Thank you esp to @
JammingJay and @
365RoadWarrior for the detailed info.
I had booked Hilton Santa Clara based on it being the cheapest for my dates, along with it having the lounge.
(not a fan of EL overrun with rowdy kids, however)
I will have to keep an eye on the Curio for their rates. It's currently running ~$30+tax higher per night than Hilton SC, which translates to being over $100 more for the 3 nights. If the price gap narrows, I'll try to jump on it based on the feedbacks here.