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The Cardinal Hotel

2.5 star property
Hotel with a coffee shop/cafe, a quick walk to Stanford Shopping Center

Photo gallery for The Cardinal Hotel

Interior
Business centre
Lobby sitting area
Designer store
1 bedroom, Egyptian cotton sheets, premium bedding, down duvets

Reviews

9.0 out of 10
Wonderful

Popular amenities

  • Breakfast available
  • Housekeeping
  • 24/7 front desk
  • Free WiFi
The current price is NZ$262
includes taxes & fees
11 Oct - 12 Oct

Explore the area

View map
235 Hamilton Ave, Palo Alto, CA, 94301
  • Place, Stanford Shopping Center
    โ€ช6 min walkโ€ฌ
  • Place, Stanford University
    โ€ช2 min driveโ€ฌ
  • Place, Stanford University Medical Center
    โ€ช3 min driveโ€ฌ
  • Airport, San Jose, CA (SJC-Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Intl.)
    โ€ช22 min driveโ€ฌ

Room options

View all photos for Standard Room, 1 King Bed, Private Bathroom

1 bedroom, Egyptian cotton sheets, premium bedding, down duvets

Standard Room, 1 King Bed, Private Bathroom

7.2 out of 10
Good
(11 reviews)

Highlights

Heating
Free cots/infant beds
LED TV
Hypo-allergenic bedding
Separate bedroom
Down duvet
Portable fan
Pillow-top bed
  • 23 sq m
  • Sleeps 3
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Deluxe Room, 1 King Bed, Private Bathroom, Corner

Deluxe Room, 1 King Bed, Private Bathroom, Corner

Deluxe Room, 1 King Bed, Private Bathroom, Corner

8.4 out of 10
Very good
(5 reviews)

Highlights

Heating
Free cots/infant beds
LED TV
Hypo-allergenic bedding
Separate bedroom
Down duvet
Portable fan
Pillow-top bed
  • 24 sq m
  • City view
  • Sleeps 3
  • 1 King Bed

View all photos for Standard Room, 2 Double Beds, Private Bathroom

Standard Room, 2 Double Beds, Private Bathroom

Standard Room, 2 Double Beds, Private Bathroom

8.8 out of 10
Excellent
(6 reviews)

Highlights

Heating
Free cots/infant beds
LED TV
Hypo-allergenic bedding
Separate bedroom
Down duvet
Portable fan
Pillow-top bed
  • 23 sq m
  • Sleeps 4
  • 2 Double Beds

View all photos for Standard Room, 1 Queen Bed, Private Bathroom

1 bedroom, Egyptian cotton sheets, premium bedding, down duvets

Standard Room, 1 Queen Bed, Private Bathroom

8.2 out of 10
Very good
(11 reviews)

Highlights

Heating
Free cots/infant beds
LED TV
Hypo-allergenic bedding
Separate bedroom
Down duvet
Portable fan
Pillow-top bed
  • 23 sq m
  • Sleeps 3
  • 1 Queen Bed

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About the area

Palo Alto

The Cardinal Hotel puts you in the centre of Palo Alto, 0.8 km (0.5 mi) from Stanford Shopping Center and 2.5 km (1.6 mi) from Stanford University Medical Center. Highlights at this hotel include in-room LED TVs. .This smoke-free hotel offers free WiFi in public areas, a 24-hour front desk and express check-in. Additionally, you'll find a coffee shop/cafe, express check-out and a fireplace in the lobby. On weekday mornings full breakfast is served between 7:00 AM and 10:00 AM. .Sights within a 10-minute drive of this University South hotel include Stanford University and Facebook Campus.

What's nearby

  • Stanford Shopping Center - 6 min walk - 0.6 km
  • Stanford Stadium - 18 min walk - 1.5 km
  • Lucile Salter Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford - 2 min drive - 1.5 km
  • Stanford University - 2 min drive - 1.8 km
  • Stanford University Medical Center - 3 min drive - 1.9 km

Getting around

  • Palo Alto Station - 6 min walk
  • San Jose, CA (SJC-Norman Y. Mineta San Jose Intl.) - 21 min drive

Restaurants

  • โ€ชNola - โ€ฌ1 min walk
  • โ€ชPizza My Heart - โ€ฌ2 min walk
  • โ€ชRamen Nagi - โ€ฌ2 min walk
  • โ€ชMeyhouse - โ€ฌ2 min walk
  • โ€ชNobu Palo Alto - โ€ฌ1 min walk

About this property

The Cardinal Hotel

Hotel with a coffee shop/cafe, a quick walk to Stanford Shopping Center
There's a coffee shop/cafe on site. Public spaces have free WiFi. The Cardinal Hotel also features a fireplace in the lobby, express check-in, and express check-out.

