Great Location:
This motel is located on lovely, tree-lined The Alameda in San Jose. I was surprised how nice the surrounded area was - it felt safe. It was a straight shot from the motel down The Alameda to downtown - took about 5 minutes by car. There's a reliable bus line that goes down The Alameda and express lines as well - my partner rode the express bus to the CalTrain station to go to downtown San Francisco, and it made only 2 stops for that distance. It would be a short, easy ride on this bus for $2 to get downtown. Once downtown you've got the HP Pavilion, CalTrain, Children's Discovery Museum, SJ Tech Museum, and more. We went to the Rosicrucian Egyptian Museum which is only a few blocks away and we loved it. There is also a Trader Joe's not far (5 min drive) if you want to stock your fridge like we did.

The Room:
The room was slightly above average for a motel - not the best I've seen, and not the worst. Ours was #105 downstairs, a good size room with two queen beds, a fridge, a microwave, TV, and two sinks - one in the bedroom area, one in the bathroom. Polyester bedcoverings were no surprise, pillows were very thick, sheets were clean (though I did note some ink stains). Everything in our room worked, including fast wireless internet which was a pleasant surprise as I had work to do during our stay. The beds were comfortable. The bathroom was clean-ish - the fixtures are not polished to shiny, there was a small amount of black staining in the grouted corners of the shower, there was a loose floor tile - but it was okay for us (and I'm a pretty fastidious person - I just know what to expect from a low-cost motel). The shower faucet was loose and leaky when on, but it was a nice hot shower with good pressure. We did not hear neighbors other than the person in the room above us who seemed to be doing a lot of pacing. It was slightly annoying but not a big deal. We stayed mid-week, so not sure what the weekends are like.

The Breakfast:
The lobby continental breakfast consisted of cereal (froot loops or raisin bran), 2% milk, wheat or white bread (nice toaster provided), pastries, muffins, butter and jam. We didn't try the coffee. There's a juice machine that dispenses apple and orange juice. No fresh fruit. My kids loaded up on carbs while I had a nice bowl of raisin bran and was good to go.

The Pool:
We used the pool one of the days. It was clean enough (a little bit dusty/leafy, could have used a sweep, but definitely reasonable), there were chaise lounges, tables, and chairs to use. The pool is a medium size (not as teeny as some motel pools I've seen). We had it all to ourselves (this was midday, midweek) and the kids had a great time.

The Summary.
All-in-all, I found this motel to be a good value - it was less than half the price of anything near downtown with a pool and breakfast (for example, the Hampton Inn). You get what you pay for, and this measured up to our expectations (and was slightly better than we hoped in terms of location and comfort).

We were in San Jose visiting friends and Family. We were on a budget so picked a hotel randomly from the lower priced ones in the AAA travel book. We asked to see the room before booking and were immediately sold. Comfy quiet, clean and a bit of a continental breakfast(muffins, toast ,danish,cereal,coffee,tea and juice) the rooms all surround a beautifully kept courtyard with the pool in the middle. We stayed for 4 nights and were very happy. Would definately go back. It was 80.00 and some change for one night all taxes included in July. The Wifi was perfect as well..not spotty like many hotels we've stayed at. Oh, and the rip in the carpet some have mentioned..I believe it's an access panel for something in the below rooms)

I never thought I'd give a budget chain like a Super 8 a top rating, but this one deserves it. I've stayed in a few nice Super 8's (and several very crappy ones) and this is the best. It is in a nice area of San Jose just a few blocks from the city limits of Santa Clara and beautiful Santa Clara Universiity. The room I had was spacious, actually like a small suite with a comfy couch and matching upholstered side chair and a small coffee table. Plus a nice wood table with convenient outlets, perfect for laptop & free wireless Internet. Extensive cable TV selections plus microwave and refrigerator. Clean, quiet & comfortable. Nice enclosed inner courtyard with swimming pool. Plus a very good attached Mexican Restaurant, the EL Palenque. A real bargain at 65 bucks a night, and I stayed for 5.

We stopped in SJ for one night to go to the Winchester Mystery House before heading to SF . Total bill was $79.87 for a queen/queen rm. We were able to check in an hr early. Check in / check out was quick and the staff was very friendly. The outside of the motel was nice and was located in a really nice area of SJ. The inside court area where the pool is located seamed to have an old unkept look but the pool was clean. Our room was very clean with a small frig and microwave in it. The carpet looked old, ugly and cheap with a huge tear in between the two beds which kinda bugged, but oh well I had looked for a cheap hotel in the first place. The bathroom was nice and looked like it was recently updated.