The Westin San Jose

The Westin San Jose, formerly the The Sainte Claire Hotel is a hexagonal six-story historic hotel in downtown San Jose, California, one of the city's most recognized architectural landmarks. It was built in 1926 and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.DesignThe Sainte Claire was designed by the prominent San Francisco architectural firm of Weeks and Day, well noted for both their theater and hotel designs in California. Interior similarities exist between San Jose's Sainte Claire and the Mark Hopkins Hotel in San Francisco. Renaissance Revival detailing is basically derived from the Italian Renaissance tradition, though there are several references to French, Spanish, and Mediterranean Revival architecture.Especially notable are the coffered lobby ceilings designed by the firm for both buildings. The northwest corner is truncated and recessed forming the corner entrance which faces the intersection of South Market and San Carlos Streets. North and west elevations meet the truncated corner at a 120-degree angle, thus framing the entrance. Tawny brick sheathes the steel and concrete frame on floors two through six, and rusticated buff colored stone faces the ground level. The three part vertical composition includes the arcaded ground level, a shaft of four stories, and the six floors distinguished by paired windows set in arched frames. Denticular stringcourses separate the first and second floors, the third and fourth floors and the fifth and sixth floors.