Best Western Plus Riviera

I had a nightmare experience with rude, inconsiderate neighbor guests all night long — now into the 6:00 a.m. hour. People knocking on the door and coming and going in and out all night. I should have called the police, but I mistakenly trusted the staff to properly deal with it after complaints made at 11 pm, 2 am, and 4 am. (And it’s not as if they were quiet in between!) Consequently, I’m totally mentally and physically exhausted on a day I truly need to be productive. Aaaah!
Worse yet, when I sent emails and left calls for the management, they were never returned! That’s their idea of customer service. Don’t even get me started on the details… just skip this place if you know what is good for you!

This was our first and only time we will stay here. Very loud, walls and windows must be paper thin. Even had ear plugs on our nightstand when we arrived for us. But then the sink was horrible cracked splitting atleast 4 different ways and they caulked? Over the cracks to seal them. Spa was also closed due to maintenance or something. No major deal, but wished they would mention things like that when you book your room. Even at my AAA discounted rate of $ 250 a night you’d think they could afford to replace the sink. And when I mentioned something about it this morning the girl up front just kinda blew it off as no big deal… Will definitely find a different place if we ever end up having to go to the Stanford medical center again…

I had my first (and last) stay at the Best Western.
I work for a well-​known nearby tech company, and am frequently on business travel in the SF Bay Area.
The Best Western is simply the worst hotel I have ever stayed at on business in the Bay Area. I unconditionally disrecommend it for business travelers, as do nearly all of my colleagues who have stayed there. It is astonishing that anyone can charge $ 250/​night for such a hotel.
* NOISE — The rooms are so noisy that Best Western literally provides earplugs. I’ve stayed at several other hotels on El Camino Real and near Caltrain. I’ve never seen any remotely this noisy before. Simply put, this hotel isn’t noisy because of its location — but because it appears to have single-​paned windows and insufficient soundproofing. I came to work nearly every day tired and sleep-​deprived — the opposite of what you go to a business hotel for.
* CLIMATE CONTROL — They have really, really loud 1960s-​style hotel room air conditioning system. This means you have to figure out by trial & error what position on the knob maps to the temperature you want to sleep at (you can’t just set a numeric temperature and actually get it).
* ONGOING CONSTRUCTION — When I came home on my third night, my hotel room absolutely reeked of an acrylic fume, like rubber cement. The smell was so strong that the hotel room was effectively uninhabitable. After conversation, the only hotel staff member on duty moved me to a room that was technically under construction.
When I woke up in the morning, all of my clothing continued to reek of the pungent acrylic fumes. When I asked if they could find a way to clean my clothing before I left for work in 2 hours, they pointed me to a coin-​operated machine that I could pay my own money to remove the hotel’s fumes. (It also didn’t occur to their hotel front desk person — who never smiled — that as a business traveler, I might not be carrying several dollars in quarters around.)
I ended up buying new clothing to wear for the day. I also e-​mailed the manager to ask for the hotel to intervene and make it right. I did not receive a reply.
If you are in Silicon Valley on business, do not try to save money staying here. Your time and sanity are too valuable.

Cute and quaint hotel in close proximity to the Stanford campus. Well maintained facilities, comfortable room, great service, good breakfast, but noisy due to El Camino Real running in front. Room came with earplugs, which is good, but those who are sensitive to sound may find the traffic annoying.

Love this place, rooms are nice along with the pool and spa and excellent parking and Continental breakfast. More importantly the people that run this place are what keeps business alive and thriving. Jennifer at the front desk was so welcoming and sweet, such a bright person and very attentive. Pablo the maintenence man was another blessing, such a positive godly individual that truly shows by his work ethic and attitude that life is about being happy with whatever you do in life. God bless you all and I will be coming back to enjoy another stay with you all.

Family stayed here for a week while I was at Stanford Medical Center. My husband is picky. This place was no 5 star resort, but is clean, conveniently located to the hospital, in addition to Starbucks for those early morning coffees. The rates are reasonable, staff is nice. Great option for families needing to be close to Stanford.

Really greatful for the friendly and helpful staff at this location. Knowing we had a family memeber at Standford Childrens Hospital they were very accommodating to our circumstances and made us feel welcome and not burdensome.
The room was also nice, clean and updated, This area in general is a little pricey, but i still found value in our stay.
Thank you.

The rooms are upgraded, but the street noise and train noise are unbearable. They even provided ear plugs in the room. Unless you are a super deep sleeper, avoid this place.

Really nice stay there for two nights. My room was neat, well-​stocked and comfy. The room charge included free WiFi and some simple hot breakfast. The staff was super friendly which I love quite much. I definitely had a good time staying there. Definitely worth my money.
The only complaint I have was that the land line and the TV channels were not working. But it did not bother me too much since I needed neither.

