Hyatt Place Downtown -- San Jose, CA

Have you ever stayed some place awesome, within the limits of your company's T&E policy?  Well, get used to disappointment.  It's walking distance to "downtown."  Though, it's only a block from the Guadalupe Creek Trail, so there's that.

Quickwash Laundry -- San Jose, CA

Well, the machines belong in a museum, but they work just fine.  They're the odd style that take a custom chip-card thing -- but then the vending machine is broken -- but then the attendant is happy to take cash and use the card that he's got, so it's all fine.  This place is near SJSU, so brace yourself for that, but it's got a five-spot parking lot dedicated to it, which is lucky.  Nice big folding tables, by the way.  Pizza across the street.

Mugshots -- Austin, TX

Downtown?  Done with sixth street?  Go here.  No, go here first.

Hilton Garden Inn NW/Arboretum -- Austin, TX

Try Home2, first.  This place is a great fallback, though.

The highway noise is noticeable even on the *back* side of the building, so you definitely don't want the front.  The nearest place for a beer -- Bone Daddy Barbecue, across the parking lot -- closes at ten.

If the traffic/timing is good, go running down by the Colorado River (park at Deep Eddy municipal pool).  Or go back to the Walnut Creek trail.  Some days the difference in drive time is only ten minutes, and it's worth it.

SpinCycle Coin Laundry (Guadalupe) -- Austin, TX

Pinball!  Tidy, affordable, plenty of machines.  "Nasty's" for a beer after.

Home2 -- Austin, TX

Actually, if you're stuck up north of Austin, this place is pretty good!  It's nice and quiet.  The wifi works.  You're walking distance from a two-block-long Car2Go service area, so you can theoretically get to downtown and back.  Also, you can stumble down to the "Detour" bar -- though part of the stumble involves no sidewalk, so save some battery power for the flashlight app.

For a running route, you'll need to drive, but it's ten minutes to the Walnut Creek trailhead.  Take two Gatorades, because when you finish your run, you'll want to hang out for a bit and watch all the softball teams who use the fields right there by the trailhead.

Aloft -- Santa Clara, CA

Some executive gets the idea that they'll take the economics of a Motel 6, dress the place up, and sell it to millennials.  This is the half-assed result you get.  Somewhere there's an executive getting promoted for being a genius.

Do not let the proximity to the Coyote Creek Trail fool you.

Gnats everywhere.  Ventilation that won't turn off, and that makes a total racket.  Blackout curtains only.  Methane alarm in the hallway.  And there is no ramen in the "country store."