Hotel Valencia Santana Row, San Jose

The only thing i would suggest to you guys is making sure you book it online at SweetHotelDeals. N e t I did a bunch of searching for hotel prices, and that site seems to have the lowest prices all around

I've never been treated this badly at a hotel. Yelp reviews can be overblown, so let me preface this. I'm a married mid-30s professional, responsible, polite and articulate, as are my wife and our friend. We made the mistake of showing up at the hotel with two bottles of wine (and three responsible adults). We checked in at the desk, and were accosted by security staff on the way to our room. Apparently, the Valencia has a "no outside alcohol" policy. It wasn't clearly disclosed on the website, or through the booking site. The official explanation is that the policy exists because they have a liquor license. We were harassed because they wanted to maximize our spend during our stay. Good times. We checked in at the front desk, carrying overnight bags, a big box of christmas gifts and a couple bottles of wine in a grocery bag. The security guard present watched us check in, and then waited for us to sign all of the paperwork and walk to the elevator before physically blocking our access to the elevator. He then questions us police-style, accusing us -- rather than politely informing us of the policy and offering to assist -- of having alcohol on us. He was condescending and rude, and actively escalating what would have otherwise been a complete non-issue (I had no problem with ordering some drinks from room service). He made sure to point out that the policy was in the contract that he watched us sign (you know, before saying anything to us). After a brief conversation, we physically offered him the bag of wine. He threw up his hands, refusing to take it. He pointed at the counter and informed us that we needed to get back in line and check the items. We were annoyed (justifiably), but we're nice people, and remained reasonably polite. The situation is getting tense (again, the security guard is the one escalating things). I ask our friend if he wants to stay downstairs while we drop our stuff off, and I'll walk back out to the car with him (we weren't really convinced we'd get the wine back, and wanted the option of taking it elsewhere -- we had already made plans to meet up with his sister and her friend for a drink at our hotel, thinking it would be more pleasant than the Marriott she was staying at). Our friend sits down on the couch with the wine, and says to us that he feels like he's in junior high school. He's annoyed at the situation and the policy, which is totally reasonable. The security guard stands over him and demands the he explain himself. Seriously. This guy is clearly itching to hurt someone, and trying to provoke us into giving him any minuscule justification. We're all intimidated and extremely wary at this point. Aren't we supposed to be guests here? WTF. I try to diffuse the situation, and say to the guy "Hey, how about we leave our friend and the wine in the lobby while we drop our shit off upstairs, and we'll come right back and walk it out to the car?". He gets in my face and is like "Shit? Excuuuuse me?". I'm blown away. He's pretending to be offended and looking for an opportunity to mess with us. We run upstairs (I was a little queasy about leaving our friend at this point), toss our stuff in the room and run back. This takes maybe a minute or two. At this point, there are three security guards upstairs, the guard is standing over our friend -- who's still just sitting on the couch in the lobby. We grab our friend, who wants to know the guard's name. When he asks, the two other security guards (one of whom was older, and appeared to be the superior) start moving around behind him. There's a lot of non-verbal intimidation going on here, and these guys all have each other's backs. We've entered the twilight zone. You can't make this stuff up. The security guard refuses to give his name -- "You can call me Mister Security Man", and instructs our friend to address any complaints to the front desk.

Hotel Valencia is by far, the best hotel option in Silicon Valley, no question. The staff could not be more accomodating. The rooms are modern with free wifi. The jr suites are ideal with a small living room area with an additional flat screen TV. I suggest getting a room overlooking Santana Row (good people watching, unless you are a really light sleeper, then get a courtyard view). The pool is beautiful and feels like you are not in Silicon Valley, but on vacation! Good exercise room. High quality breakfast included. Really, I can't say enough positive things about staying here. The location is outstanding...why stay in downtown SJ, when Santana Row is so close? There is zero reason. It is so safe (unlike the hotels downtown SJ, where I never walk around after dark), it has a boutique feel, surrounded by high-end shopping and awesome dining and night-life. Easy access to Hwy 280, Hwy 880 and downtown San Jose. SIgn up for the VVIP program, which has many benefits. Burke Williams spa is in the same building and is super plush. I have run into a few celebrities here. It is my home away from home for good reason.

