I stayed at this Courtyard once in December and plan to return here on my frequent trips to Palo Alto. The lobby area is lovely and the courtyard with its tall palm trees, outdoor couches, tables and chairs and fire pits are great. I did not use the pool but it is a nice size with a couple of small hot tubs.
I had a room facing the courtyard on the first floor and it was clean and fine. My only complaint was that the towels were like sandpaper - very rough.
The lobby was nice for relaxing with a glass of wine from the bar and the breakfast service was good and the wait staff very nice. I had some trouble with the computers in the business area and I don't know what that was about.
The location is very good - close to Stanford and downtown Palo Alto.

When I first got to my room I wasn't that impressed, although I had just come from an awesome stay at a beautiful hotel in Seattle, so my perspective may have been a bit skewed. The decor was just ok, a little outdated. There were 2 things that I had to complain about:

1) No restaurant IN the hotel if you wanted a meal other than breakfast. I got back from a work meeting and had a raging headache - I hadn't been able to eat all day (migraine - no good) so I came back to my room and passed out for a few hours. I woke up and was sooo hungry but still feeling crummy. I just wanted something to eat but I didn't want to have to leave the hotel. So I was out of luck. No restaurant in the hotel that is open past the early afternoon. They DID have a little market next to the front desk, so I microwaved some chunky soup (right there - because there are no microwaves in the room) and had some pop-tarts. Not a great dinner but I needed something. I know there were lots of places to eat nearby but I really didn't want to go out, so I guess it's kind of my own fault.

2) No wifi? To use the internet I had to plug in using an ethernet cable (they provided). Not great if you need to work but wanted to relax in bed while working... couldn't do it. The internet was pretty fast once I got myself plugged in and set up, but as I previously mentioned I had an awful migraine and the last thing I felt like doing was sit at the desk. Now I was traveling for business, so if this was a personal trip this wouldn't have been a big deal, but for me it was kind of annoying.

The room was very clean, the bed was comfy - but there was only a thin blanket on the bed and I like big comforters, but that's just my personal preference. The people were nice and when I did get to grab some breakfast at the breakfast place in the hotel, the food was very good. The location was convenient for me because it was only about a mile away from my client's offices, but I don't know what else was around town as I didn't get a chance to do much exploring.

I think if you're going for a personal stay and this hotel is convenient to where you are going then it's a good place to stay - although for me personally I may try to see what else is available in the area next time I have to go to Palo Alto.

Clean, recently updated rooms and a great staff. Great location within walking distance to many great food choices.

I stayed here for a night during a recent work trip to palo alto. A regular Courtyard..but rather noisy. Maybe a room that doesn't face the street may help.