The Hayes Mansion San Jose is a Hilton Curio Collection hotel situated outside the hustle and bustle of the city and nestled in a quiet area.

Booking

We needed to spend a couple of nights in San Jose, California. While we could have stayed in the Hotel de Anza again, we weren’t too thrilled with the prospect. So, we decided to look elsewhere.

Eventually, we decided to check out the Hayes Mansion, a Hilton Curio Collection property. Hilton wanted $805.11 before taxes and fees, or $925.88 after taxes, for the three nights. But I remembered I had a $300 hotel credit to use up with my Citi Strata Elite credit card (not a referral link). And while I needed to purchase the stay on Citi’s travel portal, it actually was cheaper in the portal! It was around $800 for the three nights before the credit, and around $500 after the hotel credit.

Booking through a third party means no Hilton Gold benefits for me, but honestly, we weren’t too thrilled with what you get for Hilton Gold. And the value of their points continues to devalue over the last year. I had no regrets for being status-less on this trip.

Earning Hilton points

Full disclosure: there are no referral links in this section. The cards we present below are publicly available and we earn no commission from them.

If all you want is Hilton Gold status, your cheapest option is the Hilton Surpass card. At just a $150 annual fee, it can be a helpful card to have if you visit Hilton hotels with some frequency. The 130,000 Hilton points as a sign-up bonus is icing on the cake for that first year.

While I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it, American Express Membership Rewards (MR) cards transfer points at a 1:2 ratio. That means you’ll get 2,000 Hilton points for every 1,000 MR points you transfer. But in a pinch, if you need more points, that can be an option, but it’s an expensive option.

Why? Because Hilton very frequently sells points at a rate of 0.5 cents each and the points are worth 0.4 cents each. Using Amex MR for such an inefficient option isn’t really something we want to promote.

First impressions of Hayes Mansion San Jose

We arrived at the Hayes Mansion a bit late in the evening after a lengthy drive up from Southern California. The lobby of the Hayes Mansion certainly looked a bit historic. In fact, I should probably mention that the hotel itself seems almost a little out of place in the middle of the suburbs.

We headed over the the check-in desk to grab our room keys. It felt a little weird not having the Hilton stay loaded in my Hilton app, but there weren’t any problems with check-in. The front desk was efficient, which is great to have with kids who just want to get to the room as fast as possible. We received a brochure that included a map of the property, told where we should park, and we were on our way.

Just across from the front desk is a small display of items should you need anything and don’t want to leave the property.

Meanwhile, you can see the rest of the lobby looks like you’re inside someone’s mansion. I suppose that’s why the hotel is called a mansion, huh? Char needed to let off some steam and was doing gymnastics on the floor by the couches. I can’t say I approve of her rolling around in a common area.

In all, the decorations feel inviting and cozy. They do a good job making you feel like you’re at home.

Hotel parking, which is in a lot shared with the next door Edenvale Gardens Regional Park, is $20/day. Parking for Edenvale is free, but overnight parking isn’t permitted without a permit from the hotel.

The room

Getting to our room

Can I just say that even with the map, it was hard to find our room for this stay? We’re in room 1308, which was described as above the wedding that was going on in the ballroom. That’s right–they were hosting a wedding right below our room on the day of our arrival. We found the wedding, but how to get to our room? (I took pictures of the area the morning after as I doubt they wanted an underdressed guy walking around taking photos.)

After asking various employees on how to get to our room, turns out we needed to enter the wedding venue to take the elevator up. That felt a bit awkward. But maybe if I brought a suit, I could have gone to the open bar too?

Sure enough, the elevator was a few steps away from where one of the bars servicing guests was at. That elevator couldn’t come fast enough.

To give you a better sense of the layout of the foyer the day after the party, you’re right in the middle of the action when you go up to your room. Not all the rooms are here, just a small subset, but that doesn’t take away from the awkwardness of feeling like we’re wedding crashers.

Once on this floor, we found the room quickly at the end of a hallway.

Bedroom

Waiting for us in the room were two queen beds, which were fine but we would have preferred them to be a bit firmer. The sheets were thick enough for us to sleep comfortably without getting too cold. The good news is that each bed came with four pillows, but the reality is that when they do that, you know the pillows are on the thinner side. Indeed, that was the case this time. We could have used more outlets by the bed (there were none).

Almost immediately, you could probably tell that the room itself isn’t that brightly lit at night. It’d be nice to have some overhead lighting but all they had were a variety of lamps scattered through the room. The TV across from the beds also added some light when we first showed up.

