Smart Meetings

San Jose’s inventory of hotel rooms (8,500) continues to keep the city competitive with others of a similar size. Both the high-rise San Jose Marriott (506 rms, 21,000 sq. ft.; sanjosemarriott.com) and Hilton San Jose & Towers (354 rms, 60,000 sq. ft.; sanjose.hilton.com) are connected to McEnery. Together, as San Jose One Connection, the three offer a partnership for easier planning. Nearby is the luxurious San Jose Fairmont (805 rms, 65,000 sq. ft.; fairmont.com), where meeting space is clustered on one floor. Near the airport, located on the light rail line, are the Mediterranean-style Hyatt San Jose (512 rms, 20,000 sq. ft.; hyattsanjose.com) and the Wyndham Hotel San Jose (355 rms, 14,605 sq. ft.; wyndham.com), which was completely renovated in 2005.

Among the city’s boutique hotels are the Hotel De Anza (99 rms, meetings up to 70), featuring the classic Board Room and the outdoor Palm Court Terrace, and the stylish Hotel Montgomery (86 rms; hotelmontgomerysj.com), a historic Renaissance Revival hotel restored to the tune of $15 million-plus, also featuring Paragon Restaurant & Bar. The Valencia Hotel (211 rms, 4,000 sq. ft., hotelvalencia.com) puts your group in the thick of the action at Santana Row, a snazzy complex with 70 shops, 20 restaurants and cafes, and movie theater.

Just a few minutes from downtown San Jose, Dolce Hayes Mansion (214 rms, 33,000 sq. ft.; hayesmansion.dolce.com) is an elegant former mansion adjacent to 20-acre Edenvale Park, giving the palm-fringed hotel and conference center the feeling of a retreat before you’ve even unpacked your bags.

In Mountain View, the Computer History Museum (80,000 sq. ft., indoor meeting space for up to 1,500 or 3,000 for indoor/outdoor; computerhistory.org) pays tribute to the early days of technology but offers a state-of-the-art venue for today’s meetings. Or try The Tech Museum of Innovation (3,500 sq. ft., up to 400 guests; thetech.org), where your group can take a simulated bobsled ride similar to that used for Olympics training by the U.S. Bobsled Team. It also houses a domed, 295-seat IMAX theater.

When you need to wrap your meeting into one neat package, consider The Lodge at CordeValle (up to 150 guests; cordevalle.com), a luxe resort on 1,700 acres in San Martin, just south of San Jose. Set in a secluded valley, it features a Robert Trent Jones Jr.-designed golf course, a health-and-wellness spa, and Clos La Chance, an onsite winery where groups can make their own wine.

Winchester Mystery House (up to 65 indoors/300−400 outdoors; winchestermysteryhouse.com) is a beautiful, but bizarre, 160-room Victorian mansion built by the eccentric heiress to the Winchester Rifle fortune. Bonfante Gardens (bonfantegardens.com) in Gilroy, on the outer perimeter of Silicon Valley, is a magical “horticultural theme park” with amusement park rides (for young children) tucked among flowering gardens and unique, world-famous topiary.

Further afield, Venture Valley (venturevalley.net) is a country inn-style retreat in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It’s ideal for groups that desire exclusive use of a property.

Getting There

Mineta San Jose International Airport - Located two miles north of downtown San Jose, Norman Y. Mineta San José International Airport (SJC) is a completely self-supporting enterprise, owned and operated by the City of San José - www.sjc.org

Door to Door shuttles- Shuttles can either be arranged over the telephone or can be found waiting in one of two areas. 

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