I have a business trip to San Jose next week and can not get a room. The closest I could get was Oakland. I looked south and found a comfort in near the boardwalk.
Is this a OK hotel?

Never been to Santa Cruz, I guess the neighborhood is OK. A

ny other suggestions?
How about restaurants?

Also, how long does it take to get to Great American Parkway (Santa Clara) from Santa Cruz in morning traffic?

Thanks

That was a "Comfort Inn"

That was a "Comfort Inn" in Santa Cruz.

I know that accomodations can get very tight in the San Jose Metro area. Have you tried all of the web sites? Often there will be availability on line when the property is reporting sold out.

One of my favorites is Travel Web for accomodations.

http://www.travelweb.com/index.html

I am very familiar with Santa Cruz though I do not know that particular hotel. Santa Cruz itself is Ok. There is an excellent Mexican restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz called Miramar. However the commute from Santa Cruz to Great American Parkway is not very good though better than Oakland. You will be looking at a minimum of 1 hour.

Have you tried all of the neighboring cities such as Sunnyvale, Cupertino, Mountain View, etc.?

If you cannot find anything much more convenient than Santa Cruz will be fine. It is kind of an interesting place and is quite safe.

I stayed there twice. The first time is was a nightmare. Unfriendly staff, dirty rooms, I was overcharged and it took forever to get my money back. I complained and got one complimentary night. I went back and the nightmare got worse. For me, NEVER AGAIN. Anywhere but Comfort Inn.

I am looking in the Sunnyvale and have the company I am visting looking at smaller hotels that may not show up on the map. Even there people coming in from the east coast can not get rooms.
Laura, Was your answer "Comfort Inn" in general or the particular "Comfort Inn" I mentioned on Santa Cruz. Thanks

Stayed at the comfort inn, rooms are small. I thought the staff was cold and I don't see anywhere for you to "eat" nearby except the boardwalk?

The neighborhood made me nervous even when I was with my husband walking toward the boardwalk. I don't recommend it for business travel at all.
if San Jose is not available have you checked: Scotts Valley, Morgan Hill, Los Gatos, Saratoga etc..

Our company always puts people in the Pruneyard Inn in Campbell--try there, I don't think we book that far in advance. There's also the Campbell Inn I believe.

In the best of times your commute will be 45 min but with traffic, 1 accident or bad weather it could be well over an hour through the summit or worse. It is a windy road. Keep checking the small hotels previously mentioned, also The Toll House Hotel in Los Gatos, Los Gatos Motor Lodge. Right where you are going (Great America Parkway) are several hotels. If I were you, I would keep calling them directly on a daily basis. Commutes in this area are nasty and you should pay a few extra bucks to avoid them if at all possible: Marriott's, Embassy Suites, Biltmore are all in Santa Clara, and Sunnyvale Hilton is also very close by. Also try the De Anza Hotel and Sainte Claire Hilton in downtown San Jose.

I have another web site for you to check.

www.TravelNow.com

They are showing availability all next week in Los Gatos ( great area ), Milpitas ( Embassy Suites ), and one other that I forget. Any of those 3 choices would be better than Santa Cruz.

Remember that often travel web sites will show availability even though the hotel reports being sold out. The reason is that the web sites buy a block of rooms at a contract price. These are then reported as sold by the hotel even though the rooms themselves may be available.