Southern California group buys two Santa Clara County hotels in same week

By George Avalos | gavalos@bayareanewsgroup.com | Bay Area News Group

PUBLISHED: December 19, 2025 at 8:30 AM PST | UPDATED: December 19, 2025 at 11:56 AM PST

SUNNYVALE — A Southern California group bought a second Santa Clara County hotel in recent days at a price that points to ongoing tough times for the Bay Area hotel market.

The Sonesta ES Suites Sunnyvale, a 138-room hotel, was purchased for $15 million, documents filed on Dec. 18 with the Santa Clara County Recorder’s Office show.

San Diego-based Kalthia Group Hotels acted through an affiliate to buy the property at 900 Hamlin Ct., according to county records.

The day before the Sunnyvale transaction, Kalthia Group Hotels bought Sonesta ES Suites at 1602 Crane Ct. in North San Jose for $16 million.

Hospitality Properties Trust was the seller in both recent transactions.

The purchases were made at what appears to be an exceedingly low price for a Bay Area hotel.

The Kalthia firm bought the Sunnyvale Sonesta ES Suites at a price that equated to about $108,700 a room. The 114-room Sonesta ES Suites in North San Jose was purchased at a per-room price of roughly $140,350.

Kalthia Group Hotels executives have proposed a conversion of the North San Jose property into housing, a preliminary proposal on file with city planners show.

It wasn’t immediately clear whether Kalthia Group had conversion plans in mind for the Sunnyvale hotel.

Each of the rooms in the San Jose hotel features a fully equipped kitchen. Some also have two bedrooms.

“This makes sense as a housing conversion,” Alan Reay, president of Atlas Hospitality Group, said earlier this week in discussing the residential plans for the San Jose hotel.

Similarly, all of the rooms at the Sonesta lodging hub in Sunnyvale are suites and feature full kitchens that include a stovetop and a full-sized refrigerator and freezer.

“Suites already have kitchens, so that makes a conversion easier,” Reay said.