Brand New: Review of Tetra Hotel, Marriott Autograph Collection

The Tetra Hotel, a Marriott Autograph Collection property, just opened in Sunnyvale last Friday after much delay. I originally found out about this hotel when browsing the Marriott website, and as it’s so close to where I live, I pledged to stay there on opening night. Unfortunately, that didn’t end up happening, as I flew out to Boston the same day.

However, I just returned from spending the night in a fantastic suite at the hotel. Spoiler alert: the friendly service, delicious dinner, and beautiful property didn’t fail to impress me. Despite some touches being unfinished, I had a great stay at the Tetra Hotel and hope it can maintain the high bar it’s set.

With that said, I’ll get into a detailed review of the hotel. I’ll also cover it’s connected sister property, the AC Hotel, a little, as they share multiple amenities.

Booking the Tetra Hotel

Booking a room at the Tetra Hotel was the most difficult part of our whole stay. The hotel’s initially planned opening date was December 3rd, and in August we reserved a 2 Queen Room for a special opening rate of $136.37. About 2 months later, we received an email letting us know that the opening had been delayed to late December, and that we could either cancel our reservation entirely or move to a different hotel for the same price. We cancelled and rebooked for early January, but they delayed their opening date further to February 3rd.

The date then got pushed to February 18th, but the following morning we departed for Boston. So, we ended up rebooking a stay for February 25th. Frustratingly, the “Special Preview Rate” of $136 was no longer available, and it cost an additional $45. In the end I wasn’t too mad though, because the room we got was worth lots more than $180.

Tetra Hotel Location

The Tetra Hotel is located in the city of Sunnyvale, right near Moffet Field. It was built amongst Google offices, as its main target is business travellers. The location isn’t great for tourism, but not that many people come to the South Bay Area to tourist anyways. However, if you’re visiting family in the area, it could be a good choice.

Tetra Hotel Check-In

We checked in around 6:30pm, and were assisted by the super friendly Cameron. He walked us through the property, explaining that the connected AC Hotel had opened 2 weeks ago and the Tetra Hotel a week ago. We were offered a welcome amenity of either 750 points or a $10 credit, and chose the $10 credit as it could be used in the restaurant. He couldn’t find the vouchers at the desk, but promised to deliver it to our room before our dinner reservation.

We’d been placed in a top-floor Mountain View 2 Queen Room, but asked if we could get an upgrade to a suite, as they were still selling them online. Cameron told us that they don’t currently have access to the full room inventory, but he’d see what he could do. He was able to find us a 6th floor “Suite” – as he joked with us, the hotel has super interesting names for their premium rooms!

Funny side note about the suite upgrade – right as we were parking in the hotel’s lot, I spotted someone that gave the impression of holding elite status running at full speed towards the entrance. I got the feeling he wanted the same suite we did (there was only one left), so I sprinted towards the hotel door and managed to make it to the check-in desk before he did. From what we could tell, he ended up in a lower-category suite, so I’m very happy I got there first. Otherwise, he would’ve had our suite and we would’ve been stuck in a junior suite. Being a fast walker pays off sometimes! As does Titanium status.

Anyways, he then offered me a choice of keycard colours – and when I couldn’t pick, gave us all 3. Offering a choice was a totally unnecessary touch that went a long way in making me excited about the hotel (yes, I collect keycards).

Tetra Hotel Suite

After check-in, we headed directly up to the room (630) because I couldn’t wait to see the suite – there are no pictures on the website, so it was a total surprise.

Tetra Hotel Suite Living Room

This was my first time staying in a hotel’s top-tier suite, so needless to say I was extremely excited. As in, I opened the door to the room and started jumping up and down with excitement. The entire room is furnished in beautiful colours, and was airy and spacious.

Upon entrance is the “living room” portion of the suite, which consisted of a couch and table, the desk, fridge, plus one of two TVs and a giant mirror. I get the feeling we might’ve been the first guests in that specific suite, because there wasn’t a single blemish or scratch on the mirror.

