Overall this is a decent enough hotel in a quiet, suburban, safe location - especially for women business travelers on their own. It's quiet too. Friendly staff and a casual, groovy atmosphere ring well with the under-40 or so crowd. While it's out of the way to locales like San Francisco city, it's central Silicon Valley location is good for those who have business in San Jose or nearby. A government rate of $110/night was hard to beat, too, as well as free parking.

This place has some pitfalls however. The rooms are large but mine was stained and dirty. That is, stained carpets, furniture, and marked and chipped walls and doors. The bathtub had a soap scum ring in it, yuk. The windows could not be opened. Some of the saving graces were the large size of the bathroom and comfy bed, and the in-room microwave and mini-kitchen (no stove but a mini-fridge, sink, coffee maker and basic china and utensils).

The other disappointment was the pool area: although the outdoor pool area and hot tub were in principle open during the winter, the pool was full of crud, and the hot tub had dirt and sand in it, and frankly looked gross.

If these kinds of problems don't bother you, the W is a good choice for a number of reasons. If you want cleanliness, stay somewhere else.

We booked a one night stay at this hotel in order to take advantage of a SPG Triple Points promotion. We were not expecting much. Much to our (pleasant) suprise, the W delivered.

The rooms are all suites--ours was a tastefully done, well laid out "Wonderful" suite, which is the lowest category, but still quite nice. The sitting/working area was separated by a large TV stand (the TV sits on a swiveling base to allow you to watch from the sofa or bed). The bathroom has a separate shower/tub, though one would be hard pressed to call the tub a soaking tub. The toiletries were bliss products. The room was clean and generally well maintained, save for a few stains on some furniture.

We used the pool/hot tub area at night. It's a surprisingly nice pool area, with nice teak lounge chairs and huge cushioned seats. There is also a fire pit at night. All in all, when the music is playing at night and bar patrons are having drinks outside near the pool, it feels a little bit like being in LA.

I used the gym, which is serviceable, though nothing spectacular.

The hotel is located in an office park, and there is nothing in the way of restaurants, shops, or bars. If you go expecting to be in the heart of Silicon Valley, you will be disappointed--it's abouta 15 minute drive to Palo Alto and environs. However, if you go knowing that it is in an office park off of a highway, then youll be pleasantly suprised by the quality of this establishment.

My wife and I go to the Bridge School benefit concert held in Mountain View at the Shorline ampitheater every October (a GREAT show this year). We live in Fort Bragg, Ca - about 170 miles North of Mt.View, I'm manager of the Beach House Inn, one of the nicer places on the coast :) Anyways this year we choose to stay at the W partly because of the concert package they offered and partly because they are pet friendly and I won't travel without my Corgi, Morgi.

WOW, what a perfect hotel!!!!!!

The W web site shows how nice it is but it may be even a little understated. I'm not going into detail but my wife, my dog and I love this hotel and will be there for Bridge School #21.

Thanks W, You guys are great.

Charles Brandenburg
Manager, the Beach House Inn

The first thing you need to know is this is not an easy W hotel to find because it is short (5 stories) and in a residential area, several blocks off of the main highway. After that, it is everything that the W hotel chain stands for: sexy lobbies decorated like a club, polite but slightly standoff-ish staff, and large rooms with nice linens (although the bed was not as soft as usual). The hotel is showing a bit of age, surprising for a W, but is still kept up above average.

The rate we paid for the weekend was $108 for a suite when San Francisco was nearly sold out and wayyy more expensive and just 40 minutes away.

We decided to pass on the Sunday brunch because it was basically a simple buffet purched on the bar in the lobby, definitely not up to W standards. This is not to say it was not a good deal, because the prices were reasonable, just not what you normally expect in a W.