Searching...

Was here for three nights on business. A good room, with a good hot breakfast. A number of restaurants were within walking distance. My room was on a fairly low floor, facing the street. Although there was definitely some traffic noise, it wasn't enough to stop me from sleeping.

A bit about me - I travel 40-50 nights a year on business, mostly in the western US. I prefer to stay at Starwood and Hyatt properties.This was my second stay at this Hyatt Place. The second experience was very different from the first. I'll get to that. First the good stuff:The staff was friendly and helpful. The rooms are well furnished and updated with good lighting and of reasonable size. They're a bit smaller than newer Hyatt Place locations, but you are in the city, so it is to be expected. There is a 42" HDTV with convenient jacks for external devices. There are convenient power outlets at both the desk and the bedside table for charging gadgets. The complimentary breakfast at Hyatt Places is better than most (though not as good as a Homewood Suites). And, the location is excellent. There are several nearby restaurants and entertainment venues. Shower quality, toiletries and towels are decent. The showers in Hyatt Place properties have glass doors rather than a curtain rod. The sinks and countertop space is rather small - only about 30", so not a lot of room for your toiletry kit.In-room coffee service is average, with off-brand coffee and powdered whitener rather than real half & half.The fitness center is on par with similar business class hotels, with 4 treadmills and ellipticals, dumbells, and complimentary towels. But, there was no lat pulldown machine.There is no complimentary bottled water in the room. But if you ask at check in, and you belong to the Hyatt Gold Passport program, they'll probably give you a comp'ed bottle, as they did for me."High speed" internet was not. Speeds were pretty average by hotel standards, which is to say awful. 90ms ping / 1.12Mbps download / 1.32Mbps upload. I travel with a 4G mobile hotspot and don't rely on hotel wifi much anymore. I was able to watch a show on Netflix in the fitness center, however, over the hotel wifi.I'm always disappointed when there is no recycling program as was the case here. It seems so simple.There is a $21 nightly parking charge, which is not unexpected when in the middle of the city. There are no additional resort fees (which always results in a full star deduction for me).This is a bit of an older property - a former Crowne Plaza, I think. As mentioned above, the interiors are fairly well updated, but elevators are older and slower, and there are signs of age.Now for the really bad, which is the noise. You have a 50-50 chance at a good night's sleep. If you get a room facing the parking garage you're in luck. If you get a room facing the street, even on a higher floor, you won't need to bother requesting a wake-up call. You'll hear occasional noises from the light rail system throughout the night, but the train schedule really ramps up between 6:00 - 6:30 am, and you are right on top of it. This is not temporary noise that goes away, unlike the jack-hammering from the construction site across the street, which began in earnest shortly before 7:30 am.All in all, it's below average for a Hyatt Place. It both prospers and suffers from its location. While fairly well-updated, there are signs of an aging property.

We enjoyed our stay here. The hotel was nice, rooms were clean, staff was friendly. The breakfast was very good, with many options. Perfect location. Within walking distance to many restaurants and attractions. Parking was about $20/day.

I stayed in this hotel in April 2013 and experienced two very different scenarios. My first night, I had a second floor room facing San Carlos Street. All night long I was awakened by cars, trucks, the train, you name it. I didn't get a wink of sleep. The next morning, I was quick to ask for a room on the back side of the hotel - facing the parking garage. The Hyatt staff was quick to accommodate my request and boy was I glad. The rest of my stay, I slept very well in a very quiet room.Breakfast was free and was much better than most hotel breakfast buffets. It included many choices to pick from such as bagels, toast, muffins with bacon and eggs, oatmeal, yogurt, fruits, cereal, and on. The free wifi that came with the room was very good - fast speeds and I kept my connection when using it. The staff was quite friendly and the rooms were very clean and included a mini-fridge.As for the location - for downtown San Jose the location was superb. It is across the street from the convention center and around the corner from several museums and great restaurants.The cons for my stay were: the noisy room on the street-side of the hotel and the wait for the elevator. This was a bit annoying as one of the three elevators was out of service all week and all stairwells lead outside.

Lately I've been disappointed in Hyatt properties I've stayed at, but the Hyatt Place in San Jose was a clear exception. My room was fairly spacious, with a small seating area containing a built-in sofa. It was nicely decorated and well lit. The staff was uniformly friendly. I really appreciate the fact that they have a bar/lounge area with food and drinks available 24/7, and computers with a printer available in the lobby.The only negative I experienced was occasional long waits for the elevator.