I've stayed at the Sheraton Palo Alto a number of times, after first staying there for a friend's wedding last year. The first time we stayed our room was near the kitchen, which was very loud at night when the staff was outside singing around 3am. We let the management know and they moved our room and also removed our room charge for the night.

Since then our stays have always been very pleasant, especially when we've opted for a room overlooking the koi pond. The hotel is conveniently located to the Stanford Mall and downtown Palo Alto, though a little tricky to get to the street from the parking lot.

My only complaint is that the beds are abnormally firm; If you're a hard bed lover, this is the place for you.

Poorly managed hotel. Problems with my bill - twice I had to ask for an adjustment to the room rate I had booked - upon checkout the hotel tried to charge me $389 a night when the booked rate was $156. The hallways are cold damp and drafty. The rooms are small and the location is lacking at best. The parking situation and entry exit system is broken. Not what I expect in a Sheraton.

I was here for a short business trip, and found this to be a really great hotel.

Location wise, this is hard to beat - it's just next to the Caltrain station, and beyond that, downtown Palo Alto. It's also right across from Stanford University. The location alone makes this a very compelling place to stay if you're down here for business.

The rooms are standard - with TV, comfortable bed, and the usual amenities. I find this to be perfectly good - my only complain is the standard complaint against Sheratons - that they give you a coffee maker, but not a kettle to boil water.

The front desk really sets itself apart - both in terms of friendly, fuss free service, as well as their dedication to getting things done for guests. Twice I reached out to the front desk to ask for help, and both times, they were able to get it done for me without much fuss. This is really great!

Breakfast at the Poolside Grill is standard - the only gripe being a general lack of choice at the buffet.

I would totally stay here again!

I've stayed fairly often at the Sheraton Palo Alto, since I often do work for the technology companies in the area. While it's never my first choice, it always seemed to me to offer fair price/performance, if a bit high on the price side. The only really annoying thing--and this feels petty--is that you can only drive into the parking lot if you're going north on El Camino. So if you're coming from Palo Alto, you have to turn left, go south along El Camino until you can turn around (not soon), then head back north.

So why hasn't it been my first choice? Well, it cost a lot, and they gouge you in the typical expensive hotel way--$12.95 for in-room Internet, etc.--and there was always something wrong, too. The hotel doesn't carry the New York Times; you have to go across to the Westin to get it. A light didn't work. The check-in was glacial. Whatever.

This most recent time, though, something snapped. I get there at 4:00 am Eastern time, and I have to wait while the clerk apologizes for because the TV doesn't work in the guy-in-front-of-me's room and he offers him a big discount and then, when I get to the room, my TV doesn't work either. And the wireless Internet doesn't work. And, when I complain the next day and cannily ask for a discount, I can't get a discount for the previous day because I didn't complain fast enough. (Strenuous argument rectified this, but why should I argue?)

It's silly. It's trivial. But geeminy, this just happened to be the trip when I needed Internet in the room. And all I'm doing is putzing around and calling the front desk and asking what's going on instead of just opening the computer and starting to work.

This is Silicon Valley, bubbie. Do we have to explain what the standards are? And for this, they charge $300/night (before discount). It's a pretty place, in a sterile sort of way, but I'll give it a miss from now on.