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    The Zen Hotel

    4.0 (144 reviews)
    ModerateHotels
    Open • Open 24 hours

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    Zen
    Tawny V.

    My partner and I arrived in the Bay Area a few days before my sister's wedding. Although there were many options, I chose this place because it was only an hour from our destination--and honestly, it was a random pick. They offer breakfast, have a gym, and had good reviews. Luckily, we checked in early thanks to availability. The weather in Palo Alto was cool, so we didn't use much AC, though it was a bit loud at times, it wasn't an issue. The gym had enough machines for a solid workout, and breakfast was great; eggs, sausage, hash browns, yogurt, oatmeal, cereal, coffee, tea, juice, and a filtered water fountain. The bathroom felt a bit old-school, but small touches like cotton balls, Q-tips, a Keurig in each room, shampoo, conditioner, and cute mugs made it cozy. The area felt safe and quiet, with restaurants within walking distance. Overall, a great spot for a night or two!

    SQ X.

    When I requested a refund, I was met with cold references to "policy" delivered with visible contempt. No willingness to help. No attempt to resolve the issue. Just a rigid refusal. In the end, they charged me for three full nights. The front desk service was unbelievably terrible. If you come here hoping to resolve a problem, be prepared for a masterclass in obstruction and condescension. The staff repeatedly changed their position over and over again. First, I was told I could not switch rooms at the original rate and would have to pay extra. The explanation kept shifting, depending on the moment. The process felt less like customer service and more like being dragged in circles for someone else's entertainment. Clear answers were impossible to get. Consistency did not exist. After being worn down by the constant back-and-forth, I finally gave up and booked another hotel. Only then was I suddenly told that switching rooms at the original rate was possible after all. Amazing how policies become flexible once a guest is exhausted enough to walk away. I will never return to this hotel again. And I strongly advise others to think twice before booking here. Be prepared to experience what it feels like to be treated with arrogance and condescension, as if the staff believe they are doing you a favor simply by acknowledging you. You will pay good money only to have your time wasted and your patience tested. As a guest, you expect respect and professionalism -- not humiliation and needless frustration. There are plenty of hotels that understand what hospitality actually means. This is not one of them.

    A field of lavender.
    G G.

    Honest, kind employees, a clean, comfortable and a reasonably priced place to stay. Very good parking 5 STARS

    Email stating I let them know after their 10 minute policy (it was not one hour)

    Reposting my good comment here - this service was so bad that I made my very first Yelp account. I don't normally leave reviews, but this is insane. Would leave negative stars if I could. We had a recent encounter with bed bugs, so to be fair, I was extra cautious. No mattress protector was on the bed and multiple spots (one showed) deemed as a "food stain". Weirdly a dirty towel bunched up under the seat? We didn't even bring our luggage inside so we could thoroughly check. The front desk person was nice when we asked her to come look and she took photos but wasn't sure what she could do because they were fully booked and they had no options to give me other than leaving my name and number for a manager (who by the way never actually called back). I continued to be told they were at a different property and then received this email saying that because they deemed it "okay" and I wasn't in and out in 10 minutes (it was more like 30, not an hour). I reached out to Booking to see what they could do to help since I didn't stay at their location, and they said they attempted emailed and the hotel was not responding so they most the could give me was a credit (out of their own pocket) for 1/6 of the amount. Whoever runs this hotel is not customer forward, but worse, is nowhere to even be found.

    Towel rack pulled out of wall on one side.
    Michele O.

