No phenomena at a big chain hotel in San Jose
Written: Aug 12 '03 (Updated Apr 08 '05)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Haunted, conveniently located, friendly staff, easy and free parking
Cons: Cookie-cutter decorated rooms, trying to reserve a specific room
The Bottom Line: The Wyndham Hotel in San Jose should be a pleasant stay with all hotel amenities, unless you're asking to stay in room 538.
|
|
|
| adriennefoster's Full Review: Wyndham Hotel San Jose |
In many respects, it's rather silly that I would spend the night at a hotel that is only a 10-minute drive from my home in San Jose, California. However, I had been wanting to learn more about the haunting at the Wyndham Hotel in San Jose for many years and when I finally ran across the information that the source of the haunting was in a guest room, I had it in mind to spend a couple of nights there ever since. With the added incentive of the Great Hotel Write-Off on Epinions, I browsed the Wyndham website to see what rates it offered. Finding a very reasonable one, a sleepover there could dovetail well with my plans to see the fireworks at the San Jose America Festival.
The San Jose location of the Wyndham Hotel originally opened as the LeBaron on February 8, 1974. It immediately became the city's poshest hotel, since Santa Clara County still had a grip--albeit a loose one--on its agricultural industry. At that time, the Sainte Claire had dissipated into a seedy hovel, located only a few blocks from the porno district. The DeAnza was on its way to becoming a deserted hull, if it wasn't one already. San Jose's oldest hotel, the Metropole, was pathetic red brick structure with a pawn shop in its storefront and transients urinating on its outside walls. The Montgomery had turned into low-income housing for senior citizens. When the bigger and more widespread Red Lion Inn opened in 1982, the LeBaron lost some of its favor in the locale, but held its own. After operating 22 years as part of a small four-star hotel chain and facing the increasing expansion and competition in Silicon Valley, the LeBaron chain sold its San Jose property to the Wyndham in 1996.
My first visit at the Wyndham was in the late 70s. Working on my college newspaper, I took advantage of an invitation to a press conference with Alex Haley in one of its function rooms. At that point I was so starstruck in the glow of Haley's success, I was disturbed when the spooky vibes hit me. Thinking it kind of odd, I shook the feeling off and carried on. About a year later, when I was running errands around town, a news report on KGO radio came on talking about the oddly-behaved elevator at the LeBaron. The reporter further said that when it stops at the fifth floor without any direction, the maids know the ghost is up to its tricks. Ever since then I had an eye out for any documentation on the haunting and within the last year or so found it in a book by Dennis William Hauck, The National Directory of Haunted Places. It reported that the apparition of a man in a business suit was seen in room 538. That was it, nothing else. With a cover price of $16.95, I felt jipped.
My Wyndham San Jose experience
As I dabbled around the rates on the Wyndham website, it became clear that this hotel is obviously geared toward traveling businessmen. Its rates are cheaper on the weekends than the weeknights, which suited me. However, with the bargain rate it offered, would I still be granted my request for room 538? Considering the chain insisted on a full payment for both nights up front in exchange for the low rate, it would be meaningless to me if I was refused the room I wanted. Rather than confirm on line, I opted to call the Wyndham reservations and ask. I reached someone at a central office for the whole chain who said he'd be happy to take my rate and special request. When he asked me what kind of room I wanted, I said I didn't care, as long it was room 538. He said he was unable to promise me an exact room and tried to pry other specifications out of me. Finally, he asked me what was so special about room 538. I told him it was haunted. "I never heard that before!" Well, I was sorry about that, but that was why I wanted 538. He noted it on my reservation and recommended that I call the front desk at the hotel about a week before my stay and restate my request with them. A week before, I called the front desk. Once again, staff wouldn't confirm and told me to call again the day before my reservation. When I called the day before, my anxiety was relieved and the request for room 538 was granted. Whew!
The Wyndham is easy to find, just a northbound turn off the First Street exit of Highway 880. It does provide free shuttle service from San Jose International Airport and is only about a five-minute drive from there, depending on whether the traffic or any of the other current construction obstacles interfere with the trip. The hotel provides free parking to its guests. The Gish Street light rail station can be found right outside its main entrance, which was a bonus for us. The light rail is probably the easiest public transportation to take from the Wyndham to the downtown area. Unfortunately, with only three lines, it is extremely lightweight compared to the systems in San Francisco, New York, or London, but it's a start. The exodus from the San Jose America Festival is horrendous and the thought of avoiding that congestion by using public transportation was a major attraction for us to the hotel that weekend.