The couch was super comfortable, although the table was too far away from it for it to actually be used. This is a common problem I have with hotels – I understand that it doesn’t look as aesthetically pleasing if you place the table closer to the chairs, but you also have to consider functionality.

Placed on the table was a book called Mother, which was filled with an interesting collection of photographs from across the world by Marsel van Oosten, a Dutch photographer. Coffee table books in hotels are usually boring, but I enjoyed flipping through the unique photos from South Africa and Botswana, amongst many other countries.

Opposite the couch was the huge 65 inch TV, which thankfully was not playing welcome music when we entered. I really don’t like it when I enter a room at night and music is blaring through the speakers, so I’m glad the Tetra Hotel decided not to include this “feature”.

Below the TV was a small cabinet, which also contained the fridge and safe. If I had to critique one thing about the room design, it would be the misalignment of the TV and cabinet. Like, why not just place the cabinet directly under the TV?

In the fridge were two glass bottles of Evian natural spring water. I’m not particular about the brand of water that’s provided in my room, but the glass bottles were a nice step up from plastic.

In the corner of the living room was the desk, in addition to more storage. One thing I really liked about this suite was the amount of storage space.

On top of the desk was the Coffee and Tea Experience, as the hotel calls it. It even included a guide on how to use the kettle. Right next to that was the ice box – each floor has a hydration station where you could fill up on water or ice.

On the other side of the desk was a pretty marbled lamp, although it didn’t provide much light. It was more for style. Additionally, there was a Theragun, with the massaging attachment inside a sealed bag that was marked as being sanatized. This also had a how-to guide.

The desk itself was large, though interestingly, it was missing any power outlets. There were outlets strategically placed across the room – even in the closet – but for some reason, they were missing from the desk. As a hotel that’s designed for business travellers, this is an oversight that needs immediate fixing. It would be my largest critique about the room.

The desk chair was also comfortable, despite not being a typical office chair. In fact, I think I preferred it to a rolling chair. It matched the room better.

Tetra Hotel Suite Bedroom

Through the next set of doors was the bedroom, which was equally spacious. This room was also brighter than the living room, which I appreciated.

To one side of the bedroom was the king bed, with identical bedside tables on each side.

The bed was very comfortable, and the pillows (especially the two back ones) were high-quality and firm. As part of their goal to make the hotel accessible, the beds were very close to the floor.

The bedside tables were simple, with no annoying alarm clocks that randomly go off at 6am. There were multiple power outlets on both sides, a feature I wish more hotels had. They also left a notepad, plus a Tetra branded pencil. I do wonder why it was a pencil rather than a pen, but either way I appreciate the return of notepads.

Underneath either table was a motion-activated nightlight, so when it sensed movement in the night, a dim light would turn on. The sensor was actually quite good, as when moving around in bed, it didn’t constantly flash on. It was able to detect when someone got out of bed and walked around. This could be a helpful touch if you needed to get water or use the restroom in the night, but didn’t want to bother anyone by turning on the lights.

Opposite the bed was another 65 inch TV. Underneath the TV was another storage cabinet, and to the left of that was a small bench.

Tetra Hotel Suite Views

Like other rooms in the hotel, our suite was described as having a mountain view. In reality, it was a view of the industrial buildings surrounding the property, with trees and the Santa Cruz Mountains in the distant background. I’m not sure in what universe I’d call this a mountain view, but hotels always warp their descriptions to make things sound better than they do.

Out the living room window we could also see the 3rd floor pool, which I’ll go into detail about later in this review.

Tetra Hotel Suite Bathroom

Let me start by saying this is the largest bathroom I’ve used in my life. Seriously, it was massive. It was a typical top-tier suite bathroom, but its size still shocked me.

In the first room of the bathroom was the sink and mirror, as well as the closet. The larger part of the closet contained the iron and ironing board, and various types of hangers. Surprisingly, there were no additional pillows or bedding.

