Hilton San Jose — Hotel in San Jose

Absolutely terrible experience to say the least. We travel a lot and book our trips through American Express Travel. I had arranged with the American Express agent ahead of time like I always do to accommodate my plans. We were arriving at 9am so we purchased an additional night before hand to allow us to have the room when we arrived. We have done this several times and had no issues. The American Express agent had called The Hilton and let them know we would be arriving in the morning for the check in so they would not cancel the reservation for a no show. He said he spoke to a Marco at reception with Hilton and assured me my trip was all taken care of and they are aware. Upon arriving at the Hilton a person named Tim I believe (I was seeing red by the time I walked away from him so I can’t remember for sure) I do remember under his name it said “supervisor” anyhow we let Tim know we were there to check in. He immediately started with “this early we have nothing for you to be able to check in yet” I thenexplained to him we have a two day reservation that started the previous day, we are just checking in late per what American Express had arranged for us. Tim then says “no, we don’t have any for you it’s been cancelled for no show, I have no record of any calls” I told him that’s very odd because American Express called and spoke to someone here why would they lie to me? Tim then says “oh just like they lied to you when they booked your reservation on Expedia” I was shocked at his statement and the way he was treating me. Tim basically just made me feel like trash at his high class hotel. I stepped away and called American Express back and they assured me they did call and provided me with the persons name Marco they had spoke to. My husband went back up to Tim to ask if a Marco worked there he said “yes, but that doesn’t change the fact that I have no room for you” and continued to be nothing but unhelpful and combative. Thankfully, another woman came from the back and over heard the conversation and stepped in and told Tim that we can absolutely be helped and given our room. She had to tell Tim twice “no, we can help them” because he continued to argue! My question is why in the world does Tim have a supervisor title with no customer service skills period. Was it because of the color of my skin? The way I was dressed? I just don’t understand and I am still so confused why. Tim loves to argue with guests, and doesn’t like to be wrong, he will argue with you up and down just to avoid apologizing for an error on the hotels end. Trash talking a partner is also so absolutely insane to me, he basically was saying we are stupid for using American Express. This was just the check in experience!! The room was not very clean for a hotel that wants to seem high end. Blonde hair and food next to my bed was pretty disgusting (I have black hair), the shower was brown, and shower curtain a dingy looking thing. Awful looking stains on the carpets. The bed sheets not even made just thrown over the bed. No valet, no room service, slow elevators. Definitely done staying at anything Hilton after this trip. Please get rid of Tim or train him to better interact...

I traveled to and stayed at this hotel for a business conference. I would say that I had a mixed experience. I believe in stating the positives before detailing the negatives, as most tend to prefer receiving good news before bad news.

The positives: The room was nice and was cleaned daily. Many hotels are going through staffing shortages (as is the case with most industries), so having my room cleaned every day was wonderful. The bed was soft, which is always a good thing. The room also had a safe in it, so I could store any valuables if I so chose.

The hotel is located downtown and is a hop and a skip away from pretty much anything. I happen to enjoy when a hotel lies in the heart of a city's downtown area, and this was no exception.

While I didn't use them while I was there, the hotel also had a fitness center and pool, so should you wish to take advantage of that, those facilities are there for you.

The negatives: Upon my arrival, I was told that I would have to pay a $50 early check-in fee. This is the first I'm hearing of something like that. In the years that I have been traveling, I have never been asked to pay additional money due to arriving a few hours early. I could understand being penalized for a late arrival, but being fined for being early?

If the room wasn't ready (it was), the front desk could have mentioned that they needed more time to prepare the room.

Thankfully, my boss arrived not long after I did and was able to take care of the extra charge on our company card, but that should not have been an issue at all.

My room did not have a microwave, so I had no way to heat any potential leftovers I may have had. The hotel did text me during my stay to ask how it was going, and when I brought up this issue, they mentioned that all of the microwaves are being used.

I've stayed in motels in my travels that, while they did not have nearly the amenities that Hilton had, at least had microwaves in every room. Fortunately, I enjoy pizza, which is good at any temperature.

This is more of a minor issue, but the water in the room didn't get very hot. I will concede that this is a nitpick, but when I'm showering, I tend to prefer water hot enough to give me a first-degree burn, and the water was lukewarm at best.

The breakfast I had (three pancakes) was just okay. Not great, not terrible. Was somewhat expensive even if you factor in California's higher prices, I still think IHOP would have given me more food for the same amount of money. This was only one day; aside from that, the continental breakfast I and my colleagues had was fine, and the hotel staff made sure we had everything we needed.

Overall, I can't say I was amazed by my stay. The peaks weren't high, but the valleys were quite low. I did appreciate the friendliness of the hotel cleaners and servers, who were very accommodating. The text messages asking about my stay were also a nice touch (I wish more hotels would do that, actually).

However, the hotel being on the expensive side and charging more if you don't arrive in a very specific window of time makes it a tough...

Good location, reasonable price, and decent view, but inconsistent service and notable issues with furnishings in the room.

Room: We stayed on a 12th floor "sky view" room, which faces the Santa Cruz mountains to the southwest. Its about as good a view as you can get in sleepy San Jose and we got decent shots of dramatic weather, but many were ruined by the extremely dirty windows. Wash your windows! Most of downtown San Jose is in the flight path of the airport, so you will hear many aircraft in quick succession at certain hours of the day. This was mostly tolerable for us and not an issue specific to this hotel.

Cleanliness: The room was pretty clean on arrival, though they did miss that the previous occupant had wrapped a shower cap over the smoke alarm, presumably to smoke... The lobby and halls smelled of a strong cleaner scent that might irritate some. The rooms lack ventilation, and moisture from the shower, coupled with condensation, turns the inside of the windows into a rain storm.

Furniture: The beds were the standout negative part of this experience. They are way, way, way too soft. My partner, who is not a large gal, would sink about 7 inches into the mattress just sitting on it. Sleeping on this would cause your body to make a U shape all night, and we both had sore backs after our stay. Only recommended for people who like sleeping like dead bugs. The pillows were also egregiously soft. We get 4 pillows per bed and they are all extra soft? You guys should take a hint from Hyatt and offer soft and firm choices. In a double queen room, there is only a single (uncomfortable) chair for the room, forcing some people to sit on the beds, which are wholly inadequate for long term sitting. To their credit, they did bring us another chair when we asked the front desk. Theres space by the window in these rooms for a reading chair and it would enhance the value of the view.

Service/Secco: The front desk was very courteous and helpful, which is the opposite of my usual experience. In contrast, we tried to get takeout at the Secco restaurant one night and the host/server was extremely curt, bordering on annoyed. He told us wait for the food, then after a while, he said "go back to your room and someone will bring it". Then he called us back down to get the food after we were undressed, saying there was no room service available - we were fine just sitting there, buddy. They sneak a 10% tip on the receipt so it looks like a food item too, and despite this, I topped it off to make it 22% (for takeout) just to receive this kind of service.

Protips: Theres a water spout on the ice machines to refill bottles - it doesnt look like a normal bottle station. While there are no microwaves in the rooms, there are a few sitting around, including in the lobby and by the ice machine on...