Stanford Motor Inn

ONE word! BEDBUGS!!! Do not stay here! This place is a nightmare.

Had to travel to Palo Alto to have surgery at Stanford University Medical Center. The distance from the University and the hospital is within a two mile radius. The hotel staff makes you feel at home and are always so welcoming whenever you see them. The rooms fit four people comfortably and each room has a small kitchenette and full sized bathroom. The pool is nice to layout by, if the day permits and the flowers and plants they have blooming on the property is so picturesque. When I have a return appointment in six months I will definitely be contacting them for a room!

The first thing you realize at the Stanford Motor Inn is that it has the best characteristics of both a motel and a hotel. Flowers are covering the walls and the inside pool. Walls are hand painted by an artist who covered them with unbilievable «trompe l’oeuil» that my 7 year old daughter raved about. The team working there is very attentive to details and made my stay one more reason to stay there again when I visit Palo Alto.
The property is walking distance from Stanford University and a shuttle comes by regularly.
One weakness that has been now addressed was the TVs but they are now replaced with LCD panels that allows you to watch movies from your iPhone or iPad.
The price is very reasonable given the area that is so pricey.
Its the perfect oasis when visiting the Sillicon Valley to launch a startup as the VC community and the most prestigious Internet companies are at working distance.
Bottom line I would see no reason to stay anywhere else unless they are fully booked. i recommend calling them directly as last availability allows accommodations if the Internet sites shows no availability.
There are multiple options for breakfast, lunch and dinner. i recommend driftwood deli across the street making the best breakfast sandwiches and on California av. 10min walk away there are multitude of places to eat for any budget.
Finally Fry’s, the best electronic store is a block away in case you forgot that very special adaptor of yours.

2 for effort and beautiful paintings! Staff was wonderful and nice. The room itself is another story! Décor is fine, carpet ok… I’ve seen worse! The beds are horrible!!! Old and smell really bad! Lots of pillows but they all stink! Pool area is beautiful breakfast is in your fridge which is boxed juice, and pastries. It could be worse, a step up from a motel 6! Would stay here only if I had to, other than that… I will pass!

Very nice!
OK, so it isn’t a four star hotel by any of the rating systems. I just liked it.
This is an old motel but the management has worked hard to keep it clean and spruce it up. The room was good, somewhat bigger than the one that I last stayed in at the Mayflower in DC. The TV was bigger too. The cable was standard. They put complimentary coffee in the room and Svenhardt danish in the frig. The management took care of everything on my first stop in the office.
One clue to their attention to things were the murals. They had hand-​painted murals on most of the walls courtyard and drive way. All good!
Anyway, you can stay here with confidence. I got a good night’s sleep.

Management was very nice and helpful. For the most part it was your typical motel. Free juice and snacks in the mini fridge. 10 HBO channels + comcast xfinity

This is a funky, independent little motel — not your generic Comfort Inn. There are murals painted all around the property, dolls in the main office, lace doilies scattered about. The décor in the rooms is (unintentional? intentional?) kitch. There’s a pool with a funny garden surrounding it, and another little gazebo-​looking spot to sit outside. But what I really like about this place is that, all goofiness and kitchiness aside, they’ve paid attention where it matters. The sheets are high quality, everything is clean, the pillows are better than the ones found in 90% of even much nicer hotels than this one. I slept great, the folks at the front desk were super nice, and all-​in-​all I left feeling really pleased with my experience. I would definitely stay here again if I were once again operating on a budget.
One star off because the «continental breakfast» of sad packaged pastry and boxed juice is a little weak.

I cannot imagine having a worse experience, and I have a pretty great imagination.
It all started when I needed to travel to Palo Alto on business. The company I work for has a corporate account with a nearby hotel, but they were full. I asked that they put me on the wait list and, in the meantime, booked a different room. Pickings were slim, but I found The Stanford Motor Inn through
. I signed up for a night and was feeling good.
Four days before my reservation I received a call from the other hotel stating that there was a cancellation. I took the slot and called the Stanford Motor Inn to cancel my reservation there. The woman who answered stated that, since I had made my reservation on line, I also had to cancel it online. Then she warned me that I would be charged a one night minimum since booking it online had «guaranteed» me a room. I let her know that I thought this was a poor business practice but would (obviously) keep my reservation there, but would never use their hotel or
again. At this… she laughed. No, really… she laughed. So I thanked her and hung up.
Of course, I headed straight to the internet to try to find a contact other than this woman. It turns out that this hotel is affiliated with Magnuson Hotels… so I emailed them my displeasure:
«Hi there,
I made a reservation online for the Stanford Inn in Palo Alto. It now turns out I don’t need the reservation and am told that, because of an online reservation I would still have to pay for the night. I will use the reservation even though it is now not needed but wanted to let you know that I will never use your hotel again. Upon visiting the website I now see you are a chain and will be conscientious to check and make sure I don’t use any in your chain. I recognize my part in not realizing this catch before agreeing to the terms, but also feel it’s a poor practice that I do not want to support.
I will see you all on the 4^th for my first and only experience with your chain.»
So, last night I show up for my reservation. I arrived very late and woke the woman up, which I felt quite bad about initially. She came out and let me in, stating that she was not really supposed to.
When I gave my name she said «You called and canceled.» I clarified that I had called to cancel, but had been told that I couldn’t do so over the phone and that I would be charged regardless so I did not cancel online. I stated that I had, in fact, emailed in confirming my reservation.
She let me know that she was the person I had talked to, then accused me of having hung up on her. She said that, had I stayed on the line, she would have told me that I wouldn’t be charged if they could book my room. She said «You had your little fit and hung up on me, and now we don’t have a room for you, sorry.»
It took me an hour of phone calls to find a hotel remotely near Palo Alto (ended up in Redwood City) that had an opening.
Even if I give them the benefit of the doubt… say this lady was going above and beyond by cancelling my account over the phone even though it was against the policy that she had just quoted me. Wouldn’t/shouldn’t they have called me to tell me that I wouldn’t be charged since they had re-​booked my room?
Oh, and the kicker… they charged me and I got an email from
asking why I had no showed on my reservation. I would sleep in my car before doing business with this place again.