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[kevin_standlee]

The Holiday Inn Express San Jose Airport was full when I arrived late last night, so I was initially stuck with the double-queen room they had for me.



Obviously, I don't really need two beds, although the extra bed left lots of space for stacking stuff while unpacking. It's not obvious, but unlike a lot of HIXs with this room layout (we stayed in several on the Winnipeg trip), there is actually a lounge chair under the light, although its usefulness is debatable. OTOH, it prevents you from hitting your head on the light fixture, which I did more than once while we were traveling.



There's room here for setting out my clamshell luggage. During the Winnipeg trip, I usually left this space to Lisa and put my bag after I unpacked under the lamp to remind me to not go there and hit my head.



There is generous work space here, which is good because I have three computers (personal, work, and my employer's client machine) to use here. There is a wired Ethernet port in the wall, but it's not connected. Wi-fi connection speed is about 35 down/35 up, although there was a bit of hesitation at times while watching YouTube video.



The microwave/coffee/refrigerator area is about what I've come to expect from the current generation of US HIX hotels. This property seems relatively new. I don't remember it being here when I last stayed along the North 1st Street corridor, and indeed, it's located next to what used to be an EZ-8 hotel but has rebranded itself as extended stay studios without looking as if that's an improvement.



I'm okay with a walk-in shower.

I saw a lot of people moving out this morning, and figured that there was no harm in asking if there were any single-king rooms available. Indeed there were! They issued me a new room, and even better, it was just a few steps away. They gave me new keys and I spent a while moving from the 09 to the 06 room. It would have gone faster, but after the first load of stuff (I didn't fully pack up, figuring that I could just shuttle stuff across the hall), I left the new room keys in the room itself and had to go get a new set.



Here's the new room. This is much better. I now have a lounge chair I can use.



There's a similarly good-sized work space here.

The rest of the room is the same layout (including the walk-in shower instead of a bathtub) as the room I was in last night.

I now have a lot more usable space, arranged how I like it, and the only price was a bit of time shifting rooms on a morning where I had time to do so.

Comments

[msconduct]

Nice! I actually request double queens as they rarely have luggage racks that will take my Samsonite clamshell and it's more comfortable to have it on the bed than the floor. I've read that you shouldn't do this because of potential bedbugs, so perhaps one day I'll regret it, but I've been lucky enough not to have encountered any thus far.

[calimac]

If there are bedbugs, you'd probably have a lot more to worry about than them getting in your suitcase.

[msconduct]

That's true, although I should probably be more worried about all of that *and* them getting in my suitcase:). I know some people put their suitcases in the bath for this reason, but it just seems so inconvenient.