This Palo Alto hotel is smoke free.

  • 1 building
  • 63 guestrooms or units
  • 3 levels
  • Built in 1924
  • Breakfast available (surcharge)
  • Front desk (24 hours)
  • Express check-in
  • Express check-out
  • Storage area for luggage
  • Fireplace in lobby
  • Lift
  • No smoking on site
  • Water dispenser
  • Coffee shop
The Cardinal Hotel offers 63 accommodations with laptop-compatible safes and complimentary bottles of water. Pillowtop beds feature Egyptian cotton sheets, down duvets and premium bedding. 42-inch LED televisions come with premium satellite channels.

Bathrooms include baths or showers, bathrobes, slippers and designer toiletries. Business-friendly amenities include desks and telephones; free local calls are provided (restrictions may apply). Additionally, rooms include a hairdryer and an iron/ironing board. Housekeeping is offered on a daily basis and hypo-allergenic bedding can be requested.

Similar properties

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Sheraton Palo Alto Hotel

  • Pool
  • Pet-friendly
  • Free WiFi
  • Restaurant
4.3 out of 5, Excellent, 1,020 reviews
The price is NZ$352
includes taxes & fees
24 Oct - 25 Oct
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Property amenities

Internet

  • Available in some public areas: Free WiFi

Parking and transport

  • Offsite parking available (USD 15 per day)
  • Onsite parking options include a garage

Food and drink

  • Weekday full breakfast available 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM for a fee: USD 22 for adults and USD 22 for children
  • A coffee shop/cafe

Things to do

  • Art gallery

Family friendly

  • In-room cot

Conveniences

  • 24-hour front desk
  • Guidebooks
  • Luggage storage
  • Water dispenser

Guest services

  • Housekeeping (daily)

Accessibility

  • If you have requests for specific accessibility needs, please contact the property using the information on the reservation confirmation received after booking.
  • Assistive listening devices
  • Lift
  • Visual fire alarm

More

  • 1 building
  • 3 floors
  • Built in 1924
  • Fireplace in lobby
  • Smoke-free property
  • Traditional architecture

Room amenities

Bedroom

  • Down comforter
  • Egyptian cotton sheets
  • Free cot
  • Hypo-allergenic bedding
  • Pillowtop mattress

Bathroom

  • Bathtub or shower
  • Designer toiletries
  • Dressing gowns
  • Hair dryer
  • Shampoo
  • Slippers
  • Soap
  • Toilet paper
  • Toothbrush and toothpaste (on request)
  • Towels provided

Entertainment

  • 42-inch LED TV with premium satellite channels

Food and drink

  • Free bottled water
  • Restaurant dining guides

More

  • Ceiling fan
  • Desk
  • Electrical adapters
  • Free local calls
  • Heating
  • Iron/ironing board
  • Laptop workspace
  • Laptop-compatible safe
  • Phone
  • Portable fan

Policies

Check-in

Check-in start time: 2:00 PM; check-in end time: anytime
Contactless check-in and check-out are available
Express check-in available

Check-out

Check-out before 11:00 AM
Contactless check-out
Express check-out available

Special check-in instructions

An adult aged 18 or older must assume all liability for the booking
Front desk staff will greet guests on arrival at the property

Access methods

Staffed front desk

Pets

  • No pets allowed, but service animals are welcome

Children and extra beds

  • Children are welcome.
  • Rollaway/extra beds are available for USD 20.0 per day.
  • Free cots (infant beds)!

Payment types

Important information

Optional extras

The fees and deposits listed below will be charged at the time of service, check-in, or check-out.

  • Fee for full breakfast: from approximately USD 22 for adults and from USD 22 for children
  • Nearby parking fee: USD 15 per day (39 ft away)
  • Rollaway bed fee: USD 20.0 per day

This may not be a comprehensive list. Fees and deposits are subject to change and might not include tax.

