I Found My Way to San Jose

Serving as our headquarters hotel, the San Jose Marriott did not disappoint. As the organizer of our association's group of eight, for me the service before arrival is as important as the services upon arrival. For several, travel dates changed and hotel reservations had to be modified accordingly. For some, we had to come in early and for another, he and his wife wanted to stay an extra day after our meetings. The hotel staff was very accommodating to allow all of the changes and to keep our group rate of $160/night (vs. the rack rate of $269) for all nights. Not all hotels will be so willing to honor group rates outside of the event's dates. Perhaps a factor of the poor economy, especially here in the Bay Area and Silicon Valley.

Check-in was perfect, hotel staff friendly and helpful. Once in my room, I was pleased with the spaciousness and generous work area. As a speaker/presenter at this event, having space to work comfortably is essential. The only gripe I have is the $12.95/24 hour period for internet access via T1 line. You'd think here in the heart of technoland, WiFi would be available and free. Not so . . . but I needed access and didn't want to deal with my AOL dial-up so I did pony up the $65 for the time spent at the Marriott.

The rooms had apparently been recently updated to the new Marriott "soft goods" package that includes comfortable mattresses and plenty of pillows. I slept like a baby!

Ladies you'll love the bathroom amenities that include Bath & Body Works aromatherapy products (Orange Ginger). While the shower/tub was roomy with the body-curved shower curtain, the lighting was not so good for putting on make-up.

I had room service for breakfast a couple of mornings. My orders came perfectly, as ordered and at the right temperatures. Again, top of the line condiments provided including Knotts Berry Farm preserves. Mmmmm orange marmalade!

There is a restaurant in the hotel - Arcadia. See separate review on my dining experience with them.

This hotel is anchored to the convention center next door. This made it very convenient especially since we had cool rainy weather for most of the time spent in town.

To meeting planners looking to bring an event to San Jose, I would not hesitate to recommend the Marriott as your headquarters hotel. As I mentioned previously, I was also a presenter here so I had to work with the hotel banquet and AV staff. They were very quick to respond to my every request.

On my first night in town I really did not feel much like venturing out for dinner, especially since I didn't get out during daylight hours and I would be dining alone. So I opted for the restaurant in the San Jose Marriott, my home away from home for the week.

After I got past the sticker shock of the menu ($32 for a 6oz filet mignon PLUS ala carte potato, veggies, salad, etc) I decided to go with the crab cakes appetizer ($14 for two 2-3oz cakes) and a side baked potato ($6). I did feel that the menu was rather minimal in terms of selection, although they did offer a couple of steak entrees, three fish and a couple of other basic dinner choices like chicken and pasta.

The crab cakes were pretty good, not great, but by far not the worst I've ever had. My preference always has been Maryland style crab cakes and dinner on this night reaffirmed that choice. They were served with a unique flavor, something that wasn't really my style, it wasn't so offensive that I felt as though I had ruined them eating with the sauce.

Given the close proximity to San Francisco (about 75-90 minutes), that wonderful sour dough bread was served in a bountiful basket. Shame to waste so much bread given the amount they brought out for a lone diner.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of the place as the aroma from the open kitchen right in the public side of the restaurant waif throughout. The open flame charbroiled grill really brought a lot of scrumptious delight as I waited for my meal to be served.

All in all, a good dining experience, even though I felt it was pricey. This is California and I'm sure that had a factor in the prices . . . that and the fact that they are in a downtown convention center Marriott Hotel. I would recommend them, especially if you don't feel like adventuring out beyond the confines of the hotel property.

ADDED 3/9/09: On my last morning in town, our group stopped in the hotel's restaurant for the breakfast buffet. At $18, we all felt it was a fair price for all of the choices available to patrons. In addition to a full bread and pastry selection, along with fresh fruits (pineapple, melons and strawberries) there were cereals (including hot oatmeal) and steam table dishes of bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs and breakfast potatoes. They also provided made-to-order eggs & omelets, waffles and pancakes.

A full assortment of beverages including juices, coffee, hot tea and milk were also served and included in the $18 price.

My rating for dinner would be "recommended" and for breakfast "highly recommended".

On our last night in San Jose our Wisconsin group of ten headed out for an outstanding dining experience at the Grill on the Alley, located in the Fairmont Hotel. We had reservations for 7:30pm and upon our arrival we were taken to what was a small private dining area right off the main dining area. It was the perfect place for us to relax, unwind and laugh as we enjoyed conversation and storytelling.

The menu had a full assortment of chop house selections, fish and seafood along with a nice array of appetizers, salads and desserts. Of course, we had to enjoy everything!

For me I had the garden salad ($8.75) and the bone-in New York strip steak ($49) which was accompanied by Yukon garlic mashed potatoes and a spinach w/ mushroom medley.