This was one adventure I wanted company for, so I asked my boyfriend, Russell, to stay with me. Checkin was a breeze. The gals at the front desk took the impression of my credit card, handed us our card keys, and, with just a couple of small bags, we declined the help of a porter. We noticed that it was a slow period at the Wyndham and it would be like that during our entire two-night stay.
On initial entry to our room, there was no light switch near the door. Exploring a little farther, one was found in the bathroom alcove immediately to the right, which is a design that was poorly thought out for those entering after dark. The sink and vanity were behind a dividing wall, but left open to the rest of the room. Through this little alcove, an open door led to the small room accommodating the toilet and bathtub.
Room 538 turned out to be a non-smoking room with two full-size beds. The amount of space was not luxurious, but roomy enough to move around in comfortably. The bedroom was primarily decorated in gold, khaki green, orange, and winter white colors. It took us back a bit when we realized the room had no chest of drawers. The cabinet the TV was kept in had some deep shelves underneath so we shoved our clothes there. We had little use for the closet in the small bathroom sink alcove that weekend.
Little cards were kept around the beds and towels to inform guests staying more than one night that the hotel was trying to save the environment and their policy was to reuse towels and linens. This guest takes no umbrage with this practice, although I prefer a fresh towel every day so I was rather a nuisance in that regard. (Since I tip the maids on a daily basis, I doubt they cared.) Generally, the room was clean, although sections of the curtains were dusty and there were a few spots on the carpet. The latter was a condition that I noticed throughout the hotel.
San Jose has many, many restaurants and cuisines available, but few are close to this hotel. There is one that serves Moroccan food (which I never tried, but heard is very good) across the street on Gish. Across from the Wyndham on First Street, is a building that divides into two restaurants, the House of Genji (a Japanese steak house), and Cathay (Chinese cuisine). That first night there, on the other hand, it seemed worthwhile to give the San Fresco in the Wyndham a try. Back in the days of the LeBaron, this hotel's restaurant could be found on the top floor, which gave it a sense of privilege, but it has since relocated to the lobby and the top floor turned into guest rooms. From the time we arrived in the dining room to when we left, we only saw two or three other parties there. With so few demands on our waiter, the service was very good. San Fresco served mostly pasta or meat-and-potatoes types of dishes. I selected the rib eye steak while Russell chose the herb-crusted halibut. Both were a little pricey, but delicious.
On the way back to our room, we passed by the lounge, which probably only held no more than 20-40 comfortably and at that time only had a couple of customers at the bar. We took a look at the pool and found it was on the small side with no hot tub. Russell was disappointed on the latter count, but through the course of our stay other guests enjoyed swimming there, particularly the children. A small fitness room could also be found in the pool area. Compared to the Doubletree or Fairmont, the whole property is small, but when the LeBaron was first built, the demands on a grand hotel in San Jose were far less.
The big advantage staying at the Wyndham those two toasty nights was having air conditioning. Although the Bay Area is prone to a few heat waves during the summer, San Jose has a Mediterranean climate and the periods when it soars over 100°F are few. In addition, this region has little humidity, so the need for private residences to install a/c is considered a luxury item for the most part. Staying at the Wyndham allowed us to indulge ourselves that evening. The room had its own individual machine that was easy to operate, but was rather noisy. It was a blasting noise that kept a steady monotone rhythm throughout the night, but it failed to keep either Russell or I awake.
The toiletries the hotel supplied were quite nice, including soap, shampoo, conditioner, shower cap, body lotion and a shoe polish sponge. Golden Door is a brand I've had no previous experience with, but I enjoyed the scents. For instance, the shampoo was cedarwood and Spanish borage oil and the lotion chamomile and tea tree oil. The hotel thoughtfully provides a rubber bathmat for inside the tub, which was very slippery without it. The water pressure in the room was on the soft side, so I took a little longer in the shower than I normally would have. If the towels were scratchy, I plead ignorance.
The morning we departed, we ordered breakfast through room service. Before ordering, we had noticed that the hotel mentioned it would add a delivery charge and gratuity, so we decided against tipping the waiter anything further. I opted for eggs benedict while Russell chose a build-it-yourself omelet. Russell placed the order while I showered. They told him it would be at our room within 25 minutes, but they delivered within 20. Aside from Russell's toast being too dark, the food was warm, attractive to look at, and tasty.
