Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
111
along the walk and a step down leading to the street entrance. The lunch counter was very popular
with area merchants. A local radio station broadcasted from the basement.
When Prohibition was repealed, Montgomery would not allow a cocktail lounge on the first
floor of the hotel but agreed to open one on the second floor. Known as The Padded Cell, it was
especially popular with military officers during World War II. The bar eventually moved to replace
the lounge, which had earlier replaced the coffee shop.
Over the years, downtown San Jose declined as residents abandoned it for the suburbs. The
early 1980s saw redevelopment of the downtown area and The Sainte Claire was partly restored by a
local developer. Passing through several owners, additional renovations included bringing back the
courtyard that had once been the historical heart of the hotel. The vibrantly colored, hand-painted
Spanish ceramic tiles were uncovered and restored. The courtyard was painstakingly reconstructed
so that natural light could once again stream through the oval windows in the lounge, lobby, and
arcade areas.
During the 1960s, original Moorish-style ceiling decorations were painted over. In some ar-
eas of the ceilings, up to six layers of paint had to be removed to recreate the atmosphere of the
original hotel.
Many prominent movie stars and dignitaries stayed at the hotel: Judy Garland, Clark Gable,
Eleanor Roosevelt, Will Rogers, Bing Crosby, Dorothy Lamour, Susan Hayward, Betty Grable,
Frank Sinatra, John Wayne, Bob Hope, and the Rolling Stones, to name just a few.
The Hotel Saint Claire was also the home of a personal pet. Bobo the Monkey lived on the fifth
floor and had his own room and bath. Bobo was known to wander the halls, unscrewing light bulbs
and flushing them down the toilet.
The hotel was one of the first buildings in San Jose to be built on a moving foundation system
or “rollers.” During the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the hotel suffered only slight damage to the
terra-cotta façade. The hotel has never had a major fire.
Anchored by the award-winning Il Fornaio Cucina Italiana, the hotel service includes the 150-
seat Il Fornaio dining room.