The second section had two robes, which were so soft and plush. They’d clearly never been used. There was also a reusable laundry bag (which I may or may not have taken as a souvenir). Again, it’s the little details like using fabric instead of plastic that impress me.

Also in this section of the closet were 2 power outlets and a USB outlet. I don’t know who charges their phone in the closet, so maybe they could consider relocating these unnecessary outlets to the desk.

The sink was complemented by a gigantic mirror, and various other amenities.

To start with, there was a Dyson hairdryer. Those cost like 400 dollars! Between this and the Theragun, the hotel is definitely not skimping on its amenities.

Next to that was a tissue box, cotton balls, as well as MiN New York body lotion and hand soap. I honestly don’t care what brand of soap the hotel stocks, but this is definitely higher end.

In the drawer below was a loofah, shoe sponge, and vanity kit consisting of earbuds and a nail file. There were also an adequate number of towels, including a makeup-specific one.

In the next room of the bathroom was the toilet, shower, and another giant mirror and bench.

The shower was large, and had great water pressure. It heated up instantly. The shampoo, conditioner, and body wash were also from MiN New York – this has been my first hotel stay in a while where all the amenities matched (supply chain issues?). However, I’ll note that they are shared bottles, for those who care. I didn’t mind this time, as I was probably the first person to use them.

A Few Problems

Unfortunately, as with any new hotel, there were a few parts of the room that didn’t seem to be perfectly finished yet.

For starters, the two pillars in the living room and bedroom still had measurement markings, and were evidently waiting to be painted or covered somehow. There were also a few places around the windows that appeared to be unfinished.

Continuing with the theme of unfinished things, there were exposed vents in the living room which just loooked sloppy. The floors had yet to be varnished, and the doors made a terrible scraping sound when you closed them.

Regarding windows, I should mention the stupidity of the window blinds placement. In both the bedroom and living room, the blinds met behind the pillars. So you had to squeeze behind the pillars in order to fully close the blinds.

Lastly, the room claimed to have a sofabed, but when I pulled the cushions off the couch, all I saw was the springs. I don’t see how they could just add a sofabed now, so my guess is that one won’t be added.

The bathroom had a few problems too. For one, the handle of the sink tap slipped off easily if you turned it to a certain angle. Also, some of the boarding on the cabinet below the sink was loose.

The biggest issue was the bathroom light. Around midnight, I turned off all the lights in the hotel room and got into bed. At 12:17, the bathroom light switched on. I had no idea what was happening, so I got up and turned it off. Exactly 10 minutes later, the same thing happened again. I eventually gave up on switching it off, as it repeatedly turned on and off all night long.

My final critique of the room was the lack of sinks. Typically suites of this tier would have two bathroom sinks or a second sink in the living room, but that wasn’t the case here. For me, having two sinks is one of the most helpful features in a hotel room.

Tetra Hotel Dining

The Tetra Hotel has multiple dining outlets, ranging from a Japanese Whiskey Bar to a coffee shop and upscale dinner restaurant. I was pleasantly surprised by how good the food was, and hope that as the hotel and restaurants become more popular they can maintain this level of food quality.

Tetra Hotel Breakfast

Currently, the Tetra Hotel’s restaurant is only open for dinner, so breakfast is available at the connected AC Hotel from 6:30-10am. The typical AC Hotel breakfast setup is that you pay $18 and you receive access to a buffet, plus one hot egg dish.

At least for right now, there’s an interesting breakfast predicament for Bonvoy elite members. AC Hotels provide a $10 breakfast credit for the member holding status and one additional guest, which actually only covers breakfast for one person. However, the Tetra Hotel is part of the Autograph Collection, where the breakfast policies are different. So Platinum and above guests staying at the Tetra Hotel currently get free breakfast for two at the AC Hotel. Imagine if Marriott had one streamlined breakfast policy. It would make things a lot simpler for both guests and staff, especially at dual brand properties like this one.