Those wanting a speedy checkout can bring up their list of charges on their in-room TV. A handy feature, but I wanted to settle my bill in person at the front desk. Our charges were accurate and we had no problems with the hotel's accounting.
The ghost stuff
With the hotel going through a slow period, it was an ideal setup for a ghost watch. Ghosts generally shy away from crowded areas and psychic energy from the living can interfere with that of the lost spirits of the dead. When I talked to the ladies at the front desk, they were rather fascinated when I showed them the excerpt on the LeBaron from Hauck's book, but they immediately said, "That's not the story I heard."
According to the front desk, the ghost of room 538 is that of a young woman who died there in November 1979. The story that widely circulates amongst staff is that she had literally been stood up at the altar. Distraught, she went to her room and overdosed. It is also widely believed that she was a stewardess and flight attendants from American Airlines even go as far to claim she was one of theirs. They frequently stay at the Wyndham during their layovers and ask for any other floor besides the fifth.
Likewise with the hotel staff. Many of them claimed they found it uncomfortable on the fifth floor and preferred to avoid it as much as they could. One of the maintenance men, overhearing my conversation with the gals at the front desk, stopped to listen. He said once, before he was acquainted with the legend of room 538, housekeeping called on him to go turn off its radio. It was dark, but he figured he knew the room layouts well enough to go turn off the radio. He did so without any problems, yet as he approached the door to leave, the radio turned on again. At that moment, he figured it might have been its snooze feature, but when he returned to housekeeping after completing his mission, he learned the truth. He went on to say that he's been sent to make repairs in every room of this hotel, yet he's never needed to do anything in 538.
Lupe Moncivais, a former employee of the hotel's housekeeping staff, had the undesireable chore of cleaning up after the sad event. Several months later while cleaning the room, she felt her hair being tugged and heard disembodied voices calling her name. Others have found the water faucets going on and off without assistance. Another maid even noticed a woman in white entering the room when she knew the room was unoccupied. Reporting the incident to her supervisor, the room was soon found empty.
Apparently, previous guests have requested 538 for the same reasons I had, but management now declines to let it on Halloween or Friday the 13th. While it makes a nice detail in fiction, these dates rarely mean anything to ghosts.
As for the time I spent in the room, I could feel some stirring when I brought up the subject of the ghost with Russell and read Hauck's summarization aloud. When I first walked in, I talked to it and felt a tingling up and down my back. At first I figured the chill came from the air conditioning, which I later learned was turned off. At that time I thought I was dealing with a male ghost and thoughts of my experience at the Bisbee Grand inhibited me a bit. Ghosts, like living people, can be contrary. Because I would have liked to see some phenomena, she may have refused perform on command. When I said as much to Russell as we were packing up to leave, the mild feeling that someone thought I wasn't being fair hit me. Personally, my belief is that young woman who haunts room 538 ODed as a thoughtless action in the heat of her distress and she never really wanted to die.
Unless you count my impressions that I wasn't being fair to the ghost, I witnessed no phenomena in room 538.
The bottom line
The Wyndham Hotel in San Jose features an outdoor heated pool, exercise facility, private club level, and sun deck. Within a room, it offers high speed internet access, a large working desk, alarm clock/radio, coffeemaker with coffee, cable television, complimentary weekday newspaper, handicap accessible rooms, iron with full-size ironing board, two telephones with voicemail and dataport, and a hairdryer. Also available is a gift shop and laundry/valet service. For business-oriented guests, there is a business center, certified meeting service manager, and state-of-the-art audiovisual services.
Only the good lord knows how I'd react if I ever actually saw a ghost, yet staying those two nights at the Wyndham was a pleasant change of pace. What flaws I encountered were too minor to keep me from enjoying the privileges that came with being a hotel guest. Whether you're looking for ghosts or not, the San Jose Wyndham should be a pleasant experience all the way, unless, of course, you're asking to stay in room 538.
____________
This is an entry in the (2003) Great Hotel Write-Off, hosted by lyagushka and tombarnes. It's fun and supports the spirit of a common goal: providing consumers and Epinions with a wealth of consumer information that you can find nowhere else. For more info and to read the entries by other contestants, please go to http://www.angelfire.com/moon/lyagushka/index.html
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.