The 10 best hotels in San Jose

This sophisticated hotel,  arecent recipient of Conde Nast Traveler’s 2018 Reader’s Choice Award, towers above Santana Row, San Jose’s chic outdoor shopping district. The Valencia is drenched in Old World Spanish-style, accented in terracotta, hardwood and textured finishes. Color and pattern playfully pull together the hotel’s 215 guest rooms, each containing custom-made mattresses. Hotel Valencia has three lounges with very different vibes: The Terrace, an al fresco patio wine bar; Vbar, a swanky, moodily lit cocktail bar; and Cielo, a seasonal rooftop bar. The Oveja Negra, the Valencia’s laid-back tapas restaurant, offers global cuisine with an “unruly twist.” Rooms start at $214/night.

Just north of San Jose, in stylish Palo Alto, the boutique Nobu Epiphany Hotel is a welcome addition to Silicon Valley. The freshly renovated space is a paragon of chic, Japanese simplicity with organic touches like bamboo-mat showers and rock gardens. Minimalism reigns in the hotel’s 77 guest rooms and luxury rooftop suites. The Epiphany is also home to the Bay Area’s only Nobu restaurant, an intimate space decorated with elegant paper screens, wooden walls and dim lighting. Feel like staying in? Nobu also offers an in-room dining menu for its guests 24 hours a day. If you’re headed out for the day (or night), the hotel offers free bike cruisers and a house car for destinations within a five mile radius. Rooms start at $284/night.

Though it’s just a few miles south of San Jose, quaint Los Gatos is worlds away from the city’s hustle-and-bustle. An oasis within an oasis, Hotel Los Gatos captures the simple sophistication of a Tuscan villa with sweeping staircases, dramatic balconies, and fairy-lit patios. Inside the hotel lobby, earth-toned chairs and couches create intimate sitting areas while upstairs, guest rooms are fashioned with pops of color in drapery, linens and bathroom tiles. The hotel’s spa offers therapeutic massage, as well as sauna and steam rooms, and the outdoor pool and jacuzzi sparkle welcomingly in warmer months. For a bite and a pour from the Wine Spectator “Award of Excellence”-winning wine list, head to Dio Deka where the menu is a Hellenic-inspired mash-up of Greek and Mediterranean delights with over 1500 wine labels. Rooms start at $309/night.

Madison Street has the distinction of being the only bed and breakfast in the core of Silicon Valley. The historic Queen Anne Victorian, built in 1890 and converted into a five-room B&B in the 1980s, is carefully appointed with vintage details and modern conveniences, including clawfoot tubs, antique armoires, flat-screen smart TVs, and an outdoor pool and spa. Breakfast, made with fresh herbs from the garden, is served in a sunny kitchen nook and the patio and brightly tiled outdoor firepit are made for evening lounging. Madison Street is dog friendly (for an extra $25 per pnight) and resident pup Goose is on site to greet furry four-legged guests. Rooms start at $155/night.

Housed in one of San Jose’s few remaining “Zigzag Moderne” Art Deco buildings, this boutique hotel is a Silicon Valley icon. Inside, the De Anza weaves together Spanish colonial style with elements preserved from the early 20th-century, especially in the vintage Hedley Club Lounge where the "diving diva," an image that once advertised the hotel’s swimming pool, is now emblazoned on the fireplace mantel. King-sized beds, plush linens and a 43” HD flat screen come standard in each of the De Anza’s 114 rooms. Back in the lounge, cozy up to a roaring fire with seasonal cocktails, Mediterranean-influenced small plates, and a nightly soundtrack of live jazz. Rooms start at $186/night.

When it was built as a multi-generational family home at the turn of the 20th century, the 64-room Hayes Mansion lied at the center of 700 acres of fruit orchards, vegetable gardens and exotic plants. Almost a century later, the residence, with its white-washed walls and red-tiled roofs, was converted into an elegant hotel. Surrounded by oceans of pristine green lawn, the hotel and event space now has 214 guest rooms and suites decorated with hand-carved wooden furniture and imported marble. Outside, there’s a wide variety of recreation to keep guests entertained, from an outdoor pool and hot tub to tennis, basketball and beach volleyball courts. The Hayes Mansion has two restaurants on-site, including the Palm Plaza Lounge, a dreamy patio dressed in plush couches and miniature fire pits where cocktails and small plates are served daily from 4pm–6pm. Rooms start at $127/night.

This classic luxury hotel on San Jose’s central Plaza de Cesar Chavez is refined and elegant, hung with crystal chandeliers and framed by marble columns. Velvety red fabrics in the Lobby Lounge and a central circular banquet are old-school inviting and rooms are comfortable but simple with exaggerated headboards, armchairs and brightly lit vanities. On warm days, the rooftop pool and gazebo is the place to see and be seen, a serene oasis above the din of the city with a full menu for al fresco dining. For more formal diners choose from three restaurants: Fountain Restaurant, a breakfast and dinner spot serving California fare, the New York-style Grill on the Alley, and the seafood and steakhouse McCormick & Schmick’s. Rooms start at $212/night.

On the southern edge of downtown Los Gatos, at the foot of the Santa Cruz Mountains, the low-slung shaker-style Toll House Hotel has long been a Silicon Valley favorite. Inside, the lodge is simple with wood floors and earth-toned furnishings. Outside, a modern enclosed courtyard is set with green-cushioned couches, fire pits and festive lights. Just over a hundred guest rooms and suites are elegant and understated, dressed in a neutral palate with marble-topped counters in renovated bathrooms. At the hotel’s restaurant, The Verge, executive chef Albert Nguyen-Phuoc handcrafts Asian-French-Californian fusion cuisine and artisanal cocktails made with fresh, locally sourced ingredients. Rooms start at $272/night.

One of Silicon Valley’s most high-styled hotels, the Juniper is all swirling colors, modern art, and statement furnishings. Rooms are fairly standard, with WiFi, 55-inch HDTVs and jewel-toned accents, but downstairs, the hotel’s living room, restaurant and outdoor lounge are buoyant and festive. Settle into intimate al fresco booths at the Parkview Kitchen & Spirits or nestle into high-backed chairs in front of the drawing room fire. If you need to get a sweat on, the fitness room comes well stocked with Peloton bikes and other high-quality equipment. Keep an eye out for the subtle honey bee theme woven throughout the hotel in homage to the Juniper’s rooftop hives and the Silicon Valley’s early agricultural years. Rooms start at $125/night.

Modern and vibrant in shades of pinks and greens, the Avatar draws the tech set and the South Bay-curious alike. From the lobby’s kitschy robot collection to a courtyard pool stocked with beach balls and bright red lounge chairs, this hotel is a light-hearted home-away-from-home. Bright, cheery rooms have high-speed amenities, whether you’ve got work or Netflix to stream. Wine, beer and snacks are served in the “interactive lounge” downstairs where multiple seating areas with flat-screen TVs fill up during happy hour. Rooms start at $209/night.