Menlo Park Inn — Hotel in Menlo Park

One of the worst experiences at a hotel ever and we spend 120 plus nights a year in hotels. I called to see if there was availability for that night. Specifically ground floor. Lady said yes. She said you can come now as room is ready. I asked if I could make a reservation so I did. Then I asked what time was check in forgetting room was already ready. She said your room is ready now so I decided to go out of our way and to quickly drop in to check in, unpack a few items from our car and have my child get out of her wheelchair for a few mins. I told lady we will be there in a few mins to check in and drop some things off in our room before we head back out to where we need to be at 2pm. She said ok see u soon. That was a great professional conversation! Off to a good start. Well then I arrived and all went downhill from there. The lady at the desk was not who I spoke with on the phone. She said I can't check u in now as we don't have any rooms available but I told her what the lady told me on the phone how we could come now as our room was ready. I told her if I knew our room wasn't ready I would not have come and the lady I spoke with knew that. I went out of my way to do this first. She kept telling me to wait here at front desk as she walked away. She said a room will be ready in a little bit. What? What happened to the room I was told was already ready and I could come now. She said I don't know. I said I don't have that much time. Then the other lady apparently the one I spoke with on phone came to the desk and I told her and she said we will have 111 ready in a while. I asked what happened to the room YOU said was ready and we could come and check in now, etc. She wouldn't answer. She barely said anything. What the heck? What happened to the professional lady I spoke with. The other gal said it was her that I spoke with but she sure was acting unprofessional and had a very guilty expression, quiet, not communicating with me like a professional person would etc. Both ladies left not saying anything and I followed the one that I spoke with on phone and she finally spoke a couple of words to me she said room 111 will be ready soon. Soon isn't going to work nor is 111 as its in a dark corner that will be very difficult to get a wheelchair into that room. What the heck? I repeated to her what she told me on the phone and she looked so guilty and wouldn't say a word. I repeated it again twice and finally she said another person came and took it! What! It was not even 10 mins after I got off the phone with her that I arrived and that she told me it was ours. She should have reserved that room and had the next person that inquired wait for these others rooms to be ready. That is a bunch of bs. She never apologized, she barely said anything to me, she couldn't believe I wouldn't take room 111 and that I couldn't wait any longer. We were late now because of all this. I told her I wanted to be checked in with a room along here (rooms waiting to be cleaned) and assigned a room before we leave as we have to leave to be somewhere by 2pm. If I could cancel my reservation I would but I doubt you would let me. She didn't say anything to me so I went back to the front desk and told the other lady what I wanted to do. She wouldn't let me cancel either. I told her it looks like 103 is waiting to be cleaned I will take that one. I had to practically beg her to do it as she wanted me to come later and check in and I told her no because I needed a ground floor due to wheelchair and I am not trusting you guys to save a room for us so I need to check in now with an assigned room number please. She said I could wait til room is cleaned and I said we are already late from all these issues here I can't and don't want to be any later so we need to leave plus haven't I waited long enough. She just gave me a dirty look. She finally checked me in with an assigned room although tried to have me sign a paper with room 111 on it. Finally done but left without a room ready and no apologies from anyone - very unprofessional! See...

Solo Traveler on a Budget

I had an emergency in San Francisco and was on a budget. And had my own transportation. My filters for last minute hotel reservations were:

Free parking Cleanliness Fridge Microwave $100 per night

Menlo Park Inn met each needs. I stayed for 2 nights. Solo traveler. I arrived past midnight after a 10 hour drive. I called about my late arrival but did not expect to arrive so late but early. The entire neighborhood was so quiet that I was hoping my reservation was still honored. This is a small brand, family owned motel (I think,). I rang the bell and was greeted with a smile and a fashionista. No sleep in her eyes. No bedhead. Just a vibrant greeting. Check-in was 5 minutes or less and I was offered a complimentary snack.

Exterior Well lit. Creative and modern paint palette. Spacious parking. Shaped like a square "U".

Room There were three features of the room I noticed. The leaves shadow imprint on the sheets. A traditional bathtub. If you had time for a soak. And the white wood shutters were a nice touch in nostalgic modernity.

After a long drive I was pleased that the room was sanitized and clean along the base boards. Since my stay was brief I slept, showered and was on the go. IMO, If you're staying at an Inn, it's not technically a vacation it's functionality of the space. All items behaved properly. The bed allowed me to sleep. The refrigerator kept my food cold and the microwave heated it up. The A/C was comfortable and was not overfreezing. And the Keurig functioned as expected. The shower water flow and temperature remained the same at midnight and 8 a.m. with no delay in hot water.

I did partake in the continental breakfast of fruit, oatmeal, juice and fresh grind coffee concoctions.

If you're staying here. You know you're staying here. If you are staying in Menlo Park only this is a good choice. I don't mind driving 30 minutes to the city but this location required driving over the river and through the woods. Well technically two miles from highway to Inn.

An extra value was the room spaciousness in a double queen room. I feel comfortable saying a wheelchair could navigate in a non-accessible room. Oh and for ladies that like light for make-up, Menlo Park Inn did well. Perhaps the fashionista influence at check-in.

Amenities Room deposit less than $100 per night. Wifi is free but I did not use. I travel with a personal hot spot. But there were lots of channels on the television. Complimentary shower gel, conditioner and shampoo. Eucalyptus and lemon. Nice soft scent. Two gas stations nearby with snacks. CVS and outdoor shopping boutique-ish shops within a mile

“Have a vision of excellence, a dream of success, and work like hell.” – Dr....

Got duped by Hotwire stating this was a 3 star location (like they rated the Sheraton), it was really just a little better than a Motel 6. The location is very small - check Google Street view to get a correct perspective. The location is good for walking to downtown Menlo Park with lots of good shops. The staff was very friendly, asked if I preferred an upper or lower floor and got me into the room quickly. The issues were the room was very noisy. The C shape amplified traffic and thuds from soda cans coming out of the vending machine outside the room. Noisy neighbors and cars in the parking lot were also a factor. The bed was average, lots of unusual pillows without covers that I wasn't comfortable with. There were crudely removed light fixtures in the bathroom, but there were others in its place. There was a nice 37 inch flat screen TV, but standard cable, so the picture was pretty washed out and the universal remote made it pretty impossible to get around all 200+ channels. They also had a DVD player in the room and free movies you could borrow from the lobby. There was also free Wifi and wired internet access, but it was so overloaded and slow, I gave up and used by cell phone tethering. Worst part was probably the chemical treating to make the room "Smoke Free". You can't smell the smoke tht used to be there, but you feel it in the morning. I left early in the morning and then noticced how small the parking spaces were, just barely able to get in the car. Free Breakfast was a questionable waffle maker, sticky muffins and fruit. If this was a $60 room, I'd say it would have met my expectations, but charging $120 on Hotwire, is very inflated and I...