If rubbing shoulders with Silicon Valley’s constant stream of high-tech dreamers is your idea of fun, The Avatar Hotel is the best place to stay.

The Avatar high-tech hotel in Santa Clara, California (photo courtesy Joie de Vivre)

It’s not that flash, but it’s functional and not too expensive, with rooms starting from $79 which includes use of the free wifi and a high-tech business lounge.

Of course, the best thing The Avatar has going for it is an awesome location, a stone’s throw away from Sunnyvale, Mountain View and San Jose. If you’re interested in gawping at some of the other sights we’ve listed (such as the Google Garage, Stanford Research Park, or the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory), it’s perfect.

In case that wasn’t enough, the hotel is newly refurbished and offers 37 inch flat-screen TVs, refrigerators and iPod docking stations as standard.

http://www.jdvhotels.com/hotels/siliconvalley/avatar/overview