Worst hotel I never stayed at. I Had a reservation booked through a travel agent for over a month. However, when I showed up to check in I had the least pleasant experience imaginable. The front desk personnel (La Dreka) told me my reservation was cancelled and I was going to need to «take my ass down the road and find another room cause you ain’t got one at this hotel». I even had the email and confirmation # but she did not care.
I asked to speak to the manager, she said «he ain’t here and he would tell you the same dam thing». I demanded she call him and she told me «no one talks to La Dreka like that» and she threatened to call the police if I don’t leave. The people in line behind me could not beloved what was happening.
After all said and done, I obviously stayed somewhere else. I spoke to the manager the next day he apologized and admitted it was their mistake canceling my reservation and credited me some rewards points. I also told him I will never stay there as long as La Dreka still works there.

I really enjoyed my stay at the hotel. The staff was very nice as well, especially Briana, the front desk supervisor person. She was very helpful with helping me out in regards to checkout, getting me some toothpaste I had forgotten, and letting me know abut the best places to eat around the neighborhood. No real issues with my stay at all. The only thing that bothered me about the hotel was that the ceilings in the parking garage are extremely low and it took out my antenna ball…

This is solid 3-​star motel undergoing remodeling. It was fine for us during this trip. The recently remodeled room with comfortable queen bed was sufficient for our needs. The shower was great, the remodeled bathroom was nice, and the TV must have had 1000 channels. The toilet flushed like the takeoff of the Space Shuttle. The room was reasonably quiet considering the motel is on El Camino Real near Stanford Shopping Centter, the train station, and not far from US Hwy. 101. The price is modest (weekdays at $ 116/​night) except on Sunday when I think the $ 179/​night price is unreasonable. The below ground private parking is great. We would stay here again for the same short trip. I probably would not stay here for a week or longer unless I was by myself.
One comment: the elevator MUST get remodeled. SOON! It isn’t attractive, VERY small, and just doesn’t given the confidence of safety. We found ourselves looking at each other as to whether or not we wanted to use it at all.

This was one of the worst hotel experiences I have had. The hotel was under construction so there was loud banging through out the day. The elevator was something out of 1960s. Their parking lot was below the rooms with a single entrance and exit, which was on a hill so visibility was minimal when entering or exiting. And beuse of the construction there was a big dumpster blocking one of the lanes. When I went to leave the front desk man seemed incompetent. Couldn’t print my receipt until I demanded to have it. Then he was able to print it. He also couldnt hear, I tried to give him my email to email the recipt and he got it wrong multiple times, and its simple its my first middle and last name. Ugh I am glad I didn’t have to pay for this and that my work is picking up the bill.

HORRIBLE customer service. I booked a room with a 3^rd party 1 month in advance for 2 queen beds, only to find out upon check in that there were no more rooms with 2 beds available. There were two people at the front desk that claimed no responsibility and said there was nothing they could do because I booked with a 3^rd party and because there was NO MANAGER ON DUTY to handle the issue. Then I contacted the outside company, who said they needed to confirm my story with the hotel and again, there was NO MANAGER ON DUTY, so they’d call me back. When they called me back, the hotel claimed that they offered my the room I had reserved and I declined!
In sum, don’t stay here. They are liars and do not provide you with what you pay for.

Clean, nice and comfortable. The staff was friendly, and the close proximity to the beach was gfantastic. The room was a little small, but comfortabl.

This is one of the worst hotel stays I have ever had. I had pre-​paid for my room on
, and when I arrive, I’m informed that there are no keys to my room. None, they don’t have any way of getting any. They can let me into the room with a master key (but they can’t give me that key), but there is no way to get in myself. Whenever I leave the room, I have to go back down to the front desk to have someone come and let me into my room! Ridiculous!
To make matters worse, the hotel is right by the Caltrain and the walls are paper thin. Don’t expect to sleep.

Meh.
A facility that brags about being non-​smoking should not cater to smokers by placing tables with ashtrays right outside of the hotel room doors along the outside walkways.
The front desk staff was terrific. The cleaning staff was terrible. Checkout time is 11AM. Twice, around 10:10AM, while I was naked and in the shower, cleaning staff attempted to enter my room. I had not checked out. The «Privacy Please» card was prominently displayed in my key card slot. Unacceptable. When I picked up the telephone to inform the front desk of this aggravation, the phone was dead.
There was one free power outlet beneath the desk. One. In the year 2010.
The mini fridge reeked of onions.
When I was leaving after my one-​night stay, the stairway was blocked with yellow Caution tape. No actual danger was observed.
The bed, climate control, and the bathroom all met my expectations.

We were in Palo Alto 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.

I was trying to get away one night from the house and staying at hotel that night was just the thing. First I tried the Stanford hotel, too pricey $ 260 was too much for my budget so I went across the street to the Best Western Riviera to check it out. At first I thought this place was going to be unpleasant. I was wrong… Never judge a book by its cover. I walked in and the lady at the front desk was very welcoming. After squaring everything away I walked to my room, by the way every room has a little patio in front, when I opened the door to my surprised, the room was pretty descent. Comfy flushed bed, new bathroom, very nice shower, the furniture was even better than mine at home.
If you’re looking for a little get-​away I would definitely recommend this hotel