About San Jose
The fastest-growing major city in America's fastest-growing state, SAN JOSE is not strong on identity, despite the Burt Bacharach song ?though in area and population it's nearly twice the size of San Francisco. Sitting at the southern end of the Peninsula, located almost exactly in the center of the state, an abundance of cheap land brought developers and businessmen into the area in the 1960s, hoping to draw from the concentration of talent in the commerce-oriented halls of Stanford University. An enormous concentration of the world's technology industry is now located here. Fueled by the success of computer firms such as Apple, Intel and Hewlett-Packard, in the past 25 years San Jose has emerged as the civic heart of Silicon Valley, surrounded by miles of faceless high-tech industrial parks where the next generations of computers are designed and crafted.

Weather
San Jose is well known for its Mediterranean climate averaging 300 days of sunshine and an annual average temperature of 60 degrees Fahrenheit.

Lodging
The last couple of years has seen a boom in the number of hotel rooms in San Jos? though quantity does not necessarily mean quality, particularly in the budget to moderate categories. Rock-bottom hotels tend, with a few exceptions, to be depressing cells that make the city seem infinitely more ugly than it is. If you are flush, however, San Jos?is yours for the choosing. If you are coming in high season (Dec-May), and especially over busy periods like Christmas and Easter, be prepared to reserve (and, in some cases, even pay) in advance, as San Jos?does fill up at peak times. Room rates vary dramatically between high and low seasons - the prices we quote are for a double room in peak season, and you can expect to get substantial discounts at less busy times.