Santa Clara Marriott

The hotel seems to have the structure of an upscale property, but it’s missing the spirit. Rooms are clean, maintenance is good, and staff interactions are excellent apart from at the restaurant and bar. The front desk could use more staff. Food and drink are the weak point: outside breakfast, there’s only the lobby bar, while the impressive restaurant down the hall serves breakfast only. I can’t understand why it isn’t open for lunch and dinner. The restaurant service was truly great when I sat on that side. On the bar side, where the only available table was, service was poor even for a bar. The two spaces have no real separation, and the menu is the same on both sides and for room service.

The staff were welcoming, the rooms clean and comfortable, and breakfast had enough choices for a good start to the day. I had a pleasant stay and would recommend this hotel.

A package was delivered to the front desk late by mistake, and calling the hotel to sort it out cost me money. Every call goes to an AI-run call center, and when I asked for the front desk’s number, I kept getting different numbers that were no longer active. You can’t call the front desk directly. That’s inconvenient at best and potentially dangerous at worst.

The conference spaces were great, the staff wonderful, and my room was nicely remodeled with vaulted ceilings. But the wall unit air conditioner smelled awful, like bacteria or mold, and made me sick. Since every room seemed to have one of these units, which are notorious for this, I can’t recommend the hotel. The toilet was frighteningly loud when flushed and could wake anyone else in the room at night. There was also a pocket door instead of a regular bathroom door, and the faucet was difficult to turn on and off. The remodeling looked nice, but details that affect comfort were missed.