I recently stayed at the hotel for two nights during a business trip. I felt the hotel was upscale and elegant, but in a modern (somewhat "hip") way. The location and grounds are beautiful. Let me comment on the following:
*Rooms: The rooms are very nice and reasonably spacious. I travel often and was more comfortable than normal. I liked the room layout and the TV (not a flat screen but the cabinet was in a great spot/height in the room).
*Noise: the prior review talked about noise from trains. This is true. I travel with a sound soother (which for light sleepers I highly recommend!). I could not hear the train with the sound soother going. I could see this being bothersome but cannot comment on how often it came by at night. My colleagues did not seem to be too bothered by it.
*The food at the cafe/bar was quite good. The service here was outstanding. The bar area is "fun" but polished.
*Pool: The pool was nice and an outstanding 8 feet deep. A pleasant setting around it as well. There is also a jacuzzi.
*Work-out area: this was ok but nothing to get too excited about. There are a few aerobic machines and some small dumbells. The rug in the weight area could stand upgrading.
*Location: The location is great and a very convenient walk to much of Menlo Park. I walked 5 minutes one night to have dinner at PF Changs.
*Price: My company paid this, and I did not even see the bill (long story). I cannot comment on the value for money.

First impressions of this hotel are favorable. The hotel is undoubtedly elegant and makes a great first impression. When I arrived late in the evening, the exterior was lit with subdued lighting and I was looking forward to a relaxing stay.

The staff were friendly and courteous, but in that faux way typical of Californian hotels, lots of smiles and "yes, sirs" and "no problems" but it all just feels, well, fake. It's as if the staff of all the upscale hotels have been to the same charm school which is turning out slightly insincere staff with a soupcon of car salesman. Nevertheless, I was willing to put this aside.

My room was spacious, clean and well appointed. There were nice details, such as separate his and hers sink areas. Everything had that shiny new feel to it and it wasn't hard to imagine that you were the first guest to stay in that room. But, for a hotel like this to live up to the high expectations that it has set for itself is not an easy task and it failed within the first 5 minutes when I noticed that only one set of toiletries were provided in the separate vanity areas. I was disappointed. Yes, this is a small detail, but you don't get to charge the prices that the Stanford Park charges and get to fail on silly things like this. You have to get it all right, every time, for every guest. Minus one point.

I then decided to order room service dinner. I didn't want anything elaborate, so a chose a simple chicken dish, dessert and a bottle of mineral water. Dinner arrived within a half hour with the customary courteous knock. The waiter had been trained to use my name and to ask permission to enter while stumbling over the hotel approved phrasing. Is there some legal reason why this do that? You're holding my dinner, I've opened the door, what else am I going to do? Carry that precarious tray myself? Anyway, I invited the waiter in and he went to rather too much length to prepare my meal with the ceremonial lifting of covers and naming of contents. Then I saw the check. It was over $60! Okay, so if you're probably not going to be concerned with being charge 100% more than the reasonable cost of the service and delivery, but if I wanted a $60 meal, I would have eaten out, ordered wine and made an evening of it. This is room service fare. Sure, it was better than average, but not worth over $60.

It was then that I noticed the trains. The Trains! The Trains! I'm shouting so you can hear me over the sound of the Trains rumbling by while they play Broadway show tunes on their whistles. The first time you hear their whistles, you think how quaint they sound. You can imagine Casey Jones with his head out the side of this steam train playfully pulling on the whistle. Like I said, quaint, but not at all quaint at 5am in the morning when they start trundling by blowing their whistles for each and every hotel guest.

So, dear reader, do yourself a favor and please map the address of this hotel on your favorite mapping service and be appalled that the railroad tracks are not just somewhere near the hotel, they more or less go right through it. And wonder, how a hotel with such pretentiousness could fail to install soundproofing throughout the hotel.

At the Stanford Park hotel you pay dearly for the privilege in more ways than one.

From the moment we entered the driveway of the hotel with it's beautiful fountain and quaint garden setting, I could tell we were in for a peaceful and enjoyable stay. We were welcomed with smiles by the hotel doormen who also provides guest with complimentary valet parking as requested. As we entered the quiet hotel lobby, a warm fire was glowing, a subtle hint of fresh flowers was in the air , and it was apparent by the decor that no details were left out.
Our next wonderful surprise was our spacious guestroom.
It was well equipped, very tastefully decorated, and the cleanest hotel room I have ever stayed in- the maid service does an exceptional job in the rooms and throughout the entire hotel. I was very impressed and it was apparent that this was one main reason why this is a 5 star hotel. They also offer turn down service, which I refused the first night because I was not sure what that was. Then on the second night when we came back form a dip in the hot tub we found our bedcovers had been nicely turned down and a mint was laid on our pillow- talk about details, wow! Another nice detail is in the evening from 9:30-10pm in the lobby they have asst teas, coffee and fresh baked cookies -yum.
As far as the price, they have a great weekend getaway package around $199. night, which includes breakfast at the beauitful and elegant duck club restaurant. The staff at the Duck club were wonderful, I have never had this great of service anywhere, and the food was excellent and they don't skimp on portion sizes either. We upgraded our room so it was a little more pricey than the standard, but overall still a great deal especially considering this was a 5 star hotel, and besides with age I am learning you get what you pay for. This hotel is a rare find- It's perfect for a weekend getaway or a longer vacation.
My family & I loved everything about it and we will return soon.
If you want to stay in a peaceful, quaint, beautiful and relaxing hotel give this one a try. The amenities are wonderful; From sipping tea in the tranquil garden, relaxing in the pool or hot tub, shopping at the stanford shopping center or Downtown Palo Alto or just relaxing at the hotel . This place really is perfect.

We had our wedding reception here; months of planning, tons of confusing requests to the hotel, dozens of guests... not one complaint on our side (or theirs, thankfully).

The staff greeted us personally and treated us well. The service was impeccable, and the hotel itself is just gorgeous.

It has a high-class, upscale feel without being uncomfortable or snooty. There's comfortable places to sit and talk, and the courtyard is peaceful and colorful with beautiful flowers and plants.

Rates here were only a bit higher than neighboring properties (especially on weekends--rates at the SPH are really reasonable), and the amenities you get at the SPH are worth every penny.

These people really care about service and their reputation, and it shows.

The hotel feels like a sanctuary; even when there are trains passing by, we didn't hear any of them in our room.

I've been here to have dinner and drinks when there was a rowdy wedding reception going on (not ours, natch), and it was still really pleasant. The staff obviously does concentrate on the weddings at the hotel, but they were apologetic and courteous to us in compensation.

I'd recommend this hotel and its restaurant whole-heartedly.