At check-in, Cameron told us that the hotel’s main restaurant is figuring out breakfast service, and hopefully that will begin soon. I’m with him on hoping that happens ASAP. For now, I’ll review the AC Hotel breakfast as it’s the current offering. If the main restaurant opens for breakfast at somepoint, I might just have to try it for the sake of this review.

AC Hotel Sunnyvale Breakfast

As I already mentioned, the breakfast at AC Hotels consists of a buffet plus one hot dish. I’d just stayed in an AC Hotel for the first time in Boston a few nights prior, so I had preconceived expectations in my mind. Unfortunately, the breakfast here was slightly lower quality than the one I had in Boston, but it was still pretty good.

The buffet had a reasonably extensive selection for a limited-service hotel, which could best be described by pictures:

Then, there was a choice between either Open-faced Toast and Scrambled Eggs with Arugula and Prosciutto, or a Cazuela with Manchego cheese and Prosciutto. Either option could be made vegetarian if desired. Starbucks coffee was also available.

Because I love hotel breakfast buffets, I tried pretty much every vegetarian item on offer.

The chia and mango pudding had a nice mango flavour, and wasn’t overly sweet. On the contrary, the sweetness of the churros and dipping chocolate (which turned out to be Hershey’s chocolate sauce) was a little extreme. And the churros were cold.

The madeleines and croissant were both decent, but they were quite literally the exact ones Starbucks serves. Obviously, the hotel gets a lot of its catering from the same supplier. The fruit was fresh, and the cereal was decent as well, although I wish there were more healthy options. Who really wants fruit loops and frosted flakes?

On the other hand, my vegetarian cazuela tasted great, as did my dad’s one with prosciutto.

Overall, breakfast was a mixed experience. The selection was good, but the quality of some items wasn’t great. It’s not the best breakfast I’ve ever had, but it’s also not bad at all.

Tetra Hotel Adrestia Restaurant

Tetra Hotel’s main restaurant, Adrestia, is open for dinner between 5-10pm. As Cameron described to us at check-in, Adrestia features a Calfornian-Mediterranean menu with Japanese influence. I’ve included some pictures of the fabulous meal here, but you can check out my post on the restaurant for a detailed review. It’s expensive, but well worth it. Even if I wasn’t staying at the hotel, I would come here if I was looking for an upscale meal.

Tetra Hotel Nokori – Japanese Whiskey Bar

Rounding out the selection is Nokori, the hotel’s Japanese Whiskey Bar. It’s positioned in one corner of the lobby, and is open from 4-11pm each day. The counter has been designed beautifully, and I already saw several people taking advantage of it in the evening.

The focal point of the bar is its highball machine, which as Cameron bragged to us at check-in, is the only hotel bar in the bay area to feature one. Additionally, Nokori also has a small bites menu designed by Chef Hidaki Myo, the same person behind Adrestia.

I obviously didn’t partake in the bar’s offerings, but based on my judgement of Adrestia, I imagine it would be fantastic as well.

AC Lounge & Bar

The AC Hotel doesn’t have a restaurant as such, but it does have a bar and tapas spot in the lobby. It’s open from 5pm-11:30pm (12am on weekends), and you can charge food/drinks to your room regardless of whether you are staying in the Tetra or AC section of the hotel.

Tetra Hotel Coffee Manufactory

In addition to the hotel’s own restaurant and bar, the lobby is also home to an outpost of Coffee Manufactory. It offers baked goods from Tartine Bakery, drinks, and Japanese-inspired salads and sandwiches from Chef Myo. Coffee Manufactory is open from 6am-6pm.

Again, we didn’t try anything from here, but it appeared rather popular amongst other guests. Prices were on the high end ($6-7 for a small pastry) though.

Tetra Hotel Layout & Amenities

The Tetra Hotel isn’t a super expansive property, but it does have its fair share of amenities, especially when combined with the AC Hotel’s offerings.