We had a wonderful time. The room was nice and clean. We did the girlfriends getaway. The staff was great. Beautiful hotel all around. The Vbar is so hip and fun. We had a room with a balcony. I shall stay here again when I'm in San Jose.

Registration counter staff was fine. However: We got in to our rooms a little before three, and there were dirty food trays outside both of our doors and up and down the hallways. When we returned at 5:00 p.m., the food tray were still there, with glasses of juice, toast and other exposed foods beginning to smell. I had to call down to request that they be picked up. Ridiculous!! There was absolutely no water pressure in the showers, no place to hang towels except below the sink, so as a result, upon shaving, inadvertantly, I had dripped water and shaving cream on several of the hand towels and wash cloths hanging on the one bar in the entire bathroom. Retiring for the night, my bed sank in the middle, and sounded as though it would collapse any minute, every time I turned over. I heard loud, creaking noises. Even though w requested non-smoking rooms, we had to air out the rooms most of the afternoon, and they still had a light odor of cigarette smoke all night long. I could go on, but in closing, whoever is marketing this hotel as a "luxury" hotel must have been staying in Budget 8s and Motel 6s! A huge waste of time AND money! I will stay at the Wyndham by the airport before I ever stay here again!! As a business owner, I will direct my customers away from the Valencia Hotel.

Great boutique hotel steps away from everything. If you ever wanted to see what it is like to live in one of those chic new urban developments with commercial retail stores (high end to boot, like Gucci and Burberry) on the ground floor and residential above, this is it. Contemporary decor with faux fur blanket, extra large fluffy towels. The exercise room was small, but fun working out five floors up, looking out of the balcony on to the crowd of shoppers below. The only bad part was the halls have a sterile, futuristic warehouse feel.

Beautiful (new) place with gorgeous ambiance, comfy beds and very clean. . however there were complaints from my 'neighbors' about noise when I was having a normal conversation with my room-mate at 8:30pm on a Saturday night. I found out other guests experienced the same type of complaints. The front desk was very snooty but I do want to point out that my bellhop was friendly. Valets were overwhelmed with cars in a small space, it made me nervous leaving my car in the middle of the street with nobody to greet me. Although upscale, I felt they had no class in the service department. Good for walking distance to all the shops and eateries. Although I live only 3 miles from Santana Row, I would not consider staying at Hotel Valencia again or recommending to my out of town visitors because of the service.

The location was perfect and the staff went out of their way to assist us with information on ski packages, tours and shopping. The service was great! The complimentary breakfast was a real treat and a money saver. We met other guests from all over the United States and enjoyed visiting with them.

I loved my room. It was simply elegant with an asian flare. I had a view of the courtyard and the waterfall. The bar was well stocked with my favorite drinks and the goodie basket was filled with all of my favorite candies. The hotel location was perfect. It was close to shops and resturants which made it very convenient for me. The hotel staff was very nice and helpful. They made my stay very pleansant. I can't wait to come back. I left this wonderful place with beautiful memories...

I was there for a week and was very impressed with the general room accomodations and the comfortable surroundings. My complaints are the fact they advertised WEB connection in your room and it was never working. Of the 7 days there, it worked about half the time and was very unpredictable. This caused many problems for me during the evening when it was needed to communicate for work purposes. Another thing that really ticked me off was the fact a co-seminar attendee I met while there got a rate that was hundreds of dollars per day less then mine, for the EXACT same room next door to me. They would not budge on the price when confronted and gave me a big dog and poney show explanation. A perfect ending and my favorite part of my stay was the last morning when I was preparing to leave. I needed to leave by 5am to get to the airport to catch my flight. After about 4 hours sleep (my fault) I get in the shower and there is NO HOT WATER!!!! I call down to the desk and they tell me it is not working and they are not sure yet what is wrong. Needless to say .... I din't need coffee that morning to wake up!! Don't judge a book by it's cover.