This is a hard NO I am extremely allergic to cigarette smoke, and told the clerk this when I checked in. Each room has a little patio or balcony, and guests aren't supposed to smoke on them. The people in the room next to mine smoked anyway, and of course my window was open and I got violently ill. The desk didn't care, until they found out I am a lawyer, and then they moved me to a crap room with a non working air conditioner. They finally moved me again but by this time it was 9 hours after the smoking incident which left me vomiting and with a migraine headache for 2 days. The rooms are run down and nothing is getting fixed because they are trying to tear down the hotel and build another one. Bad employees, run down building, and violating too many codes to list here. Just avoid.

Clean, comfortable, and convenient. The grounds and the room were clean and well-maintained. The room was spacious and had all the advertised and expected and amenities. Comfortable bed with a desk and reading chair. Being somewhat off the street the room was quiet. Easy walk to downtown Menlo Park. Breakfast was modest but adequate. Good value for the money.

Good service and location, paper thin walls and ant issue Would rate this place 2.5* based on overall experience. The price is great and location very good (esp if you need to take the Caltrain or walk to Menlo Park). Customer service was solid and friendly. Unfortunately, a couple of issues that would prevent me from returning. 1) No sound insulation at all. My first night the folks next to me had a screaming toddler all night, felt like I was in the room with them. Second night after switching rooms, I could hear the guy snoring next room over. And this was *with* my earplugs in! I travel a lot and this was probably the worst case of noise pollution in any hotel I've ever stayed at. 2) Ant/spider issue - my second room had a big spider/web in the bathroom corner and a lot of dead/dying ants on the floor (did they just spray?). I wanted to like the place and I was fine with it being a dressed-up motel for the price but the noise issue is a deal breaker if you rely on consistent sleep at all. You could get lucky and have quiet folks adjacent to you but best bet is a corner top unit if you want to take that chance. Unless you're very budget constrained or a super heavy sleeper (I usually am), I wouldn't consider this inn.

Great for business trips! Last minute business trip and found this gem! So clean, convenient , and wee-staffed. Loved the pool view and the breakfast. Very quiet location and convenient for my travel. Will definitely stay again

Home away from home My husband and I attended a family wedding in Atherton, California over the weekend of August 17-18, 2019 and needed nearby lodging for four nights. I found Red Cottage Inn on AARP-Expedia, read the reviews and booked a room because of the location and price. What a pleasant surprise! Red Cottage is away from the main roadway, rendering a quiet stay. Check-in was friendly and efficient (thank you, Kevin), and one of the first things we noticed was the big bowl of candy at the reception desk.Talk about a nice welcome! The breakfast room is also next to the reception area and seats about eight people at a time. Offered are an array of muffins, pastries, various cereals, yogurt, fruit, coffee, juice and bagels/toast. Cookies are also available during the day and evening. Our room (105) was at the end of the first building, which meant we had no neighbors on our left. Even if we had, I think it would have been quiet because the place seems to be well built. A small fenced-in sitting area was just outside the sliding glass doors of our room with bistro table and two chairs and beyond that a small swimming pool to cool down from the hot California sun. The room itself was well appointed: Comfortable queen sized bed; soft pillows just like we have at home; flat screen TV; upholstered chair; closet with iron and ironing board; full bathroom with shower, sink and toilet; shampoo/conditioner/lotions/shoe shine/make-up remover and nice fluffy white towels. There's also a Keurig coffee set-up and microwave oven. What more could we ask for? A dear friend I had not seen in 15 years came to visit us at Red Cottage, and we caught up on our lives and old times in a little conversational grouping located in the backyard. Red Cottage is also a short drive away from Redwood City, Stanford and Palo Alto. If we were to return to this area, we would definitely book Red Cottage again. Is it the Hilton? The Ritz? No. It's better because it's simple, unpretentious, clean as a whistle and friendly. We felt right at home from the minute we checked in until the minute we checked out. Thank you, Red Cottage management, and thank you, again, Kevin! P.S. Over my 30 plus year writing career, I wrote travel reviews and stayed at many high-end hotels whose room rates were at times $1,200 per night. I am being honest when I say that we enjoyed Red Cottage every bit as much as we did the luxury hotels I often wrote about — from the Hotel del Coronado on Coronado Island to The Jefferson (in Richmond, Va.) Please keep up the good work!