Palo Alto is a well-known California city that calls the Bay Area home. You can find it about 30 miles southeast of San Francisco. Much of the city’s reputation revolves around Stanford University, which is one of the nation’s premier schools of higher learning and has part of its campus in Palo Alto. The birthplace of Silicon Valley, Palo Alto has also established itself as a major place of business and technology, serving as the home for more than 7,000 businesses.

Several notable technology companies, including Hewlett-Packard, have their headquarters in Palo Alto, and the city has served as an incubator for such other tech companies as Apple Inc., Google, Facebook, Logitech, and PayPal. Studying and working might be major activities in Palo Alto, but there are also plenty of options for leisure and recreation as well. Going for a walk or a run along the scenic Stanford “Dish” loop trail or teeing it up at the Palo Alto Municipal Golf Course are just two examples of things to do when work and study aren’t the focus.

Palo Alto CA Hotels

Palo Alto offers accommodations to suit a wide range of travelers. The luxurious Rosewood Sand Hill (pictured), the quaint Hotel California, and the inviting Cowper Inn bed and breakfast go to show just how diverse the local lodging choices are. Most of the hotels and motels in Palo Alto are located along El Camino Real, which is a busy road that bisects the city and essentially separates Palo Alto from the Stanford campus. For those who are searching for downtown lodging, there are two hotels in the heart of downtown Palo Alto. They include the Garden Court Hotel and the Cardinal Hotel. A Sheraton and a Westin are close to the downtown core and can also be a good fit for those who are interested in downtown Palo Alto accommodations.

California Map

When booking their Palo Alto CA hotels, travelers should know that rooms tend to fill up with business travelers during the week. On the weekends, the business travelers usually thin out and the occupancy levels decrease. This often translates to discounted weekend rates. Also worth noting is that there is a tendency for the Palo Alto hotels to fill up well in advance for major Stanford weekend events, such as football games and graduation.