BEST WESTERN PLUS Riviera, Menlo Park

We were in Palo Alto in late March 2009 to visit family & decided to go with a less pricey hotel since we wouldn't be there that much & we figured we could spend the money we saved on the grands. We have always had reasonably good experiences at Best Westerns & so chose this hotel (also closest to family.) One absolute must for us was wireless internet (preferably free.) This hotel advertised free WIFI but we couldn't get it to work, it seemed not to be turned on. So partner went to the front desk & was told they would send someone to look at it. When no one had come 36 hours later, he called the 800 number for the provider on the equipment & was told that they had not yet been connected - maybe in another 3 weeks. So their claim of Wifi was a flat out lie. They have a free continental breakfast from 6:30 to 9:00 but the food tended to run out about a half hour early. It appears that they have set a limit on how much food they want to provide &, when that limit is reached, no more food. Housekeeping ignored our do not disturb sign & tried to enter our room while we were dressing (the "deadbolt" lock didn't work - we were reduced to putting a chair under the door knob to ensure our privacy.) When they did clean, it was very cursory - fresh towels & maybe cleaning the bathroom & "making" the beds (ie throwing the top sheet & blankets up over the bottom sheet - not even smoothing them out) - no vacuuming & only occasional emptying of waste baskets. The sheets were not fitted, did not stay in place very well & had small holes in them. We generally showered toward the end of the time when the business travelers were showering & on 3 occasions we had to wait over ½ hour for hot water (really ice cold). One evening, we had the grands spend the night with us & one wanted to shower before bed - there was no hot water at 8:00 at night! We had asked 2 days in advance if it was OK to have the grands stay & if we could get a cot. We were assured that it would not be a problem & that the cot would be placed in our room when they cleaned it. Nothing further was said & 2 days later, when we returned with the children, NO COT! When we asked about it, we were told it wouldn't fit! No explanation for why they didn't know that when we had originally asked (& provided our room #) or why thay hadn't said anything in the meantime. Fortunately the children are small & could sleep in our beds with us. The parking is located under the building with one very steep ramp leading to El Camino Real (a very busy street). There is a bush located (on hotel property) at the top of the ramp - making it almost impossible to see the stream of traffic you are about to enter. The elevator from the parking area to the rooms is very tiny & smelled very strongly of mildew - the inspection certificate had expired on 02/05/08. The info about the hotel in the binder in the room indicated 2 free bottles of water but that happened only on 2 of the 9 days we spent there. The fruit in the lobby was sporadic also. The hot tub was not working. The room itself was OK & the water pressure in the shower was good (not always the case even in fairly expensive hotels) but the heating/cooling unit was under the sinks - right next to the bathroom which meant that often one walked into a blast of icy air as upon leaving the shower. Not enough to make up for all the shortfalls. Positives were a good location (right across from Stanford Mall) & the washers were only $.75 & the dryers were free.