i would stay in san jose. traffic up there sucks donkey balls.
several years ago my wife and i were celebrating our anniversary in the area. had tickets to see the Kings v. Sharks. pulled into our hotel at 4 pm to check-in, and as i look around the big crowd of mostly men in the lobby, i recognize Bob Miller and Nick Nickson. seems this was the Kings hotel, too, and they were just checking out to head over to the arena. the most awesome thing about it? it was trade deadline day, and Nickson asked me if i wanted to take a look at the fax he'd received with all the deals listed. that was fun.
and i should mention that this hotel was an exceptional easy walk away from the stadium. don't remember the name of it, unfortunately, but don't imagine it's hard to find online. we had to walk under the freeway overpass to get there.