San Jose Area Hotel/Town Advice

[PrincessInOz]

Enjoy! It's a lovely little town. I understand the B&B's at HMB are also worth checking out as an alternative to the hotels.

If you have a car and don't mind a drive, check out the Skyline road (SR -35). I would recommend taking this route from the 92 toward San Jose. You'll get to see some redwoods along the drive. Make sure you stop at Alice's Restaurant near the La Honda intersection.

And if you want to check out some pictures, I think I posted them on the Jan 2011 and Nov 2012 Another Mad Dash TR (link in my siggie below). I do have quick links in the second post; so you should be able to find the HMB/Skyline posts in the two TR sections easily. I think there might even be a post on the Winchester Mystery house as well.

If you head into San Francisco from there after the peak hour rush, the 280 is a pretty good run.

 

[tiffjoy]

Traffic to and from HMB can be a... nightmare. Just be sure to avoid rush hour. Otherwise, it's one of my favorite spots in the Bay Area. We considered moving there but don't want to deal with the 92 traffic mess.

 

[tiffjoy]

Oh and food recommendation in HMB: Flying Fish Bar and Grill. We've been several times, and DH just took a group of coworkers to lunch there today. Everyone loved it. HMB State Beach is also a nice stop- we have spent many afternoons there with our kids. It's very peaceful and quiet, although definitely bring sweatshirts with you.

 

[GenGen22]

I live in San Jose and I have to agree there isn't too much to do here besides nightlife. We have a San Jose improv in downtown if your into comedy shows. Campbell is really nice & very close to the Winchester Mystery House. Los Gatos is also very nice. Personally I love Monterey & Santa Cruz is also very fun. Lots to do in both of these places. If you have any questions about the bay area pm me. Ive lived here my whole life. 42 years. I can suggest restaurants etc. I love eating out also Santana Row is a great place to shop but I agree very pricey.

 

[Fantaluminishes]

I think using HMB as a home base would be a mistake. It's a decent day trip, especially for a drive up or down the coast. Sam's Chowder House and Barbara's Fish Trap are grata places to eat. And if you go south to Pescadero, you'll find Duarte's Restaurant and bar. They also have a grocery store with a very good deli, and some of the best baked goods you'll ever have.

San Jose is nothing special either. You can travel to Santa Cruz for the boardwalk, and plenty more things to see and do. Or go a bit further south to Monterey. We go there about 3 times a year for lunch. The Monterey Bay Aquarium is one of Northern California's best attractions.

 

[Stacy's a freak]

Thanks everyone for the helpful input! It's truly hard to make these decisions when only having a two-dimentional map to guide you without knowing anything about the terrain and, more importantly, the traffic!

We have decided to go bare bones-ish on the hotel and to stay at a less expensive one near the SFO. This will get us easy access to the BART (via hotel shuttle to the airport) and we will have a car to tool about. We discussed it last night and decided it makes more sense to simply use the hotel as a place to sleep and to save the money for fun activities outside the room

You all are great!

 

[bcla]

Thanks everyone for the helpful input! It's truly hard to make these decisions when only having a two-dimentional map to guide you without knowing anything about the terrain and, more importantly, the traffic!

We have decided to go bare bones-ish on the hotel and to stay at a less expensive one near the SFO. This will get us easy access to the BART (via hotel shuttle to the airport) and we will have a car to tool about. We discussed it last night and decided it makes more sense to simply use the hotel as a place to sleep and to save the money for fun activities outside the room

You all are great!

Sounds reasonable. The hotels near the airport typically have free parking. I know a lot of people who are intent on mostly visiting San Francisco prefer to stay in San Francisco, but then again they're typically without a car and like SF for easier access to public transportation.

I generally wouldn't recommend that a tourist use Silicon Valley as a base. It's just too far away from most of the interesting stuff. It's mostly office buildings and suburbs.

 

[tiffjoy]

Sounds reasonable. The hotels near the airport typically have free parking. I know a lot of people who are intent on mostly visiting San Francisco prefer to stay in San Francisco, but then again they're typically without a car and like SF for easier access to public transportation.

I generally wouldn't recommend that a tourist use Silicon Valley as a base. It's just too far away from most of the interesting stuff. It's mostly office buildings and suburbs.

Seconding both points.

My DH and I were just discussing how rarely we go to San Jose now that we don't work there. There's just really nothing much to do, and it's not a pretty city like San Francisco.

I think you'll be fine by the airport as long as you realize going in that it won't be anything special. The airport is several miles outside the city.

If you might be interested in still staying close to the airport but at a bit of a more charming hotel, the Inn at Oyster Point in South San Francisco is a place you might look into. I only know of it because it is right next to our company, and I've eaten lunch there a few times. It seems quite charming and gets reasonable reviews on travel sites. I don't believe they have a shuttle to BART (although they do have one for SFO) so you would have to drive into the city and park (not a far drive at all) or drive to a BART station (not sure which is closest with parking).