Classy ambiance, courteous staff, in classic hotel...

Classy ambiance, courteous staff, in classic hotel. I think other reviews call out what makes SPH special. Overall, this really is one of the best business hotels I've stayed at around Palo Alto.

But as a frequent business traveller who has cumulatively spent several weeks at this hotel over the past year, I'm going to call out areas of improvement:

* Housekeeping is extremely disorganized. During my last stay, I literally asked the front desk *six times* to tell housekeeping stop delivering the daily newspaper that I never read. Even still, they kept delivering it. And even though I opted out of housekeeping, they still came in and mucked with my room one day.

* Their courtyard needs to be quieted down by 10:00 PM. This is my big complaint with this hotel -- the #1 need of a business traveller is a good night's sleep. Guests shouldn't have to call the front desk at 10:00-11:00 PM every visit to ask them to send staff to quiet people down -- the hotel should be doing this automatically. It's a mediocre service organization waits until guests are annoyed enough to place a call.

* It would also be nice if they had a rewards program, given that they are part of a hotel chain. As someone who stays for long periods of time, it's a bit of a disincentive when their competitors do.