downtown San Jose hotels? 20 year reunion

[bumbershoot]

You'd never believe it, but I grew up in San Jose. Got out of there at 17 to go to college, and never looked back (until this year, oddly) b/c I was plain old allergic to the whole place. Well, now I'm facing my 20 year HS reunion at the end of the summer, which I'm sort of looking forward to (have been since my 10 year, which was actually held OUTside of SJ).

They're having it at a downtown hotel, Hotel Montgomery. They have some sort of special rate there, and at the nearby Marriott.

That's all well and good, but we (er, I) want more options!

It's all pretty close to the SJ airport, yes? Quick cab ride?

So I'm thinking of a closer-to-the-airport hotel that's a bit cheaper, so we have more money to play with (and stay longer). Does anyone have any suggestions on that?

Or a nice downtown hotel that won't break the bank (ha ha, I know)? Or that's nice enough to be worth it?

I've looked on tripadvisor, I've looked on a SJ tourism website, I've got all that covered. But I'd love some personal opinions!

Does anyone have them on these subjects?

And does anyone have anything good to say about 20 year reunions?

Thanks in advance!

 

[mhm]

I work by the airport, and I know alot of people stay at the Arena downtown when they come to meet with us. I'm not sure how expensive it is, but our per diem rates usually allow for decent but not luxury hotels, so it's probably not too bad.

Unfortunately, I missed my 20-year reunion last year because I was too pregnant to fly to Orlando!

 

[RangerPooh]

One option is using priceline to bid on a 4* hotel in downtown SJ. You can see the features of the hotel and bid to see if you can get a room in your price range. We have done this and were able to get the Westin in downtown SJ for like $60 back in December. We were also bale to get the Marriott on Great America Parkway for about the same price. Both were nice hotels.

What school did you graduate from? I'm Gilroy High class of 1997. BTW, I'm now in Washington too.

 

[bumbershoot]

Leland HS in Almaden.

Good idea about the priceline...I've never used those sites before, but maybe this would be a good time to do so. Or at least to look into it.


Thanks so far for the ideas!!!!!

 

[RangerPooh]

We just started using Priceline for our trips last fall. For SJ we were able to select a few different areas to search for the winning bid. You can select downtown, airport, Campbell (which isn't to far), Santa Clara (not too far either), Sunnyvale, Saratoga/Los Gatos, Gilroy/Morgan Hill, Eastside... we just selected downtown and airport. We always select 4* so that we are not disappointed about the hotel or it's location.

 

[JennCa]

We have used priceline in that area and have been happy with all our 4* choices. If you have never eaten there, check out sonomachickencoop restaurant. Not sure where it is exactly, but is in downtown San Jose and is one of my favorite places for fabulous food on a bit of a budget, not super cheap, but great value!

I'm not quite to the 20th mark yet so no comment. I didn't go to my 10th though and felt a bit sad for not going.

Jenn

 

[woody73]

We enjoyed our stay at the Fairmont.

Woody

 

[bumbershoot]

Thank you!


Don't feel TOO bad about not going to your 10th. My 10th wasn't really all that fun, people were still very cliquey. My stepmom swears that that's all done with by your 20th...I'm really hoping it's true, b/c I'd like to be able to talk to some of those other people from my school, other than my tiny group of friends.

Though I have put the word out to those friends that if they wanted to skip the reunion, they could all just join us at Disneyland, and we could add a couple days onto the front of our trip.

 

[birkner]

You'd never believe it, but I grew up in San Jose. Got out of there at 17 to go to college, and never looked back (until this year, oddly) b/c I was plain old allergic to the whole place. Well, now I'm facing my 20 year HS reunion at the end of the summer, which I'm sort of looking forward to (have been since my 10 year, which was actually held OUTside of SJ).

They're having it at a downtown hotel, Hotel Montgomery. They have some sort of special rate there, and at the nearby Marriott.

That's all well and good, but we (er, I) want more options!

It's all pretty close to the SJ airport, yes? Quick cab ride?

So I'm thinking of a closer-to-the-airport hotel that's a bit cheaper, so we have more money to play with (and stay longer). Does anyone have any suggestions on that?

Or a nice downtown hotel that won't break the bank (ha ha, I know)? Or that's nice enough to be worth it?

I've looked on tripadvisor, I've looked on a SJ tourism website, I've got all that covered. But I'd love some personal opinions!

Does anyone have them on these subjects?

And does anyone have anything good to say about 20 year reunions?

Thanks in advance!

I live is SF Bay area and am a graduate of a local SJ high school.

Are you going to rent a car or do you want a hotel that is on the light rail? There are of course more options if you have a car.

You might also try hotwire.com as I have received some pretty good deals there.

My 20th year high school and college reunions were really fun. As your mom stated, cliques were pretty much gone at that point. I was 9 1/2 months pregnant at my DH's 20th college reunion so that is another story in itself.

 

[deletedpenguin]

The Fairmont in SJ is nice and surprisingly inexpensive. The Valencia Hotel at Santana Row is also really nice, and isn't all that far.

 

[bumbershoot]

We're not sure about renting a car. We might be able to borrow one from my dad, who lives in Aptos. Weighing options between cheaper and a bit further away, vs right there.

My 20th year high school and college reunions were really fun. As your mom stated, cliques were pretty much gone at that point. I was 9 1/2 months pregnant at my DH's 20th college reunion so that is another story in itself.[/COLOR]

Woof, 9.5 months. Isn't it fun telling people that and watching their scared reactions? My son was 42 weeks, 3 days, and people had been bothering me for a month by then...my MIL carried my DH until she was 44 weeks! Of course docs and midwives would freak out if that happened nowadays, but they were both totally fine. She only got proactive (went dancing) when her husband's leave was ending, she went into labor, he was born, all was fine. She's my hero for that (and the 6 days of labor she had with her first baby).

I will look into hotwire, thanks!

deletedpenguin, thank you! I will look into those hotels.

 

[deletedpenguin]

My pleasure, have fun at the reunion!

 

[c&m]

We had a stopover in SJ on our way to Kauai last year. Bidded on Priceline.com for a 3* hotel in the city centre. Got the Marriott (connected to the convention centre) for $65/night.

We really liked it. It's a very new hotel (about 2 years old?). The High Tech Museum was just one block down. It was close to the airport, so our cab ride was not expensive.

I attended my 20th HS reunion 1.5 years ago. (I missed the 10th reunion because I was pregnant, close to not being able to travel, and DH surprised me with a trip to WDW...couldn't pass that up for a HS reunion!) I didn't miss much though because I heard that our 10th was not great. Cliques, as everyone else said. The 20th was so nice though. Everyone mellowed out, and I had some really nice conversations with some girls (went to a girls school) I would've never imagined I would even get close to.

Have a great time! The 20th is really different from the 10th, for sure.

 

[bumbershoot]

Thanks, c&m!


Well, since the reunion committee has added things on before and after the actual reunion day, and since I have NO interest in "commuting" from my dad's place in Santa Cruz every day (back when I was a teen, Hwy 17 was no biggie, but I have gotten more nervous as I've aged!), so we're having to go out of the actual downtown a bit, to allow us to throw the extra days on.

So I booked the Courtyard near the airport (don't worry, we're used to airplane noise), and hope it will be fine! I also hope my dad lends us a car, b/c I don't really feel like the hassle of renting with only a debit card! I understand why they make it a hassle, but it doesn't mean I have to like it!


Now for SW to start offering flights, and more importantly, Dings for the dates.


THANK YOU ALL!!!!