Joe "teleprax" F.'s Profile

The Hayes Mansion is great. Beautiful grounds, buildings and landscaping. There is a lot of dark wood paneling, reception, stairs, bar, etc. The whole place is straight out of a Poirot novel. Some reviews said haunted? Plus.

I also like that it's not a mega chain.

I have stayed at 10 or so hotels in the San Jose area. This one is not the cushiest, but it's the best by far, especially given the price. We paid around $100 for a king size room, nothing too fancy but definitely clean and comfortable. Nice bed, new TV, the furniture is a bit Ethan Allen but definitely doable. The room also has a free wifi, and a mini-fridge, if that's a plus for you.

The Peninsula does not have a lot of good business hotels, this is the best I've found so far. I would probably come back here if I were in San Jose for pleasure (lol).

The Santa Clara Hyatt Regency probably has the leg up when it comes to amenities, but the same room would have cost $200 a night more. Save yourself time and aggravation and don't stay at 9 other places before this one. Show owner comment »

The tornados are amazing. I also highly recommend the beignets (which come arranged as a delightfully pretentious and delicious sculpture), and the hummus (they'll give you more pitas but you'll have to take the initiative). The food is pretty simple- enough for a vegan to be happy but they have also things for those of the lacto-ovo persuasion.

The drinks are great, I don't usually get wine at counter because it's so expensive to eat there in the first place. More importantly, the infused vodka mixed drinks are pretty much the star of the show for me. They also have "Funky East Village" names like the Angry Lesbian and Tie Me to the Bedpost. I take people from out of town here because it seems like the kind of place you'd take people from out of town in the East Village. This is both a good and bad thing.

The big problem with this place is that the menu changes about as frequently as Cafe Orlin's (never ever?), so you basically have to be from out of town and going there for the first time to feel the full effect. Otherwise your in on the joke and the food seems too expensive,

Go there at least once or twice- the food isn't as bad as the other reviews might lead you to believe, and when I say expensive I mean like $50-$60 a head for dinner with drinks.