We stayed at the beautiful and world famous Fairmont San Jose, in the South Tower and as it was a moms only weekend I had the entire room to myself. I loved the room which featured a King size bed, a comfy lounge chair and a desk. The bed was very comfortable and I found the room very quiet and relaxing.
The hotel offers a room service menu, but it is also in an area that is also surrounded by some really terrific eating establishments so you can get a bite to eat, no matter what you are craving for breakfast, lunch or dinner.
The first night we arrived, I met the other moms at the beautiful pool area which is in an outdoor area in the Main Hotel Building on the 4th floor. The pool only goes as deep as 5 feet and families are free to bring whatever toys or floaties they would like to use.
There are plenty of lounge chairs to sit in and relax at the pool. Plus there is a waitress who works the area taking drink and food orders.
On our first night we walked a few blocks over from the hotel to the "San Pedro Public Market," which is billed as San Jose’s version of Seattle’s Pikes Market. The market features food and eateries where there is something for just about every craving and diet. The place gets very busy on a Friday night but we sat outside and enjoyed a Girls Night Out with some really relaxing Jazz music, and great food.
The next day we enjoyed a fun team building visit to San Jose's "Savory Kitchen," a fun, wine and food class on how to prepare some yummy food using their recipes.
We prepared three dishes and they were easy to make and delicious. Here are links to the recipes:
Fresh Corn and Tomatoes in Lettuce Cups Appetizer
Grilled Nectarine and Fresh Mozzarella Caprese Salad
Thai Marinated Flank Steak with Jicama Slaw
Another highlight of our trip was a visit to Santana Row which really reminded me of the Grove in Los Angeles, though it is bigger with more shops, restaurants, spas and fun spots for the kids to play. We ate lunch at a French Brasserie called "The Left Bank" and we ate in the beautiful cabana area with a wonderful Accordion player who serenaded us with some love songs.
After lunch we visited Club One Fitness where we enjoyed massages, facials and makeup lessons. Some of the really cool features of Santana Row is that they have a full playground within the area, they have a life size chess game that you can play and chess tables in a beautiful garden area.
For a night on the town, San Jose features some really terrific restaurants, clubs and performing arts in its SoFA district (San Jose’s South of First Area). Within walking distance to the Fairmont San Jose are cutting edge galleries, museums like the Tech Museum, and the San Jose Stage Theatre where we caught a wonderful performance of Bonnie and Clyde, the Musical. As one of the safest big cities in the nation, visitors can feel safe exploring the city on foot during the day and night.
The city of San Jose is just 5 hours from Ventura County and not only features lots of fun activities and museums for adults but they also feature some fun ones for kids. While on this visit I just adult activities, Team San Jose shared all the wonderful activities from kids from the Children’s Discovery Museum, located in Downtown San Jose to the Winchester Mystery House located across the street from Santana Row, and the Happy Hollow Park and Zoo.
For more information about any of the places visit them online:
VISITOR CENTER:
HOTEL:
FUN:
FOOD:
- Left Bank (Santana Row)
- California Village Bistro and Wine Bar (Santana Row)
- First to Market (SoFa District)
- San Pedro Square Market (Downtown San Jose)
- Scott's Seafood (Downtown San Jose)
- La Lune Sucree (Downtown San Jose)
Macaroni Kid Camarillo-Oxnard-Ventura was a guest of Team San Jose and the Fairmont San Jose. Those establishments mentioned in this review provided complimentary services to facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided and the opinions stated here are my own.
