Hotel San Jose

07/28/2008 Posted by nedhenry

kcf78749's lack of insight and her date's poor manners, coupled with only a patio visit, are no reason to give anything (not to mention such a marvelous place) 3 stars. Obviously, someone can read her review and see she is an airhead, but it affects the star rating outside the review. What a dummy! It's a four-star (perhaps 4.5 star) place. So, I'll balance out her childish stupidity with 5 of my own.

Pros: Service, attractiveness

Cons: Go to Barton Spring instead of the pool

06/24/2008 Posted by kcf78749

I've never actually stayed at this hotel, so I can't comment on the hotel aspect of it, but it's a great place for a first date. My date and I had some wine out on the patio, by the pool, and it was lovely. However, once I "broke the seal", so to speak, I ventured inside to use the ladies' room. One problem--the restrooms were not labeled at all. My date pointed at a glass door that he had just come out of and said, "I think that's a unisex bathroom?". I went in, although I was a bit leery because the door was made of glass (albeit a tad frosted, but you could still pretty much see everything). I made him stand in front of the door in case anyone came by, since it was just a one toilet, "private" (I use the term loosely) bathroom. Well, he saw someone he knew and went off to go say hi, and then while I was still using the restroom, some guy came up to the door and looked inside. I could see every aspect of his face, so I'm sure he could see everything of mine too! I was humiliated. When I ran outside, my date said, "Yeah, I saw a few girls coming out of that other door over there". Apparently there was a ladies room--with a real door! Nice job labeling it.

Pros: ambience

Cons: lack of labeling of the restroom doors

11/08/2007 Posted by loolamay

When I saw the overall rating on this hotel, I got excited. Then, I read the reviews. They're pretty overwhelmingly weighted toward the staff being terribly rude. The high ratings mostly refer to the ambiance of the place - not the people. MOST IMPORTANTLY: When I average the user ratings - I get an overall rating of 3.2 - a far cry from the near-5 rating displayed. BEWARE: READ THE REVIEWS

10/24/2007 Posted by mwbruce23

On this particular day, several large conventions were being held in the downtown Austin area so there were no rooms available, not even as far out as the airport. The gal who took my call, offered me a room that had just become available due to a cancellation. The price was an outrageous $290 for the evening but having called at least 25 different hotels during the past 2 days, I knew it was either this or nothing. I wasn’t given much of a choice either—she wouldn’t so much as hold the room long enough for me to confirm with my boss—so I reluctantly booked it anyway. Needless to say, when I checked in with my boss, the rate was way too much and he ordered me to cancel the reservation. Now I’m a business man and I understand that these guys stand to lose revenue when they don’t book a room, but I called back no more than five minutes later to cancel and they wouldn’t budge. Their cancellation policy? Twenty-four hour advanced notice; otherwise they charge a full night’s stay minus taxes. I cut my customers breaks all the time--despite working on sales commission. I doubt the front desk staff stand to gain or lose anything personally from this, so it’s beyond me why there was no leniency in my case. Sure they didn’t technically do anything wrong (trust me, I read their cancellation policy that was emailed me after the fact), but again they lack the “human factor” as I like to call it, that so many of their larger competitors (i.e. The Omni, The Radisson and the Four Seasons), display on a regular basis. I know this because I called and checked out the cancellation policies of each of these hotels. So if you want my advice, (for the same per-night cost), you can stay at one of the aforementioned hotels that are located even closer to downtown Austin, and offer the altruism and amenities you’ve come to expect when staying as someone’s guest.

09/28/2007 Posted by wellseasonedtraveler

While in Austin I stayed several nights at Hotel San Jose. I loved it...the cool, clean, comfortable rooms were just what I was looking for. It's a very unique...amazingly decorated and pristine landscaping. The staff was attentive, friendly and informative about Austin attractions. The lounge and courtyard open up in the evenings for beer and wine and is a great space to relax by the pool or listen to music. The have a coffee bar in the lounge with newspapers/books along with cool adjacent coffee shop called Jo's. The rooms are spacious and private with all the amenities of a new Hotel, yet with vintage feel of it's rich history dating back to 1930's. I like the location most with restaurants, shops and live music venue's nearby. This is definitely not a corporate branded Hotel with wasteful practices and hidden charges after your stay.