    I have stayed at The Zen literally dozens of times over the last ten years when my oldest child was a freshman at Stanford. As my younger child also goes to Stanford, the Zen was our "Go to" hotel until recently. I have in the past given The Zen 5 star reviews on Trip Advisor and Yelp, which is why I feel it's necessary to provide an update ... so that my earlier reviews aren't misleading. My last three visits at The Zen were mediocre, but the past two were the worst. On my visit before last, I was traveling by myself. As a woman staying solo in a hotel, safety is a priority. During that stay, I saw a man walk into the hotel with a backpack. He looked perhaps like a transient person. Later at night when I was returning from dinner, he was just standing in the parking lot by the doorway of his room. Just standing there looking around. I hurried to my room and called the front desk because I felt uncomfortable. When I told the front desk person, he said that he knew who the person was and he would tell him not to do that. I asked if the hotel was housing homeless people with vouchers because I know some do, but he did not acknowledge my question. My most recent visit (and this will be my last because I will never stay there again) was the worst. My husband was with me, so safety was not an issue and The Zen had a great weekend rate on Hotels.com. When we got to the room, we found water damage to one of the rear walls. The baseboard and wall had obvious water damage. The area was brittle and pulled away from the wall. Inside the bathroom, the towel bar was pulled out of the wall on one side. This is in addition to the fact that the towel rack is sticking out into the doorway area as soon as you enter the bathroom, and my husband almost got his eye jabbed out by the metal corner when he was walking in. I had booked two nights and we arrived at 10:30 pm, so I wrote Hotels.com and The Zen and told them I wanted to check out after the first night because the room wasn't in working condition. There was also no lamp anymore on the dresser. The only light came from two reading lights attached near the beds and there was ceiling lighting in the back of the room near the dressing area. The room was like a dungeon, and I could not even tell what my make up looked like when I was getting ready to leave the next morning. I want to add that water damage can lead to mold in the walls , potentially causing or exacerbating health issues. Because my concerns about the room were valid, both Hotels.com and The Zen agreed to allow me to check out early and refund the money for the second night that I'd prepaid. It was a Sunday, and the front desk told me they had to wait 24 hours to process my refund. When Monday came around and there was still no refund, I called the office. A woman named Pavi (or something like that) answered the phone. I explained the situation to her, and she put me on hold ... which coincidentally disconnected me. I called back again, and she said OK ... she would process the refund. I asked her to send me an email confirmation, and she said she would. She sent me a confirmation of my original full payment. So I called back again and asked for a confirmation of the refund, and she finally sent it to me. However, I was keeping an eye on my credit card charges online. I saw the refund, but it was "Pending." I monitored over the next few days, and The Zen never finalized my refund so it didn't go through. Not really a problem because I have screenshots of my communications with the Zen and Hotels.com. It's just a pain because I have to file a dispute with the credit card company now. The point I want to convey to you all is that The Zen is renting out rooms that are not safe. The rooms should be repaired before guests are allowed to stay there. In addition, they are lying and being unethical. They faked refunding my money. I would not recommend this motel anymore. It's in very sad condition now. Stanford parents, please stay at the Stanford Guest House. It is always clean and safe. It's been My New Go To hotel for a while now. I just thought I'd give The Zen another chance, but it was a huge mistake. Really ... stay away. And this is from the same person who gave The Zen 5 stars a few years ago and raved about it. Also, there was an abundance of rust on the shower curtain rod. I am attaching photos of everything for readers to see. That said, the shower pressure and water temperature were great, and they had real eggs at breakfast. But the room condition was unacceptable. Please note that the hotel used to be family owned, but it sold to a corporation sometime during Covid.

    Shiloh C.

    I needed a place to stay extremely last minute, & The Zen Hotel was near where I needed to be the next day so decided to give it a try. I called to see if they had availability and the gentleman told me he only had one kind room left and had people on hold but I said I was driving so couldn't get my card out to book, I just wanted to see what was available. All things considering, I thought it was strange what he said so still went there to talk to the front desk. The woman was so warm and kind, and sure enough they had availability for what I needed. Not only that, because I booked in person they gave me a 12% discount! The room was nice, very comfortable bed and pillows! My only complaint was the coffee mug was not clean. There was a storm so we lost power, but before that I was able to relax watching some television and I was surprised how many channels it got because the last place I stayed in the area had very few.

    Living room in 2 bedroom queen suite
    Vicky B.

    Update to review from stay on Sunday 9/25. One of the beds was very comfortable as it was super soft and felt like you were sleeping on clouds. The other 2 beds were not as comfortable. The bedroom that had the queen room was the worst as all you could hear was the traffic all night long due to the location being next to a very busy road. (I'm sure it was not like this when it was originally built). The shower was nice and had decent water pressure. In the morning the breakfast was subpar in my opinion. Yes they raved it was a hot breakfast which was nice but the hot breakfast consisted of sausages, grits, oatmeal, tater tots and mini waffles you could make from their waffle machine. They pretty much had run out of syrup by 0800, but there was enough for my waffles. They also had yogurt, bagles, toast, cereal, coffee and juice. Although the breakfast wasn't super amazing it definitely was better than packaged pastries you get at other hotels. I would say that I definitely would consider staying here again if I was ever in Palo Alto as it is in walking distance to some food places.

    Bug
    Steve L.

    Rude manager, rough rooms not clean stay away!!!! Stay there 3 times 3rd time suite was not clean fridges were still full of last person stuff bugs on the bed. When we complain we got called liar and bad customer. We are in shock we left to a proper hotel. Were bed are changed not just put back together asap

    Bugs on the sheets.
    Monique L.

