Zico is an exceptional value for the price, but you will have to go in accepting a few the drawbacks.
I have been consulting in the bay area for about 12 years now and have seen the best and worst of the area and Zico has been one of the best hotels in the area. Take into account that it's only about $80 a night compared to $180-$230 a night for the only other hotels I would consider comparable, it makes it more attractive. In a sentence, Zico is a Greek boutique Spanish revival smack in the middle of techno-mecca. Or in a word, 'eclectic'. It definitely has its funky charms, from the humorous park at your own risk signs in the basement "We're not responsible for spam (either kind) or damage to your vehicle" to the fountains, twin peaks bathrooms and refrigerators in the closet.
The rooms are very good. The beds are very comfortable, however the blankets and bedspreads are a bit light. The sink is neat, but sometimes a bear to shut off all the way with the joystick controller.The staff is great. Jim who works the night shift is very friendly and gotten to recognize me by name. Everyone has been very attentive. They sell a few snacks at the lobby and they dont charge ridiculous prices. Breakfast is good and fresh. You have to get creative by yourself making different combinations with the eggs, bacon, sausage hashbrowns, cereal and oatmeal. The omlette bar is a ghost town as many have noted, but if you ask they will happily make an omlette for you. Ask nice, and the ladies will be more than happy to make you over easy eggs (she really makes them to perfection). There is a nice little common area on the second floor so you can watch a game on a nice sized flatscreen or work at 2 computers. The amenities in the room as far as Starbucks coffee, premium shampoos and good working dryers are very nice. Also, they have the best wireless of any of the hotels I have stayed at in the area. Some of the other hotels were just pathetic. I had faster service tethering to my Droid, I feel sorry for the sheep on their iPhones that can't even do that in a jam, but Zico's wireless is a welcome relief, fast, free and consistent.
Now for the drawbacks, the most minor are the shower curtains. You would expect that you could take one layer into the shower and leave the other layer out, DONT DO THIS unless you like a flooded bathroom. The inner curtain is for entertainment purposes only, it leaks worse than a swedish website, bring both layers into the shower with you, some of the floors on the lower level room are soft because of this. The next thing I wish they would do is set the $#&*#) clocks in the room. Most of the rooms are set to work with iPhones/iPods, but for the life of me I can't figure out how to adjust then, they are always off by an hour and sometimes they go off at 3 in the morning to most dreaded accordion ranchero music this side of the border. Please - housekeepers, just set the clock, thats all I ask - I hate trying to do the math to figure out Zico Standard Time. Next, the entrance is hard to find and difficult to navigate, You can only enter from the North El Camino. One trick if you are coming south on El Camino, get on the 85 North onramp from El Camino toward San Francisco and IMMEDIATELY get back off at the El Camino south offramp. Its a large cloverleaf exit and saves you a 3/4 mile trek to try to make a u-turn otherwise. When entering the driveway, give your self plenty of prep to navigate the driveway and watch for the occasional pedestrian.
Now to the more serious problems. Those nice wooden blinds everyone talks about, they were cut about 2 inches too narrow. If you are a female traveler. I would avoid 1st floor rooms, especially along the common patios (2nd floor too) and request a backside room on the second floor as it is waaaay too easy for someone to sneak a peak into your room. I wish the owners would add some curtains to put over the side edges to not only provide a little better security, but to also block light in the morning. Lastly, the biggest complaint is the noise in the room. It comes from everywhere, the walls and floors are not insulated and you get to hear and participate in just about everything (A few weeks ago, the couple in the room next door was making my bed shake). The rooms on the north back side are the most quiet, but the hardest to get. The rooms on the southside will get the worst combination of freeway noise and traffic noise from El Camino. Note the staff is SUPER attentive to take care of guest noise issues and each room is also provided with free ear plugs and night mask. With the ear plugs, the room is perfect and the voices in my head slowly lull me sleep :-). In all, once your expectations are set, it's a great hotel. reservations on their website are a breeze and the rates for what you get simply can't be beat. I have been a guest a few nights every week for several months and will continue to stay there until I finally move to the bay area in the summ read more