Element San Jose Milpitas — Hotel in Milpitas

I'm writing this review as I'm still currently at the hotel and have two more nights to get through. I've stayed at the San Jose location near the airport and now at this location, San Jose/Milpitas. My experience with the other location was so much better and now this stay here has left me a bit disappointed.

The front staff has been okay. Pleasant and nothing wrong. At check in we got a room that was the last room at the end of the hall. It was so far down and being that we have small children, it really was quite inconvenient. I called down and asked for a room closer to the elevators and she helped me move to a new room location. I appreciated that accommodation very much.

Entering the room, I noticed the smell immediately. It smelled unclean, although it was "clean". The floors were dirty for sure. My child took off his shoes and within half an hour, his feet were black. There was definitely a lot of wear and tear to the room even though decor and set up was nice. The mattresses were a little smaller than the bed frame causing the mattress to move around the base. My son ended up hurting himself on the edge of it, thinking the mattress and bed frame were flushed. Every so often I'd have to push the mattress so the gap is closed.

The bathroom is well lit, spacious. However lacked water pressure for the shower head. It took some time to thoroughly rinse shampoo from the hair. There is also black mold and mildew in the shower. When we'd turn on the bathroom sink, a rotten egg smell would emit then cleared up after a minute or two of the water running. Over the last three days the toilet lever would disconnect from the mechanism inside. We called maintenance once on the first night and thought that was fixed. Then it would disconnect again. We had to keep taking off the toilet tank lid to reconnect. I'm not very happy that we have to "fix" this every day. We don't call maintenance cuz it's such a simple reconnect, but I don't think anyone has it in their mind to have to do this on a stay out of their home.

I'm washing some dishes tonight and when I opened the dishwasher to clear out the dishes inside, I noticed the back up from the sink going into the dishwasher. I had dumped a glass of red wine in the sink and rinsed it down, then I saw the red coming up into the dishwasher. That definitely is not normal.

I'm trying to sleep and the stench of mildew or something is bothering me so bad that I have to use some parfum to mask what I'm smelling. I can't put my finger on the smell but what I can compared it to is if you enter a public restroom at the airport, it smells like that. The bathroom door is closed, so it's within the whole room since the first night. I didn't want to ask for another room because I didn't want to be a bother after the front receptionist had helped me already. I thought the smell will clear eventually.

The only area that smelled decent was in front of the elevators but I noticed there's an air freshener right in front of it. Everywhere else, hallway, room smells real funky. The San Jose location near the airport​ smells clean and scented well. I noticed it everytime we'd come and go.

We removed our do not disturb sign for house keeping today and did not receive any room cleaning as well.

I'm not sure that I can recommend this location. It seems others have no issues with their stay, but this is my...

AVOID THIS HOTEL, NOT WORTH THE MONEY! We've stayed here 8 nights over 2 stays in the last 30 days and I kept waiting for the experience to get better but it never did. This experience was so horrible, I had to write a review to let everyone know the intentional shortcomings.

1. This hotel is so CHEAP, they only have basic VEGETARIAN BREAKFAST. I came to breakfast the last 20 mins on day 1 so I thought they ran out of bacon/sausage and oatmeal. The next day I made sure to come at 815am and the chef told me there was no meat today. I thought that was strange, but I had a zoom call in 15 mins so I just grabbed what I could and ran back to my hotel room. Then on the 3rd day I came down at the same time, and I asked the chef why there was no meat again, she said they never serve bacon or sausage. Sometimes they serve chicken apple sausage, but it's mixed together in egg scramble. This is my first time seeing a hotel ACTIVELY CHOOSING to serve vegetarian food for breakfast and not disclose this. I looked back at the website and not a single mention anywhere about this being a VEGETARIAN BREAKFAST.

2. The only protein they had was eggs. Each day they cook the eggs a different way but that's the only protein. There is always a LONG WAIT for the chef to cook the eggs. When I only have 15 mins for breakfast in between zoom calls, I don't have time to stand there and wait 10 mins for 2 fried eggs! Other complaints: the website mentions "fresh breakfast pastries" but the croissants were old Costco croissants, it was so hard i couldn't cut it with a butter knife. Lastly, I normally feed our infant oatmeal at hotels, but of course they didn't have any oatmeal, they just had some crappy TOFU miso soup. Besides the yogurt and banana there was nothing at this restaurant suitable for infants.

3. When we arrived, our keys were not working, the front desk staff was aware of this, they had the security guard escort us to our rooms. It was super annoying because one of us had to stay in the hotel room while the other person went to the car to get all the luggage. We went down to the front desk the next morning, they gave us new keys, and it still didn't work.

I mentioned these concerns to Davina and she was empathetic and compensated the parking. She said she would notate our concerns and let the GM Kevin P. respond when he gets in on Monday. It's been 3 days and I haven't heard anything so this confirms everything I need to know about this place and it's leadership

TLDR: Horrible check in experience, horrible breakfast experience, and total lack of accountability from leadership. Save your money and go to another hotel with...

I would love to sing the praises of this excellent hotel. I am a traveling healthcare worker. I have stayed here since it opened in March 2022. I’ve been here for over 3 months. This hotel now feels like home. The staff here has made me feel so welcome during my stay. Any accommodation I needed has been met with a real desire to make me comfortable and enjoy my stay. The hotel is new so everything is incredibly clean and modern. You can use your phone to unlock your door. The mattresses and pillows are all of the highest quality and so very comfortable. The bathroom has a upgraded and stylish vanity and shower. The hotel is branded as an eco friendly place. The water in the kitchenette is filtered. The couch is a fold out bed. The smart TV has free Showtime channel. They have an evening reception from Monday to Thursday with free wine, beer, many different kinds of cheese, olives and bread—see pictures included. You can borrow a bicycle for free and there are trails close by. The gym is all new equipment and perfect for morning workouts. There is a pool and fire pit outside for relaxing at the end of the day. They have security that monitors the parking lot. I never worry about my car or coming in late at night from the hospital. I feel extremely safe and protected here as a single female. The area around the hotel is all tech companies. It’s very safe. But what makes this place a gem is the staff. Everyone knows me and my name. From the front desk, housekeeping, maintenance, kitchen staff and management—everyone is friendly, professional and a delight to see everyday. My MVPs here at the hotel are the breakfast chefs—Maria and Mariza. They make a cooked to order breakfast everyday and they know how I like my eggs and other food prepared. Maria even makes me a breakfast to go on my early mornings at the hospital. Maria is truly an angel at this hotel. She deserves employee of the year for all her hard work, dedication and pure joy to talk to every morning. The breakfast alone is worth staying here. Fresh eggs, avocado toast, breakfast tacos and my absolute favorite—cranberry muffins. Here are pictures of the many wonderful breakfasts I’ve enjoyed during my stay. Stay here!! You will love it as...