    Third stay at the hotel will be our last. Booked what we thought was the same suite from 6 months earlier. Was told at check in that there was not enough beds for the 4 people on the reservation. Front desk clerk was unhelpful in providing solutions (extra cot, etc.) My teen/tween boys made due cramming into the tiny sofa bed, but when we awoke the next day, we found the room was infested with bugs and the mini fridge was filled with old food from a prior guest. When my husband and I asked for the room to be properly cleaned, the manager became aggressive and rude, accusing us of making up the information. We immediately checked out and moved to a nicer hotel. Couldn't believe how we were treated as a repeat customer. The manager seems unhinged.

    Comfy bed, clean and modern room

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    2 years ago

    It was very clean and nice but the walls are very thin and I can hear people's conversation next door. Also I wish that it was more secure.

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    4 years ago

    The staff are super friendly and the hotel is clean. They give you bottled water and a snack when you check in. You can't beat the price!

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    Review Highlights - The Zen Hotel

    “Our room was super super clean, and all of the staff were very covid conscious.”

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    el PRADO Hotel  - Entrance

    el PRADO Hotel

    (239 reviews)

    $$$

    My now wife and I had our wedding reception at el PRADO Hotel and it was an amazing and…read moreunforgettable experience. Right from the get go our on-site coordinators helped ensure that everything went perfectly in the lead up to our special day and on it. We had amazing food and drink for us and all our guests, exceptionally well kept rooms, and an easy working experience for all our external vendors who contributed to our special day. The hotel itself is absolutely beautiful in its design with its Spanish influenced architecture and every room having a little balcony overlooking the intimate courtyard or if its on the outside of the hotel, the downtown Palo Alto area. We honestly couldn't have imagined a better venue for our wedding, everyone had a good time and not a single thing went wrong. My wife and I were even in the penthouse for the weekend, an amazing two bedroom suite on the top floor with not one but TWO private balconies, a jet tub, and a beautiful double sink bathroom with the works. el PRADO made sure that the most special day in my life went perfectly and me and my wife will always remember that.

    The location is great and the staff checked us out was great as well. The bathroom was very clean…read morewhen we checked in. * The room layout was kind of strange but pretty large comparing to other hotels in the area. The issue was that the cleaning staff did not clean the bathroom at the 2nd night. The bathtub was dirty, so we had to clean it up. The floss and toilet paper were not filled. We did not bother to call as it was near midnight. We were disappointed it was not cleaned even with the high tips we left on the 1st night. Also, we were not explained about breakfast areas and complimentary drinks when we checked in. We found it out when we were checking out.

    Homewood Suites by Hilton Palo Alto - Breakfast Area

    Homewood Suites by Hilton Palo Alto

    (70 reviews)

    $$

    Overall nice hotel, especially for a longer stay. We were here for approx 45 days. Needed a long…read moreterm place to stay due to some medical needs. Stanford Medical and University is just under 4 miles from hotel. Plenty of places to eat and shop including grocery shopping. Less than 1 mile away. The hotel serves a nice hot breakfast and mixes it up daily. Coffee is pretty good along with a variety of teas. On M-Th evening from 5:30 - 7:30pm the hotel serves Beer & Wine and includes light bites. The selection of light bites is actually really nice. Ranges from Soup & Salad w/ Cheese & crackers with fresh cut up fruit. Other nights included Hot Dogs with Fries or Spaghetti with Garlic Bread. The hotel tries to mix it up and offers variety. We stayed in an Urban Suite which was perfect for our stay and provided a fair amount of room for a large stay. We had a full size refrigerator with 2 burner electric stove and microwave. Had a dishwasher and all the basics, dishes, silverware, pot and pans and things like a cutting board, can opener, large knife and other things. 2 TV's (1 in living area and the other in bedroom area). Plenty of storage and closet space. 3 washers and dryers on the property, nice gym with variety of weights and a pool area along with 2 barbecues. A big shout out to Elizabeth (Front Desk Area). She was very helpful and was one of the main reasons we stayed at this property. Very comfortable place to stay. The staff is very friendly and helpful.

    Fairly all-around terrible stay…read more (1) Drinking water is a real problem at this hotel! The room comes with just two bottles of complimentary water. The sundry shop in the lobby has various snacks and drinks, but NO bottled water for sale. (WHY??) The front desk can offer you free room temperature bottled water, but all they have are those tiny 8oz bottles, which are worthless if you're really thirsty. I walked out to buy water in the neighborhood, but there is nothing close. The Chevron station across the street closes early. Even the fitness center had no bottled water, just a water dispenser that offered just a trickle of water. I had to fill a couple glasses of tap water and put it in the fridge to make it palatable. BRING YOUR OWN WATER!! (2) The shower products absolutely suck. After just one shower, my skin and scalp were dry and itchy. BRING YOUR OWN SHOWER PRODUCTS!! (3) I booked and paid in full for my stay in via booking.com. But of course, the hotel double-charged my credit card for the two night stay. So I had to spend time the next morning on the phone hashing that out. CHECK YOUR BILL UPON CHECKING OUT!! They do offer a pretty legit breakfast spread, however. So two stars for that. But there are plenty of better options in Palo Alto.