Pros: Ambience, Location, Rooms, Service, Value

12/11/2006 Posted by mittenkitten

What a racket! This place has hip rooms and cool design--and charges every dollar they can for it--but the staff, simply put, s*cks. Basic requests (directions, an iron, recommendations) were met with eye rolls and lackluster answers from too-cool-for-school hipsters--and that is when you can get them to get off the phone--talking with their friends, not helping other customers. The rooms cost FAR too much to be treated so poorly. Plus the walls are really thin and the sliding bathroom doors are really LOUD. Forget about getting up at night and using the bathroom unless you want to wake up your partner (I woke up twice from hearing my neighbor open their bathroom door--that's how thin the walls are). For $200 a night, you get no newspaper, no iron, no coffee or tea, no continental breakfast AND you get treated like a bum. Nice. My advice: Book a room instead just 500 feet away at the lovely Austin Motel and get more space and friendly Austin-style personality and service for much less. On the flip side, "Hotel" San Jose is a wonderful place to sit on the patio and have a glass of wine under the heat lamps--and you don't have to be a "guest" at the "hotel" to do so. But do not waste your money booking a room at this overpriced shanty.

Pros: patio

Cons: everything else

08/05/2006 Posted by nmcginnis

Brides beware: My husband and I chose the San Jose Hotel for our wedding night. We booked a courtyard suite for two nights (a $600+value). Including out of town guests for our wedding, we occupied 7 rooms valued over $3000. We were treated like anything but valued customers. The management was rude and hard to work with. They made having bridal portraits in their courtyard unbearable. We had to comply with their strict guidelines of where we could go, how much time to take (15 minutes, max) and their rule that they would not allow more than one individual at a time in the photo. If for any reason, we did not comply "$500 would be added to our bill". We had to fight just to get that - which added a lot of stress to the process. (Management actually referred to my request of having a portrait taken with my mother as unacceptable.) Our other main issue was they did not clean our courtyard suite from the night before. When my husband and I came back to our room after our wedding, the room still had all the garbage in it from the bridal parties day or preparing. Our sheets were dirty, too. This after I personally asked housekeeping to change our sheets I had no idea they wouldnt even clean the room. The hotel is beautiful. The rooms are expensive but perfectly decorated. It was because of this that we decided on the San Jose Hotel. But after trying to work with the management, who were pretentious and unaccommodating, we quickly realized that it was not worth the hassle OR the risk for our very special occasion. They treated us like they could care less if we returned so we are going to do them the favor of just that.

Pros: Beautiful Rooms, Perfectly Landscaped

Cons: Horrible Management, Rooms Not Cleaned on Wedding Night

02/23/2006 Posted by conniemtx

I am an Austinite who has been intrigued by the San Jose for some time now. Love the outside decor but we stayed on a drizzly evening. This resulted in a less than enjoyable experience with the wet gravel from the walkways being tracked onto our room's concrete floor. The interiors are quite sparse but it was interesting to note just how little you need to be comfortable. I would recommend spending the $$$ if you are planning to walk or bike everywhere and can truly enjoy the conversation areas outside. We spent most of our time elsewhere so the amenities were a waste of our resources.

Pros: location, interesting design, trendy

Cons: "too cool" personnel, price, trendy

03/10/2005 Posted by josh

Great place to stay if you don't like the corporate places that are so common these days. This place has cool decor and architecture. Lots of celebs stay here. Easy to walk to local attractions.

06/22/2004 Posted by gabbage

...that she's in the HOSPITALITY business. Popped in to ask about blocking a few rooms for my wedding and the owner was shockingly rude. Apparently she's under the impression that whatever trendy cache they currently enjoy will keep them afloat forever.