Alta Mesa Memorial Park — Local services in Palo Alto

We just bought a home in the area. I decided to take a tour of this local cemetery where we were contemplating having our grandmother buried.

I was driving around the entirety of the grounds, enjoying the beautiful weather, when I stopped to look at a beautiful tombstone. I put my hazards on. One of their robocop‘s decided to come up behind me, who also immediately put his hazards on - Allied Security. I instantly felt intimidated and unfriendly energy here.

It looked like he was going to take a picture of my license plate and/or make a call. It was only 5:45pm and they lock the gates at 6pm. I wasn’t some teenager planning on getting drunk in the cemetery, I was actively seeking a proper place for burial needs. I definitely did not feel like having a conversation with some idiot and having to justify myself!

Have completely different thoughts about this place now, will certainly not give them business now! I have experienced much better, friendlier burial places, specifically in Santa Clara on Winchester Blvd

PS: This place is also quite unkempt, debris, dead flowers…. Hence the large number of ONE, well...

My children's father is buried in an older section of the cemetery near the two gingko trees. It is consistently neglected! On Veterans Day when we visited, it clearly had not been watered and was full of weeds. Then we remembered the drought and thought that might be the reason. After trimming the grass around the headstone, cleaning it up and placing flowers, we noticed dirt strewn across a headstone not far away. As we checked other sites, It was obvious nothing had been tended to for WEEKS! As we drove through the cemetery toward my son's gravesite in a newer section, we noticed the grass was green and my son's site had been nicely kept, so drought is not the issue. OBVIOUSLY THEY KNOW LESS PEOPLE GO TO THE OLDER SITE SO THEY NEGLECT IT! NOT RIGHT! PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE CORRECT THIS! We took photos and a video of it all if management cares...

All the good reviews are from few years ago. It used to be so well kept and the grass nicely maintained…. In the past couple of years it has really deteriorated. They keep expanding and adding land but they don’t maintain the existing grounds. Once a year they remove EVERYTHING from every grave and throw it out as part of clean up. No regard for what it is and it’s purpose or value, I can understand throwing out old and damaged items but brand new solar lights and clean beautiful silk flowers ? The grass is in bad shape and the water spouts are mostly off or very low pressure so you can’t even water on your own. Just so disappointed and it’s no use to talk to anyone. Each person gives a different reason for the issues. I wish I had chosen a different place for...