The Palo Alto Inn was clean and well-kept. As a solo female traveler, I felt safe at the inn and in the area. There were no dining options at the Palo Alto Inn, but there were several options within easy walking distance. Since I was without a car during my stay, that was very important to me. I walked south most of the time to San Antonio Center , approximately 1/2 mile away, where there are several restaurants, Safeway, Walmart, Trader Joes and Target.
From the Walmart on Showers Drive (about .8 mile away), there is a free Mountain View Shuttle that has two routes - I took the Red route from Walmart to Castro Street (downtown) and the Grey route to get back to Walmart from downtown.
Several of the hotels close to the Palo Alto Inn have restaurants and I found that most of them had pretty good food. I enjoyed Dinah's Poolside Restaurant and Hobees (great blueberry coffee cake).
The management and staff of the inn were all friendly and helpful. And there are free snacks, water and sodas in the office.
One thing to note: the website listed guest laundry, but I didn't see any laundry facilities. When I asked at the desk, I was told they don't have laundry available anymore and they suggested a laundromat north of the inn.