Does anyone have a recommendation for a hotel in Sunnyvale for a two-week stay next month? This is for a friend of mine. He'll rent a car. Budget is 80$/night and a high speed Internet access would be a plus (at this budget, I doubt there would be but who knows in this area... a dial-up will do).

And does anyone know of a sushi place and also restaurants serving nice wine in Sunnyvale or in the area? Thank you for the info.

At under $100/night on weekdays, all I can think of is the Days Inn, which is slightly dumpy. It should run you about $80/night.

Otherwise, midrange hotels in Sunnyvale will be about $80/night on weekends, $200+ on weekdays. (Even the Comfort Inn will be over $100 on weekdays usually) And those prices have come down significantly since the Silly Valley go-go days.

Use expedia.com, or call the hotel directly to get a weekly or two-week rate, which can be a significant savings, and will bring you a bit closer to your budget.

Also try the surrounding communities of Santa Clara and Mountain View for possible hotel deals. Palo Alto is a surrounding community too, but tends to be much more expensive than Sunnyvale.

For sushi, find El Camino Real (the main drag), and drive southeast (toward San Jose). You'll be in a large Korean neighborhood, with lots of good sushi restaurants in every strip mall. Midori (on El Camino Real) is a good start; it's larger, more expensive, and less mom-and-pop than the other ones.





[This message has been edited by pynchonesque (edited 04-14-2001).]

I found this on travelocity if it's helpful. Locals would have to attest to it's value

PACIFIC INN HOTEL LODGE
MOUNTAIN VIEW CA
64 EL CAMINO REAL
Mountain View, CA
57 Rooms / 3 Floors
Telephone: 650-965-0585
Fax: 650-965-0589

Location-The Pacific Hotel Lodge Is Located In The Heart Of Silicon Valley On The World Famous *El Camino Real* Near Grant Road And Hwy 237. Thirty Minutes From San Jose Airport, 40 Minutes From San Francisco Airport, 10 Minutes From The Shoreline Amphitheater And Park. Near Shops, Golf Courses, Bike Trails, And Restaurants.

Dining-

• Austin's- Steakhouse - Located 1/2 Mile South.
• Chevy's - Mexican Cuisine - Located 1/4 Mile North.
• Sizzler's - Buffet - Located Adjacent To The Property. -
• Fumi Yoshi - Japanese Cuisine - Located Across The Street. -
• Frankie, Johnny And Luigi - Italian Cuisine - 3/4 Mile South.
• Chef Wang - Chinese Cuisine - Located 1/4 Mile North.

Nightly Rate: USD 79.00*
Single Occupancy *
Option 5

Type of Room: SUPERIOR ROOM WITH A KING BED, MICROWAVE-FRIDGE-COFFEE MAKER-TV-PHONE, SUPERIOR ROOM WITH A KING BED, MICROWAVE-FRIDGE-COFFEE MAKER-TV-PHONE

Type of Rate: EXTENDED STAY RATE



[This message has been edited by svpii (edited 04-14-2001).]

There are a number of hotels on El Camino that offer weekly rates. As for Japanese food, I don't know of any stellar places in the south bay, but Yakko on Dana St. in Mountain View is the consensus favorite in my circles.

Best sushi in the Valley: Hamasushi, Stevens Creek and Portal, Cupertino.

I lie not

Sometimes it is cheaper (although I don't know anyone who has actually done it) to get a hotel in the LAX area and fly between LAX and SJC daily. . .

I generally second pynchonesque for sushi. But no Midori if you want a real Japanese food. It is an imitation Japanese. It is run by Korean owner and non-Japanese staffs. Although it is quite well made up Japanese like, a pure Japanese can easily tell it is not Japanese at a glance on the Restaurant and food served.

Near El Camino Real & Lawrence expy, and a little east from Midori, you can see Seto sushi. They serve good sushi. (1082 E El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA 94087)

Near Csatro st in Mountain View, north west from Sunnyvale, Sushi_tomi is also one of a good sushi restaurant I know of around there. Little better than Seto and quite fair in taste. (635 W Dana St, Mountain View, CA 94041)

But if you have already experienced a sushi in Japan...don't expect much. Here they only serve 10-15 kinds of sushi at most and these don't taste the near level.

Best sushi? Better fly with a cheap ticket to Tokyo!

[Edited to avoid censored word - Sushi_tomi was Su****omi]


[This message has been edited by nan358 (edited 04-14-2001).]

I have to agree with Nan358 in regards to Midori.