The salad was large and fresh. Hand-tossed with blue cheese dressing, it was very flavorful. My steak came out prepared perfectly and had exceptional flavor. I don't eat spinach but did pick out the sliced mushrooms which were very good with the beef.

Others in our group had the fillet mignon but I believe we all chose steaks. A couple of folks started with soup rather than salad, but high marks were given by all.

While most of us were full, the dessert menu looked too good to pass up. I opted for the strawberry shortcake ($8.00), which unfortunately I didn't read the full description. It was served as "a trio" of biscuit shortcakes filled with fresh berries and whipped cream. Oh my was it good. Unfortunately, when my plate arrived, I dished off two of the three, before remembering to take a photo for this review/journal; so the photo attached to this review is of a single shortcake.

Besides the strawbery shortcake, they had a nice assortment of delightful dishes including key lime pie, carrot cake, NY cheesecake, fresh berries and premium ice cream. I group probably ordered one of everything, and passed around dishes to share with others.

I should also remark about their adult beverage selection as they had a huge wine list. (Heck, what would you expect? This is California!!) They also are proud of the large selection of "hand stirred" martinis. Their full service bar is open beyond dining hours for those looking for a nice place to enjoy a cocktail.

This was a rather expensive dining experience, one that was outstanding. I believe my meal, including wine, probably run upwards of $100. I would consider this a "special occasion" dining experience or one to be considered if you're out to impress an client or lady friend. Service was particularly good, with Tim and Holly taking care of our every need.

More information, including hours, menus and reservations can be found at www.thegrill.com.

I was very impressed with this wonderful restaurant. With soccer people overrunning the area, there was a 30 minute wait for a table on a weeknight. Word was out that Original Joe's was the place for fine dining at a great value price.

We initially were going to wait in the bar area, but it was quickly elbow to elbow so the manager opened up the upstairs "HideOut" for several groups waiting for tables. We enjoyed the company as we enjoyed adult beverages.

Once we were seated, our server Frank was attentive wanting to be sure that we had the beverages we wanted. The round of cocktails ran roughly $8 each. They were not stingy with the booze and after two (on an empty tummy) I could feel the affects.

Before we placed our dinner orders, we were brought a full loaf of warm Italian style bread. MMmmmm very good.

I ordered the veal parmigiana ($26), which also came with choice of pasta, potato or steam veggies. The portions here were HUGE. For me, the serving brought to the table could have been shared between two maybe even three people.

Others in our group had pork chops . . . practically an inch thick ($23); ravioli ($17) and a variety of other pasta choices. The menu probably had a good 25 or 30 selections, so there was no reason for anyone not to be able to find something of interest or their tastes.

I would not hesitate to come here again for dinner . . . or to recommend them to others arriving for a convention in the coming year.

You can check them out on the web at: www.originaljoes.com to see their menus, wine list and to get information regarding hours and reservations.

Note: They open at 11:00am for both breakfast and lunch.

On our free lunch hour we wandered up a few blocks from the convention center to "grab a sandwich" which turned out to be of the panini variety. Having not been adventurous in my dining choices, I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I figured I couldn't go wrong with the grilled chicken variation.

Admittedly, the menu description had me worried a bit: grilled chicken breast, fontina cheese, roma tomato, arugula, with basil pesto. I have to laugh because other than the chicken and the tomatoes, I had NO idea what flavor sensations I would be trying out. I had considered to order my sandwich "plain" with nothing on it but didn't really want to insult the owner of the cafe, who was waiting on us.

Our panini's came out piping hot and had good flavor although I must admit the pesto was a bit overwhelming to me so I ended up eating my sandwich open faced and picking through the bread.

One of the individuals in our group had the wild mushroom soup, which he said was outstanding.

The deli case filled with desserts and breakfast type pastries looked outstanding, so I thought that perhaps a breakfast jaunt will be order. Unfortunately that didn't happen.

The panini's were $6 each and were very filling. We all agreed that our lunch would have been better if we could have also had (or bought) potato chips.

The owner was very nice and attentive to our table, asking about why we were in town and how long we'd be around. I suppose a group with Adidas soccer apparel might look a bit out of place . . . especially with the Wisconsin state map on the front of our shirts. He seemed sincerely concerned for his patrons, walking the place and stopping to ask others how their dining experience was going.

A pleasant surprise and a bit of ambiance was the piano player. Not sure if he was "hired help" or just another patron looking to tickle the ivories. He was very good, but to be honest, it was a bit loud especially as we were trying to do some soccer business over lunch.

They offer a full service hot beverage selection including cappuccino and espresso, as well as beer and wine . . . and soft drinks. In addition to the European feeling cafe on the street level, they do have and offer some limited meeting space on the second floor.

They open at 7:30am during the week and 8:00am on the weekend. They are also open until late into the evening 11:00pm and midnight on the weekends.

More information may be found on their web site: www.cafetriestesj.com.