Tetra Hotel Lobby

One of my favourite parts of the property was the beautifully decorated lobby. You could tell how much effort was put into the overall design aesthetic, as every piece of furniture and decoration blended together perfectly. It was truly a nice space, and there were lots of people just sitting and chatting. Usually I’m the one weird person who actually likes sitting in the hotel lobby, but that wasn’t the case here – and I give the hotel’s design team credit for that.

There were a variety of different chairs and tables, in addition to seating near the bar area. Spaced throughout the lobby were different coffee table books, all as equally entertaining as the one in our room.

In another corner of the lobby, behind Adrestia Restaurant, was a miniature business center setup with 2 Macs and chairs.

Right next to that was a “Hydration Station”. There’s one of these on each floor.

Out the back of the hotel was a somewhat random assortment of tables and chairs. I assume in the future this will be turned into a more usable space.

Tetra Hotel Meeting Space

Down a hallway were 3 large meeting rooms. Judging by the leftover food and plates, these are already in use. I do wonder why the meeting rooms are openly accessible to all guests, although bloggers are probably the only people who would wander that far down the hall.

Tetra Hotel Pool

On the 3rd floor is the pool which, like most other things, is shared with the AC Hotel. It was small and shallow (3’6″), but it’s nice that the hotel had a pool at all since a lot of suburban hotels don’t. Sadly, it wasn’t heated, meaning it’s not very pleasant to swim in when it’s cold outside.

Surrounding the pool is a relatively large pool deck, with comfortable loungers and chairs. There was a firepit, but it was never on. I couldn’t find a way to turn it on, either.

The view from the pool deck wasn’t especially stunning, given the unexciting location of the hotel. However, it wasn’t as bad as I’d expected.

Also, another interesting side note – apparently the poolside music at this Tetra/AC Hotel complex is the same music as is played in the lobby and elevators of the AC Hotel Boston Downtown. I instantly recognized the songs playing at the pool after hearing the same songs in the elevator just a few days prior. I suppose they must have a playlist that’s used across all AC Hotels.

Tetra Hotel and AC Hotel Sunnyvale Fitness Centers

Also located on the 3rd floor is the fitness center, which is outfitted with pretty high-end equipment, including two Peloton bikes. It’s not a particularly large space, although I only ever saw one person using it. As I’m not an expert on gym equipment, here are some pictures to better describe it:

For better or worse, it overlooks the pool. On one hand, it’s not a bad view compared to the views from the rest of the hotel. On the other hand, whoever’s in the pool has a great view of the inside of the fitness center, and vice versa.

Guests of the Tetra Hotel can also access the AC Hotel’s fitness center with their keycards. Though I’m not sure who would do that, because the equipment is lower end and there’s less variety.

Both fitness centers are technically only open to guests aged 16 or older, but there’s zero chance that’ll be enforced.

AC Hotel Sunnyvale Laundry

I’m including this in the review, but I’m not sure it’s technically supposed to be accessible for guests of the Tetra Hotel. With my keycard, I was able to access the AC Hotel’s laundry room. However, laundry is not an amenity provided at Autograph Collection hotels, so I would expect this to be changed in the future.

Tetra Hotel The Nexus

In between the two hotels was the absolute highlight of the property, called The Nexus. As someone at the front desk of the AC Hotel told me, this was intended to be a relaxing, rejuvenating place to hang out at the end of the day. I’d say they did a good job achieving that feeling with the amount of greenery and fun games to play.

Tetra Hotel The Mark

Directly next to The Nexus is The Mark, which simply consists of a firepit and long bench. Why the hotel has such creative names for a firepit but calls their suites “Junior Suite” and “Suite” is beyond me, but it’s quite amusing. Regardless, it was a nice space, especially since the fire was actually on.

On the “backside” of The Mark is a decorative log, presumably intended for guests to sit on. It didn’t appear to be awfully comfortable though.