There are actually 2 "Seto" restaurants. The one mentioned on El Camino Real and Lawrence Expressway, and the original "Seto" on Maude and Borregas Aveenue (near Mathilda Ave.) in Sunnyvale. My better half is from Japan and she definitely prefers Seto. Both are owned by the same person (who is Japanese). Yakko in Mountain View is also pretty good.

-RKG

[This message has been edited by RKG (edited 04-14-2001).]

I lived for a while (about 4 months) at one of the other Pacific Hotels, in Sunnyvale, a little over a year ago.

I think I paid about $350 a week. The place was very simple, but clean. It was filled mostly with young travelers and older folks who liked to hang out in the lobby. I enjoyed living there.

Area is pretty good, its in the "downtown" sunnyvale area, next to lots of pretty good restaurants and a mall, parking if free and plentiful. It is also right next to the caltrain station.

I'd recommend paying the extra for a room with your own bathroom and shower, but that's just me.

just thought of the biggest caveat...which may effect some of the other cheaper hotels as well. I don't think there was a phone jack that you can use in the room. The phone is turned off unless you pay a deposit (I never bothered). I'm not sure if you pay the deposit if there's a way to connect your modem to the line...might want to check on that.

http://www.pacifichotels.com/pac-inn-sv/

aleph08,

You could always try Miyaki in Palo Alto. Tell me where you want to stay and I can tell you what it looks like. I live in Sunnyvale.

Could I ask why Sunnyvale is your preference? You could stay pretty much anywhere on the Peninsula.

It's true you can find anything you want along El Camino Real from Japanese to Afghan even an In and Out Burger. The same thing goes for hotels.

Beware of the descriptions; some of the small little shack motels even charge $200/night. This is because the major hotels fill up and they try to get the business traveler when they can't get a room. A lot of my coworkers stay in corporate apartments.

Good luck on finding a hotel. Most of them are occupied during the week due to business travelers. I've heard that it is on the decline due to the drop in the economy, but business is still going on in Silicon Valley even with layoffs.

SFOJFK

About sushi restaurants:

I guess some people like Miyake. As a recent magazine ad says: "But then, some people like nipple clamps." I won't say anything about the Miyake atmosphere, the prices, the disco ball, the service, nor the clientele. But I will say that I don't know of anyone who has gone there and not said "I don't understand how anyone could eat that stuff."

About Midori: yup, all the "Japanese" restaurants in that area are Korean. I personally like the Korean style of sushi, so it's no problem for me, and I find Korean sushi restaurants less stuffy than their Japanese equivalents. At Midori and others, they work very hard trying to convince you that they're Japanese, not Korean. At some of the more mom-and-pop places, that are less closeted about their Korean-ness, you can get some Korean side dishes with your sushi. Yum. For Japanese-owned places (if that matters to you), Yakko in Mountain View is pretty good, though the service is often, er, brusque.

eastwest, your "it's sometimes cheaper" observation would probably be true, if it weren't for transportation costs to/from airport four times a day (or otherwise, parking). you should see what airport sedan services charge in the sf bay area these days! (luckily, i've struck a deal with a retired cab driver at about half the sedan companies' price)

[This message has been edited by pynchonesque (edited 04-15-2001).]

Thank you all very much for the various info. SFOJFK, I guess he said Sunnyvale because it seemed to be the closest town to where he is going but I guess that every town around is within driving distance so I'll tell him to look further into El Camino or else. carlhaynes, the Pacific Inn lists interesting rates even midweek - thanks for the link.

You may win a bid on Doubletree San Jose Airport (in San Jose, 10 minutes drive from Sunnyvale) at $100/night weekdays, $40/night weekends or less at Priceline. Their regular rate is about $200/night weekdays or $100/night weekends, and high speed Internet access is available in each room at about $10/day.

Many (including myself) won a bid on that property at about such rate for March/April stays.

There may be more info at Informed Priceline Travel Bidding Forum.

I 2nd this opinion, I do it frequently, rooms run close to 200 bucks with taxes and its cheaper to fly RT same day. We have a sunnyvale office and I'm based 5 miles south of LAX. My boss told me that I can commute if I like or can stay so I do both pending prices of airfare and if I'm sick of the airport rat race although SJC is not that bad of an airport to commute out of, LAX isn't that bad either considering its size. If you fly SW (which I don't) and park in Park one you can park, walk to Terminal 1 and be in the check in line or at the security gate in 10 minutes.