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San Mateo · Hotel shortlist

The best hotels near Event Center

Marc Delacroix

Marc Delacroix France

Updated 1 September 2026 · 9 San Mateo hotels assessed

These are my five favourites in San Mateo, out of the 9 that qualified. I read what other travellers scored them before I picked, so the order follows the guests, 4.4 down to 4.2.

All five are within 2.9 km of Event Center.

Hampton Inn & Suites San Mateo-San Francisco Airport

Highest rated of the five

Hampton Inn & Suites San Mateo-San Francisco Airport

★★★★★4.4 from 264 reviews

Hampton Inn & Suites San Mateo-San Francisco Airport comes out on top of this list, and not narrowly: 4.4 from 264 guest reviews is a score that holds up at that volume, which is the whole test here. A perfect ten from nine people does not beat it.

It is a 3 star property, found under poi and around $480 a night on the dates we checked.

9 hotels in San Mateo qualified for this list and five made it. TownePlace Suites by Marriott San Mateo Foster City is the one I would book if the first is full.

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All five, ranked

  1. Hampton Inn & Suites San Mateo-San Francisco Airport1

    Hampton Inn & Suites San Mateo-San Francisco Airport

    ★★★★★4.4 from 264 reviews

    1.4 km from Event Center, about a 18 minute walk

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    • TownePlace Suites by Marriott San Mateo Foster City2

      TownePlace Suites by Marriott San Mateo Foster City

      ★★★★★4.6 from 509 reviews

      2.7 km from Event Center

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      • The Catrina Hotel, San Mateo3

        The Catrina Hotel, San Mateo

        ★★★★★4.2 from 497 reviews

        700 m from Event Center, about a 9 minute walk

        • Parking
        • Pet friendly
        • Kid friendly
        • Air conditioning
        • Accessible

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      • Residence Inn by Marriott San Francisco Airport/San Mateo4

        Residence Inn by Marriott San Francisco Airport/San Mateo

        ★★★★★4.3 from 768 reviews

        2.0 km from Event Center, about a 25 minute walk

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        • Crowne Plaza Foster City-San Mateo5

          Crowne Plaza Foster City-San Mateo

          ★★★★★4.2 from 1,813 reviews

          2.9 km from Event Center

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          How this list was put together

          9 San Mateo hotels qualify for this list. We ranked them on guest rating first and on how close they are to Event Center second, then took the top five.

          Two things decide these lists. The first is my own time in the city: every hotel on this page is one I have stayed in, walked into and looked at, or gone back to check. That is where the shortlist starts, and it is why some well reviewed places are not on it.

          The second is the numbers, and those are what set the order. The rating and review count come from the big travel sites, pooled through Google, so a score here reflects Expedia, Booking, Hotels.com and the rest together rather than any one of them. I also read the review breakdown by topic, which is where the figures on service, breakfast and location come from. Hotels with fewer than forty reviews are left out altogether, because a rating that thin is not a rating. No more than two come from one neighbourhood.

          What I do not do is move anyone up the order. The ranking is the guest score, highest first, and nobody pays to be on the list.

          Distances are straight lines from published coordinates, so the real walk is a little longer. Amenities are as recorded by Google Hotels and can change without notice. Rates are an indicative nightly figure for a midweek autumn stay, not a quote. Check the booking page before you commit.

          Marc Delacroix

          Marc Delacroix France

          Closes the shop two weeks each winter and goes wherever people make something fermented. Dairies in the Basque country, the Caucasus and rural Sardinia.

          Trip Grapevine earns a commission on bookings made through the links on this page. It costs you nothing, and it does not change the order of the list, which is set by the measurements above.