where to Stay?

June 30, 2019 12:54 PM

Mr. Darling, the two kiddos and I are heading to San Jose in August. We will be staying with family for two nights near Los Gatos and then will relocate to San Jose for two nights. We want to be somewhere walking friendly but we will have a car. Any suggestions?
posted by tafetta, darling! to Travel & Transportation around San Jose, CA (5 answers total)

What do you want to do? What's your budget? There are a bunch of hotels downtown near the convention center that are central to all the downtown restaurants/walking/museums/SJ State adjacent whatnot, etc, but I imagine they're on the expensive side. SJ is spread out, however, too -- being downtown gets you some walking, but there's plenty of other stuff (Computer History Museum, etc) that isn't right there. Parking downtown is not entirely pleasant but is do-able, and Lyft/Uber are plentiful, so if you wanted to stay somewhere less central to save money, you probably could.
posted by Alterscape at 2:35 PM on June 30, 2019

I stayed at the Arena Hotel a few years ago with my partner; we ended up in this massive room with a hot tub, and they have parking. I think we visited the Municipal Rose Garden (probably better in August than April?) and my partner thought people at the coffee shop nearby, Hannah Coffee and Sweets, were preternaturally happy to be there.
posted by batter_my_heart at 6:23 PM on June 30, 2019

Hotel De Anza is a beautiful 1930s deco building right in downtown on Santa Clara Ave. It’s nextdoor to much of San José’s downtown eating, drinking, and music.
posted by migurski at 10:25 PM on June 30, 2019

Depending on age of kiddos - and given it can be pretty hot and dry in San Jose through summer I’d suggest:

- Stay somewhere with a pool (or near a public pool - though they can be *very* hit and miss in the valley - or a park with water features for the kids to play in)

- Maybe stay somewhere on/ near the light rail line if you want to see a little but walk as well - you can use it to get to the Children’s Discovery Museum (for younger kids) or the Tech Museum (older kids - though still fun for the little ones) - both worth a visit.

- IMHO San Jose doesn’t have an amazing downtown (don’t get me wrong it’s ok, but not super exciting - the museums I mentioned, some nice architecture in places a decent art gallery etc - oh and a water feature kids love to get wet in) - my little ones loved running around San Jose State University - nice place for a picnic on a weekend and throw a frisbee or ball around

- Downtown hotels (in fact hotels generally in the Valley) can be very expensive during the week but tend to be far cheaper on weekends when business travelers are gone (I’ve seen a $350 a night weekday hotel downtown go down to $90 Fri and Sat).

If you can get a decent rate on a downtown hotel it’s probably not a bad option, and you could easily spend two days without getting in your car or by just using light rail a little (again depending on age of your kids and what you like doing - there is the usual stuff downtown like a movie theatre, restaurants, supermarket etc which make it liveable)

Have to say though, if I had a choice, and given you going to be in Los Gatos anyway, I’d head south for two nights to the coast somewhere in preference to San Jose.
posted by inflatablekiwi at 10:35 PM on June 30, 2019 [1 favorite]

Is the San Jose thing non-negotiable? Because Los Gatos is nice and walkable, and San Jose really is not walkable and doesn't have much of a downtown. The San Jose Fairmont, Westin, and De Anza are all nice hotels but not destinations in their own right. There are good bars, restaurants, and museums in walking distance of that area, but if it were me I would head to San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay, or just stay in Los Gatos.
posted by wnissen at 11:12 AM on July 1, 2019 [1 favorite]