Hotel advice needed near Palo Alto
 

Quick question. I will be spending a few nights visiting relatives in Palo Alto and am having a hard time finding a decent hotel in my price range. I just want clean, decent neighborhood, and not a motel. I'm not familiar with the area. Are there outlying areas within under a half hour drive where I can get more for my money? I would prefer not to go over $100 a night.
Thanks for any direction you can give me.
Hope you all are recovering from turkey overload!
Laurie

You could try Redwood City for lower cost options. Everything in that price range is going to be a modest motel. Visiting family often stay at the Red Cottage in Menlo Park, but I think that will be above your budget.

$100 = motel. No real way to get around that.

We stayed our first night in the US in the Ramada in Mountain View.
Bog standard chain motel. Clean and for the area affordable. It's a place to sleep, not spend much time in otherwise, but it was what we needed, and could suit you.

The Cardinal Hotel in downtown Palo Alto has rooms available for about $120 per night. It's an older hotel, but very pretty and clean. It's right downtown so it would be a fun place to spend time. http://www.cardinalhotel.com/

Hotel Keen is about $150 a night, also downtown. http://www.hotelkeen.com/

Travelodge Palo Alto is from $89 per night. I just saw that you don't want a motel, though.

Hotel California, in the California Ave. shopping district is very nice, and is $120 for one person. http://www.hotelcalifornia.com/palo-...modations.html

The prices may vary at hotels in Palo Alto depending on what is happening at Stanford, for example, I check the Sheraton Palo Alto, and if you check in tomorrow it's $119, and in mid January it's $409.

The Zen Hotel is another one that actually shows the huge difference in price on the calendar for different days; some are as low as $109, some as high as $280.

Good luck! I live in Palo Alto, so let me know if you need any more help.

Wow. Thank you so much for your quick replies and great suggestions. I'm looking into some of these options. In the meantime I did find a rate of $109 at Marriott Courtyard Newark Silicon Valley. Mapquest says it's 15 minutes away? Is this an option, or is it a big hassle to get to?
Thanks,
Laurie

Is it a hassle to get to WHEN? When is this trip? Prices vary, too. Are you going to be driving back and forth to relatives during traffic hours before 10am , or between 4 and 8pm?

I'm going in January. And yes, I will possibly be driving back and forth before 10 a.m. So bad traffic, huh? Maybe it's worth the extra $30 - $40 and stay at Hotel California which looks very nice and is close by.
Thanks,
Laurie

You don't want to stay in Newark, but if you want to stay that close to $100, you might need to. Driving back and forth across the Bay will cost you $5.00 each time and can be a nightmare during commutes.

I live in Palo Alto also. The Travel Lodge is a dump. As Kailani mentions, prices are hugely variable depending on demand. As Kailani also points out in her suggestions, going up to $150 a night from your stated $100 increases your pool of "acceptable" places.

Read the reviews of Hotel California so that you know what you are getting.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...alifornia.html

As folks said earlier, the date is important. But even more importantly, the time of the week affects the prices. It's a big business area so the weekends are significantly cheaper. Like half sometimes. So play with the dates if you can in a travel site like expedia.com or hotel.com. There seems to be some options in Mountain View.

Ok, sounds like Hotel California is out and so is Newark. I'll have to bump up my budget. I've tentatively booked a "shared bath" (yikes) room at Cardinal Hotel for the first night and a Standard room for the second two nights. For some reason that first Thursday night was $100 more than Fri and Sat. So it looks like my next challenge will be parking. There's no parking at the hotel. I was told there is free street parking from 10 - 5 on the street and in the garages, but it can be hard to come by. I was also told I could buy a permit for $17.50 a day. Any opinions on that?

So on second thought, I went ahead and booked Marriot Palo Alto Los Altos, which is $139/night, and I don't have to worry about parking. It will end up costing me the same as Cardinal. Thanks for your help. I appreciate it.

That is a good price for the Courtyard. Well done. Let us know if you need restaurant ideas.

Marriott has the Residence Inn @ $139 also and breakfast is included. Maybe Wekewoody can comment on the location in comparison to the Courtyard. Comfort Inn Palo Alto is $105 per night with breakfast but I'm not sure what the reviews say.......

The Courtyard and the Residence Inn are in almost identical locations - maybe a long block apart.

Hmmm....breakfast. Maybe a better deal. Thanks, I'll check into it.
I'm happy for my cousins. Nice people in Palo Alto.

I stay in PA often on business at Stanford. Hotels are hard to come by. Have several times stayed at the Stanford Terrace Inn. Big rooms, good breakfast included, nice pool and courtyard, good staff, close to everything, shuttle service in town.