    The Clement Hotel Palo Alto - Kitchen area

    The Clement Hotel Palo Alto

    (48 reviews)

    $$$$

    Great service. Excellent food. I really liked the pan seared scallops. I was invited to have lunch…read morethere by a friend who was staying at The Clement for the weekend so I can comment on the rest of this all inclusive hotel.

    I've been coming to The Clement Hotel in Palo Alto for a few years now, and it's one of the rare…read moreplaces that gets better every time. It's a true all-inclusive stay with meals, drinks, and snacks all covered, and the experience is just remarkable. Our first long stay was in 2021 when my wife had surgery. We chose to stay here for a week while she recovered. They had a wheelchair waiting for us when we arrived. There was a hand written welcome note. The room was spotless and calm. They anticipated our needs in ways we didn't expect, and it made a tough week a lot easier. The rooms deserve their own mention. Every room is a suite, with a living room and a separate bedroom. Lots of natural light, electric blinds, and plenty of space to actually relax. Bathrooms have both a shower and a tub. There truly aren't any bad rooms here. The service is what keeps us coming back. Many of the same team members have been here since we started coming in 2020, which says a lot. Sebastian, who's now the GM, Gayle, and Bernie have all been outstanding on every visit. Warm, genuine, and attentive. Food is always tasty, with seasonal menus and more variety than you'd expect from an all inclusive setup. Five stars, without hesitation. I couldn't recommend The Clement more. It's easily one of the best hotel experiences in the Bay Area.

    Hotel Citrine, Palo Alto, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel - Guest Room, 2 Queen

    Hotel Citrine, Palo Alto, a Tribute Portfolio Hotel

    (41 reviews)

    Stayed here for two nights while moving my college freshman (I'm now officially an empty nester!)…read moreonto Stanford campus, and while the accommodations themselves were quite satisfactory, there was a recurring issue with our room keys failing to work that took away from the overall experience. To be fair, each time we had to go back to the front desk to get one or more of our cards rekeyed, staff was quick to do so. In general, service at the hotel was great, including valet parking charging our Tesla for us. Pro tip: use the app (Hotel Citrine is part of the Marriott Bonvoy program) to make requests and get fast responses - it's very efficient!

    Hotel Citrine is a chic, trendy hotel accessible via the Marriott program. It has a tiny pool but…read moresurprising popular with locals looking for an urban getaway, afternoon kids / family fun outing. The pool connects with an indoor/ outdoor dining area - perfect for a drink (a glass of bubbly perhaps) plus a small bite. The bar area also has free Equator (local North Bay beloved coffee) for patrons. The rooms are small but efficiently designed. Modern design with some mid century modern style metal bars, decors, and motifs. Front desk sells glass bottles of Evian water if you want to have something fancy. It is not quite in the Stanford part of Palo Alto but is a quick uber ride or a drive away. Perfect for reunion, campus event or silicon valley tech events. We stopped by for a staycation. Loved it. Beautiful, boutique, well designed, also minimalist, efficient - perfect for a business trip

    The Cottages Hotel

    The Cottages Hotel

    (67 reviews)

    $$

    I found this hotel just doing a google search. Cottage Hotel is really a hidden gem tucked away in…read morethe area of Menlo Park and Could easily be passed by without notice. You would have to drive, into what is a very beautiful property delicately decorated. It has a feel of a romantic, quaint intimate feeling, yet catered also to the corporate clientele. The location parking and everything Is very convenient and the experience of check in was very friendly. The agent greeted us and gave me a cottage cheese and a yogurt to my son, seeing we arrived in the late evening close to 9:00pm. The rooms are modern and very clean, and the decoration has a kind of minimalistic feel to it, but very classy. The bathrooms are Unique with white and red shades. The breakfast was probably the highlight of our stay having a full on breakfast buffet, eggs, bacon, muffins, scones, and a full-on coffee machine, and the seating was very nice, but small. Rooms don't run cheap but I do feel it's worth every penny for the experience. They also forgot to mention have like this mini backyard in the room, super cute and private.