You need to know

Extra-person charges may apply and vary depending on property policy
Government-issued photo identification and a credit card, debit card or cash deposit may be required at check-in for incidental charges
Special requests are subject to availability upon check-in and may incur additional charges; special requests cannot be guaranteed
This property accepts credit cards and debit cards; cash is not accepted
This property reserves the right to pre-authorise the guest's credit card prior to arrival.
Cashless transactions are available
Safety features at this property include a carbon monoxide detector and a smoke detector
Charges for extra guests may apply and vary according to property policy.
A cash deposit, credit card or debit card for incidental charges and government-issued photo identification may be required upon check-in.
Special requests are subject to availability at the time of check-in. Special requests can't be guaranteed and may incur additional charges.
    This property is managed by a professional host. The provision of housing is linked to their trade, business or profession. This property accepts Visa, Mastercard, American Express and debit cards. Cash is not accepted.ย This property reserves the right to pre-authorise the guest's credit card prior to arrival. For guests' safety, the property includes a carbon monoxide detector and a smoke detector in all accommodation. Cashless payment methods are available for all transactions.

We should mention

  • Registered guests are the only ones allowed to be in guestrooms.
  • This property welcomes guests of all sexual orientations and gender identities (LGBTQ+ friendly).

Property is also known as

The Cardinal Hotel Hotel
The Cardinal Hotel Palo Alto
The Cardinal Hotel Hotel Palo Alto

Frequently asked questions

What is the cancellation policy at The Cardinal Hotel?

The Cardinal Hotel offers free cancellation on select room rates. Check out the cancellation policy for more info.

How much does it cost to stay at The Cardinal Hotel?

As of 29 Sept 2025, prices found for a 1-night stay for 2 adults at The Cardinal Hotel on 11 Oct 2025 start from NZ$262.41, including taxes and fees. This price is based on the lowest nightly price found in the last 24 hours for stays in the next 30 days. Prices are subject to change. Choose your dates for more accurate prices.

Does The Cardinal Hotel serve breakfast?

Yeah, full breakfast is offered on weekdays from 7:00 AM to 10:00 AM.

Is there a free airport shuttle available at The Cardinal Hotel?

No, The Cardinal Hotel does not offer an airport shuttle service.

What time are check-in & check-out at The Cardinal Hotel?

Check-in begins at 2:00 PM. Check-out time is 11:00 AM.

Are pets allowed at The Cardinal Hotel?

No, only service animals are allowed.

The Cardinal Hotel Reviews

Reviews

9.0

Wonderful

Rating 10 - Excellent. 223 out of 338 reviews
Rating 8 - Good. 62 out of 338 reviews
Rating 6 - Okay. 33 out of 338 reviews
Rating 4 - Poor. 12 out of 338 reviews
Rating 2 - Terrible. 8 out of 338 reviews

9.6/10

Cleanliness

9.4/10

Staff & service

8.4/10

Amenities

8.8/10

Property conditions & facilities

9.0/10

Eco-friendliness

Reviews

10/10 Excellent

Laura

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

Perfect Historic Hotel!

The only place we stay in Palo Alto! Perfect location, easy (free) parking curbside and walkable to restaurants, cocktails/wine bars, shopping, and historic Stanford Theater! Front desk staff is always friendly and helpful. Quiet and comfortable!
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Sally, Menlo Park

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Nathan

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Would stay again.
Stayed 3 nights in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Che

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Y

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Front desk ladies are super helpful and nice. Hotel rooms are clean, neat, and quiet. Historical evaluator is fun. Super close to restaurants and markets. Good stay!
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Andrew

Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
The hotel is 100 years old and very charming, with original tiles and features throughout. Much nicer than the usual bland hotel chains.
Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Linnea

Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Eugene

Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Christina

Stayed 2 nights in Jun 2025

2/10 Terrible

Adam

Disliked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Incredibly upset and disappointed with the Cardinal Hotel. I was late to check in and was told I would have to share a washroom. Personally, the fact they are allowed to do that on Expedia is wrong. There shouldn't be 'college dorms' listed as hotels on Expedia.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

6/10 Okay

busra

Stayed 2 nights in Feb 2025

10/10 Excellent

Teresita

Liked: Cleanliness, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Nice and clean bedroom, although the shared bathroom was clean all the time
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

