It's all true, and the fact that I gave it two stars rather than one shows you how nice the nice things are. First the bad. 1. It's not a hotel, it's a motel. Courtyard parking in front of the rooms, noise that can't be shut out from said courtyard parking (though they try), and a view of...a parking lot...from every room.
Inside, though, it's like an upscale hotel room, with some individuality and charm and a "green" theme, which as we'll see, can be overdone. So wha' happen? Those "green" lights glow orange for a pretty long time before they provide any illumination. So when I woke up and had to go, I just got up and walked around the bed to the bathroom. Unfortunately, it's a "Zen" hotel, so the mattress is zenly set up on a low, zen platform that sticks out a zen 6" or so from the edge of the mattress. Very zen. And very, very dangerous.
Vaguely unconscious, with other things on my mind besides navigating around the zen barriers, I rounded the corner of the mattress a little too close and bashed the left side of my foot on the barrier. I mean bashed. I was so sleepy, and it was so dark, that I literally couldn't tell what happened, and so when I came back, I did it again, right foot this time.
The next morning, my toe was swelling; by evening, when I got on the plane, it was throbbing, and the next day, when I went to the doctor's, it was blue. Sure enough, it was broken. Jeeminy. Hurt like the dickens, too.
That said, there are still things to like about this place. The breakfast, jammed into the old motel's foyer, is actually quite good. The desk help was really nice and helpful, especially in the morning. The decor would be attractive if you didn't have to memorize the layout in order to find your way around in the "green" light. Very attractive. The noise wasn't all that bad (though it wasn't zero), and parking right in front of your room has its merits.
But all in all, I think I'll avoid it next time. It hurt too much.
- Also Known As:
- Townhouse Hotel Palo Alto
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