Underneath the TV on one side of the cabinet is a Keurig machine and an in-room safe.

The other side of the cabinet held a mini-fridge, which is always convenient to have.

Next to the TV is a chaise and a small table. This table is as close as it gets to having a a desk. It’s not the most convenient place to do some work but at least the countertop works well with optical mice.

Also in the room is a full-length mirror.

The room has a small balcony with some harsh lighting and a table with two chairs.

I can’t really imagine lounging out here, though, especially if others are here in the neighboring rooms. It’s most definitely not a private area to relax. You’ll probably also want to keep your door locked in the evening as it’s quite simple to get from room to room.

The view over the wall is of the suburbs. What did you expect?

Bathroom

The bathroom was… fine. The decor felt a bit antiquated, which fits with the overall vibe of the property. But if you’re here with a family like us, you might think it can get a little cramped in the bathroom.

The hotel really needs to consider using glass cups instead of the individually-wrapped plastic cup. When we see these, we immediately think of a motel. If they made this change, it would help elevate the property marginally.

The shower is one of those bath/shower combos. Our first night (a Saturday), the shower temperature fluctuated significantly as we used it. This problem didn’t happen the other nights. The question is whether this is an issue because there was a wedding underneath us or because they might have been more rooms occupied that night. At least the room is well insulated from noise!

The shower amenities are by Lather, which were just OK.

Map of Hayes Mansion San Jose

At check-in, the hotel provided a little more information about the property, what the upcoming week’s weather looks like, and detail on the area.

You’ll see that the hotel is fairly spread out across the property.

The Game Room at Hayes Mansion San Jose

One thing we ended up checking out here at the Hayes Mansion was the Game Room. It’s in the main building near the restaurant.

The area is large enough to fit a couple of families comfortably.

In one corner is a large circular table with a wine glass that maybe wasn’t cleaned up from the night before.

In the other corner is a large sofa area that’s nice enough to just lounge around at.

With a variety of board games, your family might enjoy hanging out here. But there’s just one problem. There are so many missing game pieces and some of the board games showed a lot of wear and tear. Not much you can do with a chess board that’s missing several pawns. It’s a nice thought to have a room for families here in suburbia, but they need to replace a few games here.

Palm & Ember

The hotel’s restaurant is Palm & Ember. You’ll find it in the same building as the front desk, not too far away from the pool. It shouldn’t be hard to find. Palm & Ember is open from 6AM – 10AM (breakfast), and 11AM – 11PM (lunch and dinner).

The restaurant looks nicely decorated, almost like a diner from yesteryear. But since we didn’t stay at the property with Hilton Gold status, we didn’t feel a need to eat at the property. We can’t comment on the quality of the food, but if you at least get here early enough, there didn’t seem to be a problem grabbing a table.

Pool

In the center of the complex is the outdoor pool, open 6AM-10PM. The pool is heated to 74 degrees, which felt fine in the sun even in November. It got a little chilly in the shade.

The hot tub is heated to 104 degrees and was more in the shade, which was all right with us. While here at the pool, we could see some planes flying overhead. While the hotel is under the flight path, there were no issues when sleeping at night.

The only game available at the pool is a large monochrome Connect 4 game.

Edenvale Gardens Regional Park

Right next to the Hayes Mansion hotel is the Edenvale Gardens Regional Park. Officially, this part is only open from 8AM to 1 hour after sunset. If you’re a hotel guest, you can stop by the front desk to borrow some pickleball equipment for free. If you’re not interested in playing a game, it still makes for a lovely walk in the morning.

You’ll find a typical picnic area here in case you want a change of pace from eating in your room.

The playground here is actually quite extensive. There’s a large play structure with slides, bridges, and poles.

And an area for younger children with swings and another slide.

Char enjoyed spending a little time on the bouncing horses.

And a small rock climbing area if your child really wants to get dirty, like Alex is showing off below.

Recommendation: Maybe, but only if you need to be in the area

The Hayes Mansion San Jose feels like it’s a bit of a blast from the past. In some ways, it’s nice, like how the lobby feels classic. In other ways, the plumbing can use some work and a refresh of the rooms would be great. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as a surprise that an older hotel has an older infrastructure?

So, what can we say we like about the hotel? The next door park is excellent for families or to play some sports. The Game Room is a good surprise and can make for a nice night in. And if you need to be in this specific area of San Jose, away from the downtown area, we think the Hayes Mansion will suit you well.

Have you been to the Hayes Mansion San Jose?

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