4/10 Poor

Timo

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, property conditions & facilities
Disliked: Room comfort
The noises around this hotel are unbearable. Because the windows are old and thin every little noise from the street come into your room. I had a 05.30AM wake up call from someone operating saw machine outside the hotel. The slamming litter bins are outside one side of the hotel and there is a ton of noise around the hotel in general. I only booked this because Sheraton PA was full. Never going back.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

6/10 Okay

Stephen

Travelled with partner
Liked: Cleanliness
Good price. No A/C. Older property but clean.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

10/10 Excellent

Joy

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Charming vintage gem in Palo Alto. Our room was clean with a private bathroom. The staff was friendly and helpful. The location canโ€™t be beat with restaurants, boutiques, coffee shops and a short walk to Stanford University. Cardinal Hotel has character, history and a central location. We enjoyed our stay.
Stayed 1 night in Jun 2025

6/10 Okay

D Christian

Stayed 1 night in May 2025

10/10 Excellent

Victoria

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
The staff members are amazing! Super cozy and clean
Stayed 3 nights in May 2025

10/10 Excellent

Jagdeep Singh

Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Thanks for the great stay!
Stayed 3 nights in May 2025

8/10 Good

Seung Eun

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort

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๊ณต์šฉ์š•์‹ค๋กœ ๋œ ๋ฐฉ์„ ์˜ˆ์•ฝํ•ด์„œ ๊ฑฑ์ •ํ–ˆ๋Š”๋ฐ, ๊ณต์šฉ์š•์‹ค์ด๋‚˜ ๊ณต์šฉ์ƒค์›Œ์‹ค์„ ์‚ฌ์šฉํ•  ๋•Œ ๋‹ค๋ฅธ ์‚ฌ๋žŒ ๋•Œ๋ฌธ์— ๊ธฐ๋‹ค๋ ค๋ณธ์ ์ด ์—†์–ด ํŽธ๋ฆฌํ–ˆ๊ณ  ๊ด€๋ฆฌ๋„ ๊ต‰์žฅํžˆ ๊นจ๋—ํ•˜๊ฒŒ ์ž˜๋˜์–ด ์žˆ์—ˆ๋‹ค. 1์ธต์—์„œ ๋”ฐ๋œปํ•œ ๋ฌผ์„ ์ปต์— ๋‹ด์•„์˜ฌ ์ˆ˜ ์žˆ๋Š” ์ ๋„ ์ข‹์•˜๋‹ค. ๋‹ค๋งŒ ๊ณต์šฉ์ƒค์›Œ์‹ค์˜ ์ˆ˜์••์ด ๋‚ด ๊ธฐ์ค€์œผ๋ก  ๋„ˆ๋ฌด ๋‚ฎ์•„์„œ ์ƒค์›Œํ•˜๋Š”๋ฐ ์˜ค๋ž˜๊ฑธ๋ฆฐ ์ ์ด ๊ฐ€์žฅ ๋ถˆํŽธํ–ˆ๊ณ , ์ด๋ฏธ ์•Œ๊ณ  ์˜ˆ์•ฝํ•˜๊ธด ํ–ˆ์œผ๋‚˜, ๊ฐœ์ธ ๋ฐฉ์— ๋ƒ‰์žฅ๊ณ ๊ฐ€ ์—†๋Š” ์ ์ด ์•„์‰ฝ๊ธด ํ–ˆ๋‹ค.
Stayed 1 night in May 2025

10/10 Excellent

Edgar

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities, room comfort
Stayed 1 night in May 2025

10/10 Excellent

Verified traveller

Worth the experience

Great place to stay, but lots of noise in the morning from streets
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2025

10/10 Excellent

Yanhua

Travelled with family, Business traveller
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, amenities, property conditions & facilities
Quiet, convenient for shopping and transportation.
Stayed 3 nights in Apr 2025

10/10 Excellent

Derek

Liked: Amenities
Stayed 2 nights in Apr 2025

6/10 Okay

Karen

Travelled with family
Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service
Disliked: Amenities
The front desk staff was very nice and the hotel is in a great location. However, it was very noisy. I could literally hear every step the person in the room above us took as well as his conversation verbatim. Lastly, there is no air conditioning which could have been miserable if it was warmer.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2025

10/10 Excellent

Elizabeth

Liked: Cleanliness, staff & service, property conditions & facilities
Beautiful old building.
Stayed 1 night in Apr 2025