Hotel De Anza at 233 West Santa Clara St. in downtown San Jose, seen on Aug. 3, 2026.
The lobby of the Hotel De Anza at 233 West Santa Clara Street in downtown San Jose (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)
SAN JOSE — The Hotel De Anza in downtown San Jose has launched a wide-ranging revamp that will usher in upgrades for both the exteriors and interiors of the historic tower, along with a new restaurant.
Dhaval Panchal and Sean Curtis, the principal owners of the 10-story hospitality hub, see plenty of potential for the 100-room hotel, for which they paid $11.5 million in 2024, a bargain-basement price of $115,000 a room.
“We love this place,” said Curtis, the hotel’s chief operating officer. “It’s an iconic, great hotel.”
Panchal owns smaller hotels along the California coast, according to Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group, which tracks the California lodging market.
Workers have installed scaffolds next to the De Anzain preparation for what will be very visible improvements to the hotel tower at 233 West Santa Clara St.
“The entire hotel will be brand new,” Curtis said. “We will be painting the hotel back to the color that it was in the 1990s. The hotel is going to be painted from top to bottom.”
In 2025, the owners relit the neon sign atop the hotel, a key piece of the venture to greatly restore the property.
“The entire hotel is going to be brand new,” Curtis said.
Inside the lodging tower, the ownership group is renovating the lobby area along with the Palm Terrace and the historic Hedley Club, according to Curtis.
What’s more, a big food upgrade is on the table for the Hotel De Anza. Just to the left of the entrance on West Santa Clara, work is underway for a new restaurant, this news organization’s direct observation of the future dining space revealed.
The restaurant that’s under development in the hotel is poised to be a top-notch dining establishment, according to sources who are active in downtown San Jose.
The price discount the ownership group achieved when it bought the De Anza has created some flexibility in being able to embark on the upgrades. The hotel’s multiple upgrades are due to be completed before the end of this year.
“We definitely feel the support we are getting from a lot of people in downtown San Jose,” Curtis said. “That makes it great to be here.”
The hospitality tower is one of San Jose’s few Zig Zag Moderne, or Art Deco, buildings. Constructed in 1931, the Hotel De Anza was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
The hotel faced demolition in the 1970s after it had become dilapidated. The San Jose Redevelopment Agency, which is now defunct, was able to rescue the building and arrange for its reconstruction. In 2015, the hotel was renovated.
Curtis hopes the revamped hotel will contribute to San Jose’s economic mosaic in a big way.
“We want to make the Hotel De Anza a community spot,” Curtis said. “We want it to be part of the fabric of the community.”
The lobby of the Hotel De Anza in downtown San Jose, as seen on Aug. 3, 2026. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group)