Tetra Hotel Valet Service

The hotel does provide valet service, but I couldn’t find pricing anywhere, so I imagine you’d have to inquire. I wouldn’t recommend it though, as the self-parking lot is literally a 30 second walk from the hotel entrance.

AC Hotel Sunnyvale Amenities

The AC Hotel also has a few unique amenities, but I’d guess they’re available to guests of the Tetra Hotel as well, considering that everything seemed to be shared across the two properties.

In the lobby were free bikes and helmets, although there were only two on display. I don’t know if there are just two in general, or if the rest are hidden away somewhere.

Also, in the future, the AC Hotel will be rolling out robot room delivery. It’s not yet ready, but as a front desk representative told us, they’re hoping to get it up and running soon.

Tetra Hotel Amazing Service

The Tetra and AC Hotels have clearly both done a great job hiring their staff, because the service at both properties was amazing.

It started with the fabulous Cameron at check-in – he kindly offered a choice of keycards, and gave us a great suite upgrade. When he couldn’t find the F&B credit vouchers at the front desk, he promised have them sent up to our room before our dinner reservation. I did not expect him to personally deliver them, but he went out of his way to bring them up to our room. And rather than just dropping them off, he took the time to ask how our room was.

Of course, since it is a new hotel, service wasn’t quite perfect, but everyone did their best. Following dinner, we requested late checkout. The lady helping us asked how to pronounce our last name, rather than simply stumbling through it. And although she didn’t know how to grant late checkout, she called her supervisor to ask. She then let us know that he’d give us a call shortly.

25 minutes later, Cameron called our room and said he’d got the message that we were trying to extend the stay, but assumed we were talking about late checkout. He got us a 3pm checkout, and also asked how our dinner was. In general, it seemed like the staff kept an eye on their guests and wanted to make sure they were having the best experience possible.

What I appreciated the most is that at checkout, we were proactively asked how our stay was and if we had any feedback. I find that to be such a rarity at hotels. In fact, they were overly enthusiastic to receive our critiques, saying they love feedback and would be happy to hear anything we had to say. Even better, one lady took out a post-it and wrote notes on everything we said. Many employees ask “how was your stay?” because they’ve been trained to do so, but few actually act upon the feedback.

I also want to note that the service was just as friendly at the AC Hotel. We had a nice conversation with one lady about their planned robot service – she said she wished she knew how to operate the robot so we could get a demo.

Overall, the service was really impressive. We were always addressed by name, and everyone genuinely cared to make sure we were having a good stay. It’s not often you find such friendly employees.

Interesting Notes about the Tetra Hotel

As it’s brand new, I just wanted to include a few interesting notes about the Tetra Hotel. Currently, a week after opening, they are at around 15-20% occupancy. However, the AC Hotel, which opened a week prior, has its first sold out night this Sunday. That’s a promising sign.

Also, I have to point out the level of constant cleaning that was going on throughout our stay. At 11:30pm, I saw someone washing windows in the back of the hotel. At 9am the next morning, the same windows were being cleaned again. Housekeeping was constantly going through the lobby wiping down all the tables. Once, I pressed the elevator button, and when the doors opened, a housekeeping staff member was inside cleaning it. It seemed as if they never took a break – at least one spot in the hotel was being cleaned at every given time. I would run into them wherever I went. I appreciate that they are trying to keep a new property nice, but this was crazily over the top.

Finally, at checkout we spoke to them about our bathroom light issues, and found out that apparently this is a problem across multiple rooms. The engineering team has been trying to figure out a solution, and they thought they’d discovered how to fix it, but then realized that fix led to more problems. I do wonder how the wiring is already messed up at a brand new hotel.

Final Thoughts

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my stay at the Tetra Hotel. I liked the integration with it’s connected sister property, the AC Hotel, and loved the style of our suite. The food at Adrestia was fantastic, and breakfast was solid too. But most of all, I appreciated the incredible service we experienced. A few small improvements need to be made, and then the hotel will be as close to perfect as hotels can get.