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Holiday Inn Express San Jose Airport

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  • 1350 N. Fourth St.
     San Jose, California 95112
    (408) 467-1789
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callen60
callen60
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3 out of 5
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Holiday Inn Express San Jose Airport

  • September 30, 2006
  • Rated 3 of 5 by callen60 from Ozarks, Missouri
Holiday Inn Express San Jose Airport

Much to my surprise, I’ve developed brand loyalty. I figure that if corporations are going to give me their product for free, and there’s little discernible difference among the range of options available, I might as well make the choices that end up, for example, in free hotel rooms.

So for the better part of a year I’ve been staying at Holiday Inn Express. They’re hardly the only ones offering free breakfasts, but that is a factor when traveling with five. For this trip, though, it was only me. And after agonizing about where to stay the last night, how much driving I could handle before a 10:30 flight, and whether sunrise along a coast or a mountain range would be worth the trouble, I ended up making reservations near the airport.

I left Marin County as the sun set. Or at least I thought it was setting; the fog made it particularly tough to tell. That left a sizeable drive back to San Jose, including a dark and foggy trip back across the Golden Gate Bridge, then through city traffic on California 1 through San Francisco before reaching the Freeway. Having failed to print directions to this hotel, I was in the dark both figuratively and literally. I probably lost 20 minutes somewhere in San Jose before successfully guessing at Holiday Inn’s 800 number and getting directions via cell phone.

It was 8:30 when I arrived, and as I drove in I could that things had recently changed in this neighborhood. The Holiday Inn Express sits in a cluster of hotels on the adjoining blocks, a real contrast with the working-class neighborhood of auto parts stores, Wienerschnitzels, and small businesses that border it. I’m guessing that 10 years ago none of this was here. It has a very artificial feeling to it, only slightly more real than the typical airport hotel zone.

One consequence is that restaurants are rare. The desk clerk steered me across the street to the Island Grill at the Clarion, which if I hustled would "guarantee me a good meal." Still wearing hiking clothing, that didn’t seem like the best option given my apparel, but a quick search of the area turned up nothing else. A grilled piece of swordfish and a Sierra Nevada did hit the spot.

The hotel was a little better than standard. This one is built around small courtyards, almost like a compressed condominium layout. For $81--instead of $69--I got a suite-like room with a King that gave me plenty of space to repack my suitcase and not stress the room's limits. The breakfast area was a little small for a hotel this size, with only about 12 tables, but at 7:45am Sunday no one was testing its limits.

They do have a free airport shuttle if you need a hotel. I can’t imagine that you’d stay in this area without a flight right before or after, but it was clean, comfortable, and reasonably priced.

From journal Bouncing 'Round the Bay—A Quick Trip in Greater SF

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