    This quaint hotel is a hidden gem and easily missed if you don't pay attention. We were fortunate…read moreto have been gifted a night stay here and it was very comfortable and enjoyable. Our room overlooked the pool which we did not use because we were too comfortable in our room. The room had 2 TV's - one in the living area and another in the bedroom. The only con was the cable reception/connection was fuzzy for the channel we were watching - so it was not a good connection. The bathroom had every toiletry you could possibly want from make up removal, shower cap, two different types of soap, etc. I've been to fancier hotels that hardly had anything. They get 5* for stocking the bathroom with many amenities. There was coffee, water and tea in the room as well as in the office/reception area. There was also a little dish of assorted candies (snack size kit kat, almond joy, etc.) for those with a sweet tooth. Free parking which is always nice. Complimentary breakfast from 6:30 - 9:30 had many choices: guava juice, orange juice, milk, packaged cold cereal, oatmeal with various toppings, yogurt, fruit cup, hard boiled eggs, bananas, apples, small pastries, assorted breads you can toast, folded omelette, egg bite and sweet potatoes. What more could you want? There's something for everyone! You can easily drive downtown to shop with lots of restaurant options. Room rate will vary depending on the date. Highly recommend.

    Hilton Garden Inn Palo Alto - Breakfast Area

    Hilton Garden Inn Palo Alto

    (123 reviews)

    $$

    The food was good, especially in such a competitive area with so many great dining options. But…read morewhat truly made this experience unforgettable was our waitress, Jessica. Her warm smile and contagious laugh is so welcoming. She has a genuine kindness that can't be taught. She made us feel as valued guests rather than just customers. She anticipated our needs, checked in at the perfect times, and she was enjoyable to interaction with . We left genuinely happier because of the way she treated us. The meal was great and the warm smile and laughter stayed with us for the rest of the day. Jessica is an incredible asset to the restaurant, and we hope she's recognized for the positive impact she has on everyone. We'll definitely be back.

    Severe noise made it impossible to sleep. The east corner…read moreof the 4th floor -- roughly rooms 458 ~ 470 -- was subjected to an extremely loud noise every few minutes, comparable to a helicopter landing on the roof. This goes far beyond ordinary hotel noise. I also noticed similar complaints from other guests, which suggests this is a recurring issue. Guests should not be assigned affected rooms without advance warning. Management needs to address the source and provide suitable alternatives until it is resolved. Poor breakfast. At $25 plus tip, I expected substantially better. The selection was very limited, the baked goods were soggy, and the food was generally disappointing. Table service was minimal, which made being directly asked for a tip particularly off-putting. Unreliable Housekeeping . The hotel says rooms are "cleaned every other day" by default for environmental reasons, but even that schedule was not consistently followed. Explicit housekeeping requests were also frequently missed. Other problems further affected comfort. The east-side elevator was very slow, and the air conditioning was noisy, adding to the overall impression that the property needs more attention.

    The Westin Palo Alto

    The Westin Palo Alto

    (187 reviews)

    $$$

    As an initial disclaimer, I was staying at this hotel for work, so I was not paying out of pocket…read more If I had, I probably would have balked at the more than $500 per night price tag. But at least at the time I was visiting, almost every decent hotel in the area was around that price, and this was near where I needed to be and my colleagues had stayed there before. Setting aside the price, the hotel is very nice. My room was absolutely lovely, large with a spacious bathroom including a glass shower and large bathtub. The bed was comfortable and the television, wifi, and thermostat worked. I was in a corner room, so I had several windows and a nice view of the courtyards. I did not really have the chance to use any of the amenities or restaurants, so I can't comment on them, but it was overall a very nice, clean, modern but with character, hotel. I would stay here again.

    The Westin and Sheraton are neighboring hotels a short distance from Stanford campus on El Camino…read moreReal. They even share the same underground self-parking garage ($20/day). We enjoyed an outstanding 2-night staycation during Labor day weekend. Super comfy rooms, clean hotel, and top-notch service: 1. They offer tubs of bottled water in the lobby, along with fruit-infused water. This is during a time when hotels will often try to charge you $6/bottle in the room. 2. Being part of Marriott, they offered me free late checkout as a Bonvoy member at 1pm, nice! 3 Excellent well-stocked gym that's clean. 4. Comfy beds with choice of thick and thinner pillows with excellent AC. 5. Onsite breakfast buffet (Soleil reviewed separately) and a bar that has tons of adult beverages, snacks, and espresso drinks. Also TVs for baseball and NCAAF if that's your thing. Definitely would stay here again.

    The Zen Hotel - hotels